Check Out Leah Hayes’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Hayes.

Hi Leah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am an illustrator and writer: I write and illustrate graphic novels, children’s books, and books for young readers.

I went to art school for illustration, and was doing editorial illustrations for The New York Times and The New Yorker while still in college… I had my first book published by Fantagraphics Books the year after I graduated. I was hired to teach at Parsons School of Design (where I studied illustration) ALSO the year after I graduated… and taught various courses in illustration there for many years.

I continued to publish graphic novels and do editorial illustration. My book “Not Funny Ha-Ha” was a New York Times Best-Seller in 2015, and went on to be optioned for a TV series (this project is still in development). My first children’s book came out in 2023 on Enchanted Lion Books, and was one of The Society Of Illustrators “Best Original Art” winners for 2024.

In 2025, I animated a series of films called “My Body To Love”, along with my animation partner, Peter Brant. The films won an Emmy, and we continue to work on more films from that series.

I have a new book coming out in the spring of 2026, also on Fantagraphics, called “Identical”.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There are always bumps.

Although I have been extremely lucky in some ways (I am eternally grateful to my two publishers who took a risk on me very early on and allowed me to publish a lot of wild content over the years!), I have also experienced rejection, writer’s block, and some bad luck.

One notable frustration was getting the TV series off the ground: once the graphic novel was optioned by a studio and had begun development, there was a large merger with another company, ad the studio was dissolved. The project was shelved at the time, and that felt pretty devastating. But I am usually one who tries to pick up the pieces immediately… I don’t like waiting around for very long before I am chasing after the next opportunity.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
One thing that I feel sets me apart from others is my “career diversions”, aka my other interests.

I also play music and produce music, and fronted my own band for many years. After living in NYC for many years, I moved to Los Angeles to write songs for other artists… while still doing illustration and putting out books. I wrote music/hooks for many hip hop and pop artists, including Lil’ Wayne (who I also sing on his album).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.leahhayes.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarymansion/