Join the San Francisco Public Library Main Children’s Center this fall as we present the 23rd and 24th Effie Lee Morris Lectures. The lectures will celebrate the voices of two gifted female authors, Renée Watson on Thursday, September 5th, and F. Isabel Campoy on Wednesday, October 2nd.
Renée Watson is the Coretta Scott King Award-winning author of the young adult novel Piecing Me Together (Bloomsbury, 2017). The novel, a powerful story about an ambitious teenager carving out her place in the world, was named a John Newbery Honor Book in 2018. Watson’s newest work, a middle grade novel titled Some Places More Than Others, will be published on September 3 by Bloomsbury Children’s Books. Watson will deliver the 23rd Effie Lee Morris Lecture on September 5.
F. Isabel Campoy is the author of numerous children’s books in the areas of poetry, theatre, biographies and art, and the recipient of the International Latino Children’s Book Award. Her picture book Maybe Something Beautiful (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016) was inspired by the Urban Art Trail project in San Diego. Campoy will deliver the 24th Effie Lee Morris Lecture on October 2.
This annual lecture honors the work of the late Effie Lee Morris by celebrating the work of writers and illustrators for children whose work exemplifies the causes she championed: inclusivity, diversity, and the rights of all children to read, learn, and create. Ms. Morris was the first coordinator of children's services at SFPL, the first African-American president of the Public Library Association, and a founder of the local chapter of the Women's National Book Association (WNBA).
Previous guest speakers and programs
2018 Shane Evans
The Art of Dream
2017 Gary Soto
Too Much of a Good Thing: The Many Genres of Gary Soto
2016 Christian Robinson
You Are Here: Finding Yourself in Picture Books
2015 Chris Raschka
Remembering Books
2014 Yuyi Morales
Creating Children's Books: An Immigrant's Story
2013 Eve Bunting
Picture Books That Can’t Be Written: Social Issues in Children’s Literature
2012 Jerry Pinkney
A Sense of Place Real and Imagined
2011 Gerald McDermott
Tricksters: Gerald McDermott and the Art of the Folktale
2010 Ashley Wolff
Sunrise/Sunset: Exploring the Many Cycles of Life in Picture Books
2009 Pat Mora
The Zing of Writing
2008 Patricia McKissack
Storytelling, the Heart of Literacy
2007 Javaka Steptoe
On the creation of Swan Lake, the classic story retold by Walter Dean Myers and illustrated by Javaka Steptoe
2006 Tomie dePaola
What Haven’t I Done Yet
2005 Pamela Munoz Ryan
Dreams, Discoveries and Daring Women
2004 Nikki Grimes
Does the World Really Need Another Book
2003 Daniel and Robert D. San Souci
Creative Collaboration with the Picture Book : An Inside View
2002 Milly Lee
Hay Choy: A Feast for Readers
2001 Thacher Hurd
Art Dogs and Alligators: Bringing Books to Life
2000 Alma Flor Ada
One Life, Many Voices: An Author’s Journey
1999 Ashley Bryan
Deep Like the Rivers : African Tales, Black American Poetry and Spirituals
1998 Laurence Yep
Yes, Virginia, There Is a Godzilla: Talking About Children’s Literature
1997 A Celebration of Children’s Literature- Featuring treasures from the Effie Lee Morris Historical and Research Collection of Children’s Literature