Walter Dean Myers: 2009 Arbuthnot Honor Lecturer

On April 18, the Langston Hughes Library of the Children’s Defense Fund Haley Farm in Clinton, TN will host an important event. Walter Dean Myers, award-winning YA and children’s book author, will give the 2009 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture.

Here are more details from the press release:

Each year, the Arbuthnot Lecture features an individual of distinction in the field of children’s literature who is chosen to write and deliver a lecture that will make a significant scholarly contribution to the field of children’s literature. This year’s lecture is hosted by the Langton Hughes Library with the support of The University of Tennessee School of Information Sciences, Knoxville, the University of Tennessee’s Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, the Knox County Public Library, and the Clinton Public Library. For more information about the Arbuthnot Lecture, visit http://www.ala.org/alsc.

Tickets are free, but must be reserved. To register online, visit: http://arbuthnotlecture2009.eventbrite.com/. You can fax ticket requests to (865) 457-6464.

That Walter Dean Myers will give the lecture at the Langston Hughes Library of the Children’s Defense Fund Haley Farm is fitting. According to the Haley Farm website, “the library’s unique collection focuses on written works by African American authors, children’s picture books illustrated by African American illustrators, and books about the Black experience. The collection specializes in publications about children’s advocacy; spirituality; nonviolence; the Civil Rights Movement, with particular attention to the role of women; women’s leadership; African American history, literature, and culture; African culture and history; and children’s literature.” For more on CDF Haley Farm, please visit www.childrensdefense.org/haleyfarm

Myers, a 2008 28 Days Later vanguard author honoree, has inspired generations of children and authors. He has won the Coretta Scott King Award five times, Coretta Scott King Honor Award four times and the Newbery Honor twice. His many other honors include the Michael L. Printz Award and Margaret A. Edwards Award for “significant and lasting” contribution to young adult literature.

Myers’ latest release, Dope Sick (Amistad, 2009), received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly. You can watch a video of Myers talking about Dope Sick at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6R-RuFHQGY. To learn more about Myers and his books, please visit: http://www.walterdeanmyers.net/. 

Please attend the Arbuthnot lecture if you can and spread the word.

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Kelly Starling Lyons is the author of picture book, One Million Men and Me (Just Us Books, 2007), and chapter book, NEATE: Eddie’s Ordeal (Just Us Books, 2004). She has two forthcoming picture books with G.P. Putnam’s Sons.