Making art and making space

Join us for a discussion with award-winning writer, visual artist, and publisher Dave Eggers on making art, fostering spaces for art, creativity, and empathy, and running a store selling pirate supplies that can survive and thrive in San Francisco and beyond. Mr. Eggers will be joined by Shawn Harris, an award-winning author and illustrator of children's books. Shawn's debut, "Have You Ever Seen A Flower," was called a "stunning tour de force" by The New York Times and received a Caldecott Honor. Dave Eggers' #1 New York Times bestseller, "The Eyes and the Impossible," was awarded the John Newbery Medal.

Speaker Include: Dave Eggers, Shawn Harris

Moderated by Lisa Brown

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Speaker Bios:

Dave Eggers is the author of many books, among them The Eyes and the Impossible, The Circle, The Monk of Mokha, Heroes of the Frontier, A Hologram for the King, and What Is the What. He is the founder of McSweeney’s, an independent publishing company, and co-founder of 826 Valencia, a youth writing center that has inspired over 70 similar organizations worldwide. Eggers is winner of the American Book Award, the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award for Education, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the TED Prize, and has been a finalist for the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is the 2024 John Newbery Medalist, for the most distinguished contribution to children's literature for The Eyes and the Impossible. Eggers is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Shawn Harris is an award-winning author and illustrator of books for kids. His authorial debut Have You Ever Seen A Flower,  was called a “stunning tour de force…” by The New York Times, and received a Caldecott Honor, while The Eyes and the Impossible, a #1 New York Times bestseller, written by Dave Eggers, was awarded the John Newbery Medal. The National Museum of Wildlife Art gave Shawn the Bull-Bransom Award, for excellence in the field of children’s book illustration with a focus on nature and wildlife for A Polar Bear in the Snow, by Mac Barnett, with whom he also creates The New York Times bestselling The First Cat In Space graphic novel series. Shawn lives in Half Moon Bay, California. When he’s not making books, he likes to sing, surf, and play racquetball.

LISA BROWN is a New York Times bestselling illustrator, author, and cartoonist of more than twenty books. Her award-winning picture books include The Airport Book, The Hospital Book, and The Moving Book, as well as Mummy Cat by Marcus Ewert and The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming by Lemony Snicket. Lisa is the creator of the “Baby Be of Use” series of board books for McSweeney’s and The Phantom Twin, a graphic novel for young adults. Her literary comic strip collection, Long Story Short, began its life in the San Francisco Chronicle. Lisa writes essays and book reviews for The New York Times and other publications, and teaches in the illustration department at California College of the Arts. She lives in San Francisco, where she chairs the board of 826 Valencia and drinks way too much coffee.