While at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Noelle Stevenson got an assignment that required creating a character. So she thought back to high school, to a musing she’d toyed with involving a female shapeshifter.
In a rather staggering three-year ascension since, Nimona has beguiled growing legions of fans, as Stevenson’s professional career itself has taken shape. And on Wednesday, that rise reached a new level, as “Nimona” was named a 2015 National Book Award finalist for Young People’s Literature.
Even Stevenson is struck by the honors coming her way, as 2015 itself takes form as an affirming year for the cartoonist, who also shared in twin Eisner Awards over the summer for her work on “Lumberjanes.”
“Honestly, it wasn’t on my radar at all,” Stevenson tells The Post’s Comic Riffs, of being shortlisted for the National Book Award — an achievement in itself rarely accomplished by comics artists. (“American Born Chinese” author Gene Luen Yang was the first, in 2006, and The New Yorker’s Roz Chast was a finalist last year.)
“I didn’t even know comics got nominated for book awards,” continues Stevenson, who, at 23, is reportedly this year’s youngest National Book Award finalist. “When my agent called, my first reaction was, ‘Do I get a medal?’ I’ve never gotten a medal before. It’s all pretty exciting!”
