News Release

Award-winning illustrator Javaka Steptoe will talk about his work and life as an artist at the 11th annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture at 6:30 p.m. on May 9 in the Koret Auditorium at the Main Library. A book signing will precede the lecture at 5:30 p.m. in the Latino/Hispanic Community Meeting Room at the Main.

For as long as he can remember, people have asked Javaka Steptoe if he would like to draw like his award-winning illustrator/author father, John Steptoe, well-known for The Story of Jumping Mouse and Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters. Depending on his mood, sometimes the young Steptoe would say yes; other times, no.

Steptoe no longer has to worry about living in the shadow of his famous father. He has come into his own as an eclectic young artist, designer and illustrator. In 1998, he won the Coretta Scott King Award for best illustrator for his work on In Daddy’s Arms I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers. In this collection of intergenerational poems, Steptoe’s collages capture the essence of fatherhood. His other works include Do You Know What I’ll Do? and A Pocketful of Poems.

Using everyday objects from aluminum plates to pocket lint and sometimes illustrating with a jigsaw and paint, Steptoe delivers reflective and thoughtful collage creations filled with vitality, playful energy, and strength. “Collage is a means of survival,” says Steptoe, who earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and now lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. “It is how black folks survived 400 years of oppression, taking the scraps of life and transforming them into art forms.”

Established in 1996 to expand upon the idea of looking at children through their literature, the lecture series is named in honor of Effie Lee Morris, who was the coordinator of children’s services at the San Francisco Public Library from 1963 to 1977. As one of the pioneer children’s services leaders in the country, Morris was responsible for the development of the broad range of Library services now available to the children of San Francisco. She also developed the children’s historical and research collection — also named in her honor — to meet the needs of Bay Area researchers studying our view of children and their world as reflected in the books written for them.

Past Effie Lee Morris lecturers have included Tomie dePaola, Linda Geistlinger, Karey Wehner, Toni Bernardi, Laurence Yep, Ashley Bryan, Alma Flor Ada, Thacher Hurd, Milly Lee, Daniel and Robert San Souci, Nikki Grimes and Pamela Muñoz Ryan.

The Effie Lee Morris Lecture is co-sponsored by the Women’s National Book Association and the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, please call (415) 557-4277.