The 2023 Ohioana Book Award Winners and their books. Art by Kathryn Powers.
It’s
that time of year again! The Ohioana Library is pleased to announce the winners of the 2023 Ohioana Awards, including
seven book awards and the Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant.
First
given in 1942, the Ohioana Book Awards are the second oldest, and among the
most prestigious, state literary prizes in the nation. Nearly every major
writer from Ohio in the past 82 years has been honored, from James Thurber to
Toni Morrison.
Six
of the Ohioana Book Award winners were selected by juries. The Readers’ Choice
Award was determined by voters in a public online poll. More than 2,000 votes
were cast in this year’s Readers’ Choice Award poll!
Listed
below are the 2023 Ohioana Book Award winners. Click on the title to learn more
about the author and their winning book.
Kortney Morrow, 2023 Ohioana Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant Winner
The
Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant is a competitive prize. Named for Ohioana’s second
director and given since 1982, the Marvin Grant is awarded to an Ohio writer
age 30 or younger who has not yet published a book. The 2023 Marvin Grant
winner is Kortney
Morrow. Kortney spent her early years making up stories, and she never stopped.
Her writing has been featured or is forthcoming in The Academy of American
Poets, Obsidian, Prairie Schooner, and Transition
Magazine. When she’s not writing, you can find her daydreaming on her front
porch. Kortney lives in Cleveland, where she was born and raised. Her winning entry will
appear in this fall’s OhioanaQuarterly.
Award Ceremony
The 2023 Ohioana Awards ceremony will be held
on Thursday, September 21, at 6:00 p.m. in the atrium of the Ohio Statehouse in
Columbus. More information about the event and purchasing tickets is coming
soon.
A scene from the 2016 Ohioana Book Awards ceremony (Photo by Mary Rathke)
Ohioana Library is pleased to announce the finalists for the 82nd annual Ohioana Book Awards. First given in 1942, the awards are the second-oldest state literary prizes in the nation and honor outstanding works by Ohio authors and illustrators in five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Middle Grade/Young Adult Literature, and Juvenile Literature. The sixth category, About Ohio or an Ohioan, may also include books by non-Ohio authors.
The recognition this year’s stellar list of authors has received includes the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the PEN America Literary Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Coretta Scott King Book Award, the Caldecott Medal and Newbery Honors, the Edgar Award, and the Kirkus Prize. Four finalists have had their works adapted for film and television. One finalist is a former Governor of Ohio; another is CNN’s Presidential Historian. Eight authors are previous Ohioana Book Award winners.
On June 1, Ohioana will kick off the tenth annual “30 Books, 30 Days,” our popular feature in which we profile one award finalist every day on our social media. This year, we have thirty-three finalists, expanding the feature by three books and three days!
In mid-June we’ll launch the annual Readers’ Choice Award poll. First held in 2016, the poll allows the public to vote online for their favorite book from among all the finalists.
Winners will be announced in July. The 2023 Ohioana Awards ceremony will be held at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus on Thursday, September 21. The finalists are:
Fiction
Hyde, Allegra. Eleutheria, Vintage
Ng, Celeste. Our Missing Hearts, Penguin
Okorafor, Nnedi. Noor, DAW
Scalzi, John. The Kaiju Preservation Society, Tor
Umrigar, Thrity. Honor, Algonquin Books
Nonfiction
Brinkley, Douglas. Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening, HarperCollins
Gay, Ross. Inciting Joy: Essays, Algonquin Books
Macy, Beth. Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis, Little, Brown and Company
Millard, Candice. River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile, Doubleday
Mufleh, Luma. Learning America: One Woman’s Fight for Educational Justice for Refugee Children, Mariner Books
About Ohio or an Ohioan
Celeste, Richard F. In the Heart of It All: An Unvarnished Account of My Life in Public Service, The Kent State University Press
Dyer, Joyce. Pursuing John Brown: On the Trail of a Radical Abolitionist, The University of Akron Press
Ervick, Kelcey. The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law That Changed Women’s Lives, Avery
Jarrett, Gene Andrew. Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Life and Times of a Caged Bird, Princeton University Press
Schulz, Kathryn. Lost and Found: Reflections on Grief, Gratitude, and Happiness, Random House
Schwartzman, Nancy and Nora Zelevansky. Roll Red Roll: Rape, Power, and Football in the American Heartland, Hachette Books
Poetry
Fagan, Kathy. Bad Hobby: Poems, Milkweed Editions
Freeman, Siaara. Urbanshee, Button Poetry
Hindi, Noor. Dear God. Dear Bones. Dear Yellow., Haymarket Books
Jones, Saeed. Alive at the End of the World, Coffee House Press
Wagner, Sara Moore. Swan Wife, Cider Press Review
Juvenile Literature
Campbell, Marcy. Illus. by Francesca Sanna. The More You Give, Knopf Books for Young Readers
Hale, Shannon. Illus. by Tracy Subisak. This Book is Not for You!, Dial Books
Hoefler, Kate. Illus. by Jessixa Bagley. Courage Hats, Chronicle Books
Kuo, Julia. Luminous: Living Things That Light Up the Night, Greystone Kids
Wang, Andrea. Illus. by Hyewon Yum. Luli and the Language of Tea, Neal Porter Books
Woodson, Jacqueline. Illus. by Rafael López. The Year We Learned to Fly, Nancy Paulsen Books
Middle Grade/Young Adult Literature
Brown, Echo. The Chosen One: A First-Generation Ivy League Odyssey, Christy Ottaviano Books
Haddix, Margaret Peterson. The School for Whatnots, Katherine Tegen Books
McCarthy, Cory. Man O’ War, Dutton Books for Young Readers
Nelson, Marilyn. Augusta Savage: The Shape of a Sculptor’s Life, Christy Ottaviano Books
Van Vleet, Carmella. Nothing is Little, Holiday House
Announcing the 2023 Ohioana Book Festival
Authors!
2023 Ohioana Book Festival poster by Will Hillenbrand
We’re back!
Yes, the
Ohioana Book Festival will once again be LIVE and IN PERSON this April . . .
and you’re invited!
Join us as
we present our 17th annual celebration of Ohio books and authors at
the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Main Library on Saturday, April 22, from
10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
It will be a
fun-filled day with panel discussions, conversations, readings, and activities,
plus an on-site book fair with The Book Loft of German Village where you can shop
for books by your favorite festival authors and get them signed!
In addition
to the main event, we’ll be presenting a number of outreach programs with
community partners from all around Ohio. As
we like to say, there’s something for every reader of every age at the Ohioana
Book Festival!
Our thanks to Will Hillenbrand for creating this year’s festival poster, with its delightful “Buckeye Readers.” Will is just one of the more than 120 Ohio authors and illustrators who will be featured at this year’s event – see the complete list below.*
In the
coming weeks, we’ll be adding more festival news and information on our
website, blog, newsletter, and social media—be sure to check them often!
Mark your
calendars now for April 22. We’ll see you at the festival!
First given in 1942, the Ohioana Book Awards are the second oldest, and among the most prestigious, state literary prizes in the nation. Nearly every major writer from Ohio in the past 81 years has been honored, from James Thurber to Toni Morrison.
Six of the Ohioana Award winners, as well as the Marvin Grant recipient, were selected by juries. The Readers’ Choice Award was determined by voters in a public online poll. Nearly 2,000 votes were cast for this year’s Readers’ Choice Award.
Listed below are the 2022 Ohioana Book Award winners. Click on the title to learn more about the author and their winning book.
Named for Ohioana’s second director, the Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant is awarded to an Ohio writer age 30 or younger who has not yet published a book. The 2022 Marvin Grant winner is Louise Ling Edwards. Edwards, an essayist and poet living in central Ohio, received her undergraduate degree from Oberlin College in Creative Writing and Neuroscience and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from The Ohio State University. During her MFA, she worked as the Production Editor and Online Editor for OSU’s literary magazine The Journal and received the Helen Earnhart Harley Creative Writing Fellowship Award in both creative nonfiction and poetry. She is also the recipient of the Charles W. Medick Scholarship, which is awarded to students with a visual disability.
Her writing focuses on the joys and paradoxes of living as a biracial and bisexual woman by exploring tensions between hunger and abundance, loneliness and belonging. Her in-progress collection of essays, “Paper House,” reflects her experiences living in China’s Shanxi Province for two years, and moves through both haunted and tranquil spaces of a homeland from which she has long been separated. Currently, she advises students at OSU through her role as the Undergraduate Fellowship Coordinator. Her winning entry will appear in this fall’s Ohioana Quarterly.
Award Ceremony
The 2022 Ohioana Book Awards ceremony will be held on October 26 in the atrium of the Ohio Statehouse (tentatively in-person; please watch our website and social media for any possible changes). More information about the Awards and about purchasing tickets is coming soon. Congratulations to all of this year’s Ohioana Book Award winners!
A scene from the 2016 Ohioana Awards ceremony (Photo by Mary Rathke)
The Ohioana Library is pleased to announce the finalists for the 81st annual Ohioana Book Awards. First given in 1942, the awards are the second-oldest state literary prizes in the nation and honor outstanding works by Ohio authors and illustrators in five categories: Fiction, Poetry, Juvenile Literature, Middle Grade/Young Adult Literature, and Nonfiction. The sixth category, About Ohio or an Ohioan, may also include books by non-Ohio authors.
This year’s stellar list includes a Pulitzer Prize winner, three finalists for the National Book Award, a Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalist, and winners of the Coretta Scott King Book Award, the Caldecott Medal, Newbery Honors, and the Kirkus Prize. Four finalists have had their works adapted for film and television. Eight authors are previous Ohioana Book Award winners and two are past recipients of Ohioana’s Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant for emerging writers.
Beginning June 1, Ohioana will profile all the finalists with “30 Books, 30 Days,” a special feature on our social media in which one finalist is highlighted each day. Later in June, Ohioana will launch its seventh Readers’ Choice Award poll, allowing the public to vote online for their favorite book from the finalists.
Winners will be announced in July. The 2022 Ohioana Awards ceremony will be held at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus on Wednesday, October 26. The finalists are:
Fiction
Bethea, Jesse. Fellow Travellers, Bellwether
Doerr, Anthony. Cloud Cuckoo Land, Scribner
Gornichec, Genevieve. The Witch’s Heart, Ace
Stine, Alison. Trashlands, MIRA
Walter, Laura Maylene. Body of Stars, Dutton
Nonfiction
Abdurraqib, Hanif. A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance, Random House
Butcher, Amy. Mothertrucker: Finding Joy on the Loneliest Road in America, Little A
Haygood, Wil. Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World , Alfred A. Knopf
Orlean, Susan. On Animals, Avid Reader Press
Schillace, Brandy. Mr. Humble & Dr. Butcher: A Monkey’s Head, the Pope’s Neuroscientist, and the Quest to Transplant the Soul, Simon & Schuster
About Ohio or an Ohioan
Abbott, Anneliese. Malabar Farm: Louis Bromfield, Friends of the Land, and the Rise of Sustainable Agriculture, The Kent State University Press
Alexander, Brian. The Hospital: Life, Death, and Dollars in a Small American Town, St. Martin’s Press
Baier, Bret, and Catherine Whitney. To Rescue the Republic: Ulysses S. Grant, the Fragile Union, and the Crisis of 1876, Custom House
Broome, Brian. Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir, Mariner Books
Shesol, Jeff. Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War, W.W. Norton & Company
Poetry
Spencer, Emily. East Walnut Hills, Zone 3 Press
Bracken, Conor. The Enemy of My Enemy is Me, Diode Editions
Iris, Manuel. The Parting Present / Lo que se irá, Dos Madres Press
Kim, Joey S. Body Facts, Diode Editions
Zamora, Felicia. I Always Carry My Bones, University of Iowa Press
Juvenile Literature
Campbell, Marcy. Illus. by Corinna Luyken. Something Good, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Dawson, Keila V. Illus. by Alleanna Harris. Opening the Road: Victor Hugo Green and His Green Book, Beaming Books
Gorman, Amanda. Illus. by Loren Long. Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem, Viking Books for Young Readers
Wang, Andrea. Illus. by Jason Chin. Watercress, Neal Porter Books
Wynter, Anne. Illus. by Oge Mora. Everybody in the Red Brick Building, Balzer + Bray
Middle Grade/Young Adult Literature
Carson, Rae. Any Sign of Life, Greenwillow Books
Draper, Sharon M. Out of My Heart, Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Kiely, Brendan. The Other Talk: Reckoning with Our White Privilege, Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Wang, Andrea. The Many Meanings of Meilan, Kokila
Warga, Jasmine. The Shape of Thunder, Balzer + Bray
The 16th Ohioana Book Festival is coming in April
. . . and you’re invited!
