By Amanda Freymann and Joan Sommers Chuck Close is so very honored to receive this award, and is so sorry he cannot be here. These masks were made from two of the hundreds of self-portraits he has created. We thought it was a fitting way to bring him into the room tonight. On behalf of [...]

“Knowledge is power! You need it every hour! Read a book!” With words like these, how could I have resisted falling under the spell of Lewis Michaux? I am thrilled that his story has been embraced by so many others. The man who said, “If you don’t know and you ain’t got no dough, then [...]

Vaunda, I’m happy to be onstage with you once again. Keep it up, Mrs. Micheaux Nelson, because knock on wood, we are on a roll! I’d like to take the opportunity to tell Vaunda Micheaux Nelson about my deep respect for her talent. The images for No Crystal Stair were a direct result of her [...]

I’m glad to be here tonight in your company, and I’m glad that our book is in the company of this year’s honorees and the winners of years past. It’s a thrill. I want to thank my agent Steven Malk, an always-trusty advisor, and Balzer + Bray for publishing our book. And I want to [...]

Illustrators are notoriously good at giving speeches. When they decide to get into illustration, it is secretly because they know how good they are at public speaking, and they can’t wait until the day when they win an award so they can finally show a room full of literary people how great they are at [...]