Vanessa Davis (cartoonist)

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2022}}

{{short description|American cartoonist}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Vanessa Davis

| image =

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| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1978|10|14}}

| birth_place = West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.

| death_date =

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| known_for = Spaniel Rage (2005)
Make Me a Woman (2010)

| occupation = {{flatlist|

• Cartoonist
• author
• humorist

}}

| spouse =

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}}

Vanessa Davis is an American illustrator, humorist, and cartoonist of alternative comic books.

She is best known for the autobiographical graphic novel Make Me A Woman and minicomic Spaniel Rage, published by Drawn & Quarterly.{{Cite book|title=Graphic Details: Jewish Women's Confessional Comics in Essays and Interviews|last=Lightman|first=Sarah|publisher=McFarland|year=2014|isbn=9780786465538|location=Jefferson, NC|pages=214}} Her comics have appeared in several anthologies, including Kramers Ergot, The Best American Comics, Stuck in the Middle, Papercutter, and An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons and True Stories. She earned a fine arts degree from the University of Florida.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rookiemag.com/2017/02/own-who-you-are-an-interview-with-vanessa-davis/|title=Own Who You Are: An Interview With Vanessa Davis|last=Davies|first=Rachel|date=February 2, 2017|website=Rookie}}

Davis' comics and illustrations are usually rendered in highly chromatic watercolors or in pencil. The stories they tell are taken from her diary and are candidly personal, witty and self-deprecating; centering on her youth, mother, relationships with men, and Jewish identity.{{cite web|url=http://www.skylightbooks.com/event/vanessa-davis-discusses-and-signs-her-graphic-novel-make-me-woman |title=VANESSA DAVIS discusses and signs her graphic novel "MAKE ME A WOMAN" |publisher=Skylight Books |date=October 13, 2010 |access-date=2016-07-30}} Her work has appeared in The New York Times,{{Cite web |title=Opinion - Image - NYTimes.com |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2013/08/09/opinion/0809LETTERS.html |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=archive.nytimes.com}} Dissent,{{Cite web |title=All in the Family |url=https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/all-in-the-family |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=Dissent Magazine}} and The Forward,{{Cite web |title=Vanessa Davis Archives |url=https://forward.com/authors/vanessa-davis/ |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=The Forward |language=en}} and she is a regular contributor to Tablet Magazine.{{cite web|url=http://www.tabletmag.com/author/vdavis |title=Vanessa Davis – Tablet Magazine – Jewish News and Politics, Jewish Arts and Culture, Jewish Life and Religion |website=Tabletmag.com |access-date=2016-07-30}} In 2009, she was awarded the Maisie Kukoc Award for Comics Inspiration, and in 2017 the Terry Southern Prize for Humor for her eight-part series, Summer Hours, published in the Paris Review.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/03/06/alexia-arthurs-wins-plimpton-prize-vanessa-davis-wins-terry-southern-prize/|title=Alexia Arthurs Wins 2017 Plimpton Prize; Vanessa Davis Wins Terry Southern Prize|date=March 6, 2017|website=www.theparisreview.org|language=en|access-date=2017-03-11}}