The 2022 festival will be held virtually from April 29
through May 1. As we have done for the past two years, we decided to present
the festival in this format to keep everyone safe as the pandemic continues.
We’re delighted that we will still be able to share with you all the things you
love about the Ohioana Book Festival, straight to your home in a virtual format:
a fun-filled weekend featuring panel discussions, conversations, and readings.
We’ll also have a number of virtual outreach programs with community partners
from all around Ohio leading up to the main event.
110 Ohio authors and illustrators will be featured in the festival’s virtual programs. See the full list below. We’re sure you’ll see some of your favorites in this stellar lineup!
In the coming weeks, we’ll be adding more festival news and
information on our website, blog, newsletter, and social media—be sure to check
them often! And don’t forget to mark your calendars now for April 29-May 1. We’ll
see you online as we celebrate 16 years of the Ohioana Book Festival!
A screencap from the 2021 Ohioana Book Awards ceremony.
The Ohioana Library has been giving awards to recognize outstanding literary achievement since 1942. But 2021’s event was truly special as we virtually celebrated the awards’ 80th anniversary!
Ohioana’s Executive Director, David Weaver, served as master of ceremonies, with help from Ohioana board members and representatives of sponsors who introduced the award winners.
The award ceremony began with the presentation of the 2021 Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant to Hagan Faye Whiteleather. A competitive award for an emerging Ohio writer aged 30 or younger who has not yet published a book, the Marvin Grant has helped launch the careers of many successful authors, a number of whom have returned later as book award winners.
The presentation of the Ohioana Book Awards followed:
Readers’ Choice: Tiffany McDaniel, Betty
About Ohio or an Ohioan: Carole M. Genshaft, ed., Raggin’ On
Nonfiction: Aimee Nezhukumatathil, World of Wonders
Fiction: Carter Sickels, The Prettiest Star
Poetry: Marianne Chan, All Heathens
Juvenile Literature: Thrity Umrigar, Sugar in Milk
Middle Grade/Young Adult Literature: Jacqueline Woodson, Before the Ever After
After the ceremony, Dan Shellenbarger, head of the Ohio Channel and creator and host of their discussion program, Book Notes, moderated an authors’ roundtable with the winners in which they discussed their creative inspiration and their writing process.
As we did in 2020, we moved the awards ceremony online, due to the recent upsurge of COVID-19 cases. The Ohio Channel, our media partner, streamed the entire program live on Facebook and YouTube to thousands of viewers in Ohio and beyond. If you missed the program, or would like to see it again, here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRu542oeE9A.
Copies of all of this year’s winning titles are available from our official bookseller, the Book Loft of German Village, at www.bookloft.com.
While we missed celebrating in person with authors and attendees, the virtual awards event was nonetheless a great success. Our thanks to everyone who made it so—sponsors, partners, presenters, and the Ohioana board and staff. And of course, all of this year’s award winners— congratulations once again!
Hopefully, we’ll be back live and in person next October at the Ohio Statehouse. We’d love to have you join us as we celebrate the 2022 Ohioana Book Awards!
The new Toni Morrison Historical Marker at Lorain Historical Society. Photo by Kathryn Powers.
The Ohioana Library Association is excited to announce that its Ohio Literary Trail has expanded with the addition of seven new sites honoring Ohio literary greats.
Introduced in 2020, the Ohio Literary Trail connects
readers and Ohio writers and shines the spotlight on Ohio’s unique role in
shaping culture and literature worldwide.
Among the notable Ohioans honored with new sites are
the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, the journalist and
travel writer who introduced the world to “Lawrence of Arabia,” the greatest
female humorist of the past 60 years, a science fiction writer and screenwriter
who wrote the
script for The Empire Strikes Back, and the Union general who won the
Civil War and penned the most acclaimed memoir of any American President.
Criteria for inclusion on the Trail includes
nonliving people or places that illustrate Ohio’s contributions to the literary
landscape or literature nationally or internationally. The sites are physical
places tourists can visit year-round and share information to educate a
visitor, such as museums, permanent library displays, historical homes, and
Ohio Historical Markers. There are more than 1,800 markers across the state,
administered by the Ohio History Connection, Ohio’s statewide history organization,
including more than 50 literary themed markers on the trail.
