In a statement, Oni Press have announced Norwegian cartoonist Dina Norlund, who created the newly released fantasy graphic novel “The Snowcat Prince,” has died after a long illness. She was 27. According to Norway’s TV 2 channel and newspaper Verdens Gang, Norlund passed away from cancer last month, on February 22.
Norlund was born in Oslo in 1995, and studied industrial design at the prestigious FZD School of Design in Singapore. She worked from 2016 to 2018 as a concept artist for Britain’s video game art studio Atomhawk Design, and freelanced for other clients, including LEGO, designing environments and sets for LEGO Friends, Star Wars, and LEGO City TV commercials. Afterwards, she founded her own company, Hushbird, in Newcastle upon Tyne.
She released a picture book, Greylegs, and two comics, “Sprout” and “Wild,” via digital outlets, while the crowdfunded “Snowcat Prince” was acquired and published by Egmont across Scandinavia in 2021. The book earned her an ARK Children’s Book Award nomination, and a coveted starred review for exceptional merit from Kirkus magazine. Dina also ran a YouTube and Twitch channel, and sold custom tutorials and digital brushes to fans. At the time of her death, she had started a webcomic, “Watergirl,” and two more books in the works, “Tamtam the Pathfinder,” and “Nettle & the Hush-Hush.”
Oni Press senior editor Grace Scheipeter said, “Dina was an incredibly talented artist and storyteller. She was such a joy and inspiration to work with, and her passing is a heartbreaking loss. I know her work will continue to inspire young artists, authors, and readers the same way it will inspire me for years to come.”
Norlund is survived by her parents, and two sisters. Oni, which released “The Snowcat Prince” in English today, will honor her memory by donating a portion of the proceeds from the book’s sales to the Norwegian children’s charity Sykehusklovnene (“the hospital clowns”).
