Huntingdon Ellison Lecture Features Graphic Novelist Jerry Craft

Montgomery, Ala.—New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Medal winner Jerry Craft will speak for the Huntingdon College Rhoda Coleman Ellison Lecture Series, Wednesday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Jerry Craft is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the graphic novels “New Kid” and “Class Act.” New Kid is the only book in history to win the John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature (2020); the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature (2019); and the Coretta Scott King Author Award for the most outstanding work by an African American writer (2020). Mr. Craft is the creator of the King Features comic strip, Mama’s Boyz, which ran for two decades and won the African American Literary Award five times. He was born in Harlem, grew up in the Washington Heights section of New York City, and earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts.

Mr. Craft describes himself as a reluctant reader as a child and says he “decided to make the books I wished I had when I was a kid.” He says, “My personal choice is to tell contemporary tales that serve as ‘mirrors, windows, and sliding doors’ full of humor and hope. I think that everyone needs to see just how varied our culture is.”

Huntingdon’s Rhoda Coleman Ellison Lecture Series features prominent authors. This year’s event is co-sponsored by the Huntingdon College Race & Justice Initiative, the Council on Independent Colleges, and the Lilly Endowment Inc.

For more information or the Zoom link, contact Huntingdon College Department of Language and Literature Chair Dr. Elizabeth Hutcheon at ehutcheon@hawks.huntingdon.eduor Su Ofe at news@hawks.huntingdon.edu.

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