The new additions to the Ohio Literary Trail
include:
Northeast Ohio Region: Lorain County, Lorain
Historical Society Carnegie Center, 329 W. 10th St. Toni Morrison Historical Marker. The trail’s newest site,
dedicated August 12, 2021 and sponsored by Ohioana with the Lorain Historical Society,
Ohio History Connection, Lorain YWCA, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, this
marker honors Ohio’s most acclaimed author. Morrison, winner of many awards
including the Nobel Prize, was born in Lorain in 1931 and died in August 2019.
The Carnegie Center is the former Lorain Public Library where Morrison worked
as a youth.
Northeast
Ohio Region: Cuyahoga County, next to the Columbus Road Bridge or at the corner of
Columbus Rd. and Merwin Ave. Hart Crane Memorial Park features a tribute sculpture by Ohio artist
Gene Kangas honoring American poet Hart Crane (1899-1932), who is considered
one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. The Park is stewarded by
Canalway Partners.
Northeast Ohio Region: Trumbull County, Kinsman
Square at 6086 Ohio 5 in Kinsman. Kinsman/Leigh Brackett Historical Marker. Born in California, Brackett moved
to Kinsman with her husband and lived there about 20 years. The science fiction
writer who perfected the subgenre of “space opera” in her writings was
nominated for a Hugo Award for The Long Tomorrow (1955). As a screenwriter,
she wrote the script for The Empire Strikes Back/Star Wars II.
Southwest Ohio
Region: Montgomery County, University of Dayton campus, Zehler Dr. on the north
side of St. Mary’s Hall. Erma Bombeck Historical Marker is on the campus where the celebrated columnist and author graduated in 1949. She went
on to become a household name in the 1970s and ‘80s. For more information visit
https://ermabombeckcollection.com/.
Southwest Ohio Region: Clermont County, Point Pleasant and Brown
County, Georgetown. Two-term 18th
President of the United States and victorious military commander of the Union
Army, Ulysses
S. Grant, worked tirelessly to complete his autobiographical manuscript
before his death. It became one of the most acclaimed memoirs of the 19th
century, Personal Memoirs of
U.S. Grant. Several Ohio
sites offer a glimpse into his life: U.S. Grant
Birthplace (1551 State Route 232 in Point Pleasant) and
U.S. Grant’s
Boyhood
Home
(219 E. Grant Ave. in Georgetown) and Schoolhouse
(508 S. Water St. in Georgetown).
Southwest
Ohio Region: Darke County, Garst Museum at 205 North Broadway in
Greenville. Lowell Thomas’ 1880s restored Victorian Gothic style-home and the
museum collection honor the TV and Cinerama producer and
author of some 60 books, who flew around the world more than 30 times. His adventures
included traveling with T.E. Lawrence, which led to Thomas’ book Lawrence in
Arabia, and the movie Lawrence of Arabia.
Southeast Ohio Region: Jefferson County, 407 S. 4th
St., Steubenville. Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) and the Carnegie Library of
Steubenville Historical Marker in
front of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County honors Ohio’s
first Carnegie Library, which was approved for funding in June 1899.
First given in 1942, the Ohioana Book Awards are the second oldest, and among the most prestigious, state literary prizes in the nation. Nearly every major writer from Ohio in the past 80 years has been honored, from James Thurber to Toni Morrison.
Six of the Ohioana Award winners, as well as the Marvin Grant recipient, were selected by juries. The Readers’ Choice Award was determined by voters in a public online poll. Nearly 4,000 votes were cast for this year’s Readers’ Choice Award.
Listed below are the 2021 Ohioana Book Award winners. Click on the title to learn more about the author and their winning book.
Named for Ohioana’s second director, the Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant is awarded to an Ohio writer age 30 or younger who has not yet published a book. The 2021 Marvin Grant winner is Hagan Faye Whiteleather. A writer, editor, and professor based in Northeast Ohio, Hagan Faye studied English and Psychology at Kent State University and holds an MFA in Creative Writing & Environment with a Teaching Excellence degree distinction from Iowa State University. During her education she served as Editor-in-Chief of KSU’s literary arts journal, Luna Negra, and as Nonfiction Editor for ISU’s Flyway: Journal of Writing & Environment. Her in-progress memoir, Tangled in the Roots, explores the grounds and graves of Moultrie Chapel Cemetery, familial ties, parental loss, and the experience of providing end-of-life care. When she isn’t reading, writing, or out walking, she’s teaching creative and critical writing at her alma mater, Kent State. Her winning entry will appear in this fall’s Ohioana Quarterly.
