2025 Walter Award winners, honorees, and committee members. L to R: Jolynn Asato, Yasmeen Shorish, Aleksandra (Sasha) Dowdy, Shoshana Flax, Sherri Winston, Eden Royce, June Hur, Ekua Holmes, Renée Watson, Dr. Shanetia P. Clark (vice chair), Jenna Wolf, Jenell Igeleke Penn (chair). Photo courtesy of Dr. Shanetia P. Clark.

I was lucky enough to attend Stories Save Lives on April 10 and the Walter Dean Myers Awards on April 11, both in Washington, DC, as a member of the 2025 Walter Award committee. Stories Save Lives, held at the Whittemore House, was a celebration of the tenth anniversary of We Need Diverse Books and the Walter Awards. Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley spoke, connecting the mission of WNDB to her personal experiences and to her Books Save Lives bill. Author and WNDB chair Dhonielle Clayton moderated a lively panel with Nikole Hannah-Jones, Jason Reynolds, and Jacqueline Woodson, which acknowledged the challenges of the moment and the work of those who came before. A presentation honored WNDB founding member and former CEO Ellen Oh, and Christopher Myers told funny stories of his late father, award namesake Walter Dean Myers.

On Friday morning, the 2025 Walter Awards ceremony with the theme “Many Voices, One World” was held at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. Groups from local middle and high schools were in attendance, and the student-performed readers’ theater scenes from three Walter Dean Myers books were a highlight. We heard inspiring acceptance speeches from this year’s winners: author Renée Watson and illustrator Ekua Holmes for teen category winner Black Girl You Are Atlas (Kokila/Penguin) and author Sherri Winston for younger readers category winner Shark Teeth (Bloomsbury). They were joined by June Hur, teen category honoree for A Crane Among Wolves (Feiwel); Eden Royce, younger readers category honoree for The Creepening of Dogwood House (Walden Pond/HarperCollins); and moderator Oh. Answering Oh’s questions and those from students, the panelists offered perspectives on topics ranging from the serious (how various aspects of their identities affect their work) to the lighthearted (the role of food in the writing process).

It was great to be there to witness all of it, to see my committee-mates in person, hang out with old friends, and chat with authors. Here’s to another ten years and beyond!

Walter winners and honorees panel. L to R: Moderator Ellen Oh, Sherri Winston, Eden Royce, June Hur, Ekua Holmes, Renée Watson. Photo: Shoshana Flax.