Kristen Joy Emack and Nico Emack.

On May 28, I attended a wonderful event at a favorite local indie: Kristen Joy Emack in conversation with Niko Emack at Porter Square Books. Kristen is the author of the photobook Cousins — and of these two fantastic photoessays for the Horn Book — along with being cover artist for the March/April 2024 issue and a "Cover to Cover" panelist, cohosted by the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. 

Kristen's work with the Horn Book centered on her daughter (head down in the image at left), and it was also nice to hear her in conversation with her son (check out his very impressive bio in the event listing!). Nico asked great questions, about the trajectory of Kristen's Cousins series, being an artist on a "nontraditional" path, reception of her work at home and internationally, observations around a changing community and the work she's doing to document those changes. The audience — made up of artists, educators, school families, community activists and leaders — also had good and thought-provoking questions. 

And if you're anywhere near HARVARD: grab a quarter and head over to the Harvard Ed Portal, and a series of other sites, to pick up poster-size reprints of Kristen's March/April cover image and others. "Zone 3 is a Harvard-sparked initiative to further activate and energize Western Ave with creative programs, events, retail experiments, and public art." Photos from my walk to pick up copies are below.