Award Ceremony
The 2021 Ohioana Book Awards ceremony will be held on October 14 in the atrium of the Ohio Statehouse (tentatively in-person; please watch our website and social media for any possible changes). More information about the Awards and about purchasing tickets is coming soon. Congratulations to all of this year’s Ohioana Book Award winners!
For the virtual 2021 Ohioana Book Festival, we partnered with illustrator and paper engineer Merrill Rainey to create a fun contest for kids featuring his two books, Color, Cut, Create – Dinosaur World and Horse Ranch. The contest kick-off took place during the virtual festival weekend and included a live discussion and Q&A with Merrill. (There’s still time to join in the fun! Visit https://color-cut-create.com/ for contest registration and all the info on guidelines, important dates, and prizes. And be sure to check out the FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY at the end of this blog post!)
While all the young creators are busy making their submissions, Ohioana’s Office Manager, Kathryn Powers, sat down with Merrill to learn more about his books, art process, and inspirations. We hope you enjoy this special blog interview—and the bonus tips and tricks Merrill shared with us, too, that will help make your contest dioramas and stop-motion videos really shine!
Q) Can you tell
us about these two fun paper engineering books you featured at the 2021 Ohioana
Book Festival?
A)I sure can, Kathryn! The Color, Cut, Create book series is what we call “paper engineering made easy!” And what I mean by that is that each book in the series is designed to allow young creators the opportunity to be able to succeed with minimal directions. The idea for the books came from my own personal experiences with and observations of my own children. On the surface, the books appear to be super cool paper toy books about horses and dinosaurs, but below the surface there is an underlying theme present in each book. That theme is creation based on your imagination. My hope is that once each book gets built, it will not only educate the user with some basic knowledge of paper toy construction, but also inspire them to keep creating! These books are just a starting point, or in other words a means of inspiration!
Whenever I speak to young creators
about the Color, Cut, Create series, I always like to leave them with a
final question… Now that you have everything created, what else is missing
to help bring your project to life?
Q) What inspired
you to become an illustrator and paper engineer? Was there a specific book or
artist that sparked your passion?
A) As far as I can remember, I have always loved
art. As a kid, I would spend a lot of time on the weekends crafting with my
mom, and drawing monsters, wizards, and mythical creatures with my brothers.
Most of my drawing skills as a kid started from just tracing my favorite comic
book characters (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Batman, and Spiderman) until I
was good enough to draw them free-hand.
During high school, I dabbled a lot
with different art mediums, but when I look back at it, I was influenced the
most by impressionistic painters like Monet, Van Gogh, and Matisse.
It wasn’t really until college that a
professor of mine, Doug Goldsmith, introduced me to an author/illustrator by
the name of Chris Van Allsburg. I fell in love with Chris’ use of storytelling,
his technique, the design of his illustrations, his use of color, and how he
used value in his black and white illustrations.
My interest in paper engineering
didn’t come into play until after I had started my first job out of college. I
came across a paper toy artist by the name of Matthew Hawkins (http://matthewmadeart.com). At that time,
Matthew was creating and posting a new downloadable paper toy every week. Each
week I would download and build them, thus beginning my love of paper
engineering. Matthew’s creations inspired me to research more about paper
engineering and eventually, once I felt comfortable enough doing so, I started
designing my own paper toy creations.
Q) That leads
perfectly into our next question! Your paper toys are so detailed, and there is
such a variety of figures and accessories for kids to craft. How do you design
your build-able creations?
A) First, I start with creating a plan in my
notebook. My notebook is where I always jot down ideas and how I think they
will work and function. I create multiple small sketches (called thumbnail
sketches) until I have my idea just right. From there, I take my thumbnail
sketches into a software called Adobe Illustrator. In Adobe Illustrator I
refine my sketch into what is called a die-line. A die-line is a line drawing
of your art that acts kind of like a cookie cutter, but for paper. The die-line
lets me, or a machine, know where to cut out the paper shapes that will
eventually form a paper toy.
From there I keep making prototypes
until it’s just right. Sometimes it can take multiple iterations just to figure
how to make one toy work.
There are three things that I always
like to mention to young builders that I keep in mind when creating paper toys.
These are Creativity, Ingenuity, and Stability.
1.Creativity: What ideas do you have?
This is your brainstorming stage. This stage has no limits. It’s your
opportunity to come up with the coolest toy ever.
2.Ingenuity: Once you have all of your
creative ideas formed, now you need to figure out the best way possible to
build them.
3.Stability: One of my biggest pet
peeves as a kid was having a toy that couldn’t stand up on its own. So, I
always like to emphasize how important it is for future toy makers that
whatever you create, it has to be balanced enough to keep from falling over
when you set the toy down.
Q) That was
always a pet peeve in our household, too—no one wants a toy or figure that
falls over or has to be constantly propped up! Now that we know how your books
and paper toys are designed, let’s talk about the contest assignment. As a
reminder for readers, kids 5-8 will be creating and photographing a diorama of
their dinos or horses from Color, Cut, Create, and kids 8-12 will be making
a stop-motion video. Can you give us any tips or tricks to make an
extra-awesome diorama or animation for the contest?
A) Three things that I touched on in our kick-off
video that I really think can help your project be extra, extra awesome are:
1. Using interesting props and background
objects (trees, bushes, clouds, ground cover, extra animals, character
costumes, etc.). These can really give your audience a sense of place
(setting), and what your story might be about. These visual clues are such an
important part of storytelling. As an example . . . what if your Dinosaur
jungle includes skyscraper buildings that are tucked in between the trees? What
would adding those large buildings tell your viewer about this particular
jungle?
2. Lighting is another great tool for
storytelling. If you place a light close to an object you’ll get an elongated
shadow, or if you have the light high above an object you will get a smaller
shadow. The length of shadows can really tell what time of day it is, or add
some extra drama to your project. For example, elongated shadows usually
indicate sunrise or sunset. Most people see sunsets as a goodbye scene as it
indicates the end of the day. So, envision that your best dino friend is moving
away and the sun is setting in the background. Similarly, people will see
sunrise as the start to a new day. Envision the sun rising as your horses start
out on a new journey. Smaller shadows usually indicate midday, as the sun is
higher in the sky. Most people will agree that the sun is the hottest when it
is the highest in the sky, so the phrase high noon comes to mind. This
particular lighting technique is great for indicating a hot day. Maybe your
dinos and horses are crossing a hot dessert (maybe a wasteland) and there is no
water in sight. The sun would be high in the sky beating down on them. Or maybe
it’s a hot summer day, again the sun is high in the sky, but this time your
horse’s or dino’s ice cream is melting. I bet they can’t wait till sunset, when
the temperature will be just a little bit cooler and they can finally enjoy
their ice cream without it melting!
3. Whether you are animating or not, the use of
camera angles is such a great way to add visual interest to your projects. If
you are animating, camera angles can help with the pacing of a story. A simple
close-up of a character placed between your bird’s eye view scenes can really
enhance your project. You can re-watch the contest kick-off video for camera
angle inspiration.
One last thing that I think is
important when taking a photo or shooting a stop-motion animation is the use of
a tripod or easel (or maybe even a stack of books) to create a stable base or
stand of some sort for your camera or tablet. Having a steady hand when
photographing is not always an easy thing to do, but having a tripod or some
kind of camera support will give your device extra stability. Having a stable
device will help your photographs look less blurry, and your stop motion
animation will appear smoother.
Q) Any other
advice for the contest participants?
A) Let your imagination run wild with this
project! There are limitless possibilities of ideas and things you can create
based on each of these books. But before you do anything, be sure to make a
plan. And if you need help with figuring out how to build or animate something,
just ask a sibling, friend, parent, or another family member if they can help.
I guarantee that once they see what you are working on, they will want to join
in on all of the fun!
Seeing some of the contest entries
in-progress pictures on social media has really inspired me! I can’t wait to
see what each and every one of our young creators come up with! Kathryn, to you
and everyone at the Ohioana Book Festival, THANK YOU for hosting the contest
and inviting me to be a part of this year’s event!
A big thank you to
Merrill for giving us this behind-the-scenes peek into his creative life with
this insightful interview, and for partnering with us to bring young creators this
exciting contest!
If you want to join in and have the opportunity to win a FREE copy of either Color, Cut, Create – Dinosaur World or Horse Ranch, please leave a comment on this blog post OR comment on and retweet our contest Twitter post by midnight (Eastern time) on 5/27/2021. Good luck!
We CAN’T WAIT to
see everyone’s submissions! Happy creating!