Abrams ComicArts will publish Run: Book One, a sequel to Congressman John Lewis’s acclaimed National Book Award-winning civil rights graphic memoir, the March trilogy, on August 14, 2018. Abrams has secured world rights to the title.
The book deal was negotiated by Andrew Smith, senior v-p and publisher of Abrams Children’s Books and Abrams ComicArts; and Charles Kochman, editorial director of Abrams ComicArts, who will edit the book. Rep. Lewis was represented by Jeffrey Posternak of the Andrew Wylie Agency.
In a prepared statement, Congressman Lewis said, “In sharing my story, it is my hope that a new generation will be inspired by Run to actively participate in the democratic process and help build a more perfect union here in America.”
The forthcoming multiple-volume graphic memoir will focus on the years that Lewis led The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), one of the most important organizations of the Civil Rights Movement. The book will focus on the aftermath of the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, including events around one of the largest Ku Klux Klan marches of the time, disputes over SNCC tactics, the Vietnam War and the rise of the Black Power movement.
Run: Book One will also add a new member to Lewis’s creative team: artist Afua Richardson will succeed Nate Powell, who created the artwork for March, and who will also contribute to the new work. Richardson is an award-winning comics artist who has created art for such works as Genius, Black Panther: World of Wakanda, and Attack on Titan.
The March trilogy, co-written by Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, is the life story of Lewis and documents his role in the Civil Rights Movement as well as the movement’s historic social achievements. The first volume of the bestselling graphic memoir was first published in 2013 and the trilogy was awarded the National Book Award (for Volume 3) and the Eisner Award (for volume 2).
Abrams president and CEO Michael Jacobs said, ”We, at Abrams, feel that {Run} and its inspiring true, historical narrative is more important than ever. Run is much needed in our national dialogue and debate in this tumultuous time.”
