Author, illustrator, and filmmaker Vashti Harrison (Film/Video MFA 14) has been named the recipient of the 2020 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Children for her work on Lupita Nyong’o’s book Sulwe.
Harrison was twice nominated in the category for her illustrations in Sulwe (Simon & Schuster, BFYR) and Matthew A. Cherry’s Hair Love (Kokila). The latter’s short film adaptation recently won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short.
“The story has an incredibly moving and powerful message, while at the same time shares a fun and whimsical adventure,” Harrison was quoted in an April 2019 Forbes article about Sulwe’s release. “I wanted to infuse every page with as much elegance and thoughtfulness, as much magic and wonder, so readers would want to come back again and again.”
Harrison previously received the 2018 NAACP Image Award in the same category for her debut illustrated book Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History (Little Brown Books), which spent eight weeks on The New York Times’ Best Sellers List (Children’s Middle Grade Hardcover).
See the full list of winners here.