Join the Bureau online for a conversation about Keith Haring’s life, art, and lasting cultural influence with author of Drawing on Walls: A Story of Keith Haring, Matthew Burgess, and special guest, author Tom Eubanks (Ghosts of St. Vincent’s).

This event is free, but registration on Eventbrite is required. We will send out the link to the event on the day of the event.

Registration link: https://tinyurl.com/yc5zcdxk

About the book:

Drawing on Walls: A Story of Keith Haring 

Matthew Burgess, Author

Josh Cochran, Illustrator

Enchanted Lion Books, May 19, 2020, Hardcover, $18.95

Target Age Group: 5 to 13

Purchase Drawing on Walls: A Story of Keith Haring from Enchanted Lion Books

From the publisher:

“Truly devoted to the idea of public art, Haring created murals wherever he went.

“From Matthew Burgess, the much-acclaimed author of Enormous Smallness, comes Drawing on Walls: A Story of Keith Haring. Often seen drawing in white chalk on the matte black paper of unused advertising space in the subway, Haring’s iconic pop art and graffiti-like style transformed the New York City underground in the 1980s. A member of the LGBTQ community, Haring died tragically at the age of thirty-one from AIDS-related complications. Illustrated in paint by Josh Cochran, himself a specialist in bright, dense, conceptual drawings, this honest, celebratory book honors Haring’s life and art, along with his very special connection with kids.”

“Thirty years after Keith Haring’s death of AIDS-related complications, this vibrant picture book brings the iconic pop artist’s work and story to the hearts of a new generation. Often featuring a bold black line, Cochran’s painterly illustrations drive the narrative–bursting with movement and color–utilizing a wide variety of perspectives and both spot and full-bleed illustrations to dance around the text in a suitably neo-expressionist tribute to the subject. Stylized and simplified figures fill the pages with smiling faces in a broad spectrum of skin tones and body types, opening the door on Haring’s passionately held belief that ‘Art is for everybody.’ Without erasing or dwelling on any particular aspect of Haring’s personal life, author Burgess outlines Haring’s relationships with art, with children, and with his partner, Juan DuBose, in straightforward, accessible language–from his childhood in Pennsylvania to his ‘final mark’ in Pisa, Italy (five months before his death)–with the same bold honesty and vibrance visible in his subject’s art career. Biographical, author’s, and illustrator’s notes back up the book, supplementing the broad strokes of the text with finer detail and more individual perspectives on Haring’s personal, political, and artistic legacies. An inspired, and inspiring, continuation of Haring’s intention.” –Kirkus

Matthew Burgess is an Assistant Professor at Brooklyn College. He is the author of a poetry collection, Slippers for Elsewhere (UpSet Press, 2014), and three children’s books: Enormous Smallness: A Story of E. E. Cummings (Enchanted Lion Books, 2015), The Unbudgeable Curmudgeon (Knopf, 2019), and the newly released Drawing on Walls: A Story of Keith Haring (ELB, 2020). He has edited an anthology of visual art and writing titled Dream Closet: Meditations on Childhood Space (Secretary Press, 2016), as well as a recent collection titled Spellbound: The Art of Teaching Poetry (Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 2019). More books are forthcoming, including The Bear and The Moon (Chronicle, 2020), Make Meatballs Sing: The Life & Art of Corita Kent (ELB, 2021), and Bird Boy (Knopf, 2021). A poet-in-residence in New York City public schools since 2001, Matthew also serves as a contributing editor of Teachers & Writers Magazine.