Betsy James—Alumna, 1963 and 1966
“The world is alive. Writers and artists—I am both—do their best, humbly, to be alive in the world, and to speak from that aliveness.”
The Inside Story
I was 11 years old when I first consciously realized I could look into my imagination the way I looked at the world under my hand, and could describe what I found there in words and images. My teachers were supportive, yet I learned most from the world itself, looking and listening, and the world’s lessons have proved more reliable than my teachers’. I wrote, wrote, wrote—all kinds of things, but always a journal and poetry. I drew, drew, drew—all kinds of things, from kids in laundromats to odd, experimental drawings that tried to express how I felt. I worried that I was never doing the right thing. But I was.
To young writers and artists I would say: Be still. Listen to the world, not to the marketplace. And forget advice-givers like me. Listen to the world and let it tell you what to paint and write, because you are its hand and its voice.
Current Status
Currently, I am finishing a young adult fantasy series, The Seeker Chronicles. I’m writing a chapter book, which I will illustrate in black and white. And I continue to journal and write poetry and paint watercolors for myself, because that keeps me sensible.
Career Path/Artistic Path
In high school, I was firmly told that I could not be both a writer and an artist; that in fact it was unwise to be either. Fortunately, all my attempts to not be a writer-artist failed miserably. Slowly—through college work-study and small illustration jobs (at 16 I spent the summer drawing mayfly genitalia; at 22, a year in Mexico drawing tombs)—I built up a freelance art business. From there it was only one very long, slow step to writing and illustrating children’s books.
Exhibitions
As a children’s book illustrator, I’ve had many solo and joint exhibitions of art and illustration, but the most important one so far has been:
Award History
Book awards as follows:
Recognition Through The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
“The world is alive. Writers and artists—I am both—do their best, humbly, to be alive in the world, and to speak from that aliveness.”
The Inside Story
I was 11 years old when I first consciously realized I could look into my imagination the way I looked at the world under my hand, and could describe what I found there in words and images. My teachers were supportive, yet I learned most from the world itself, looking and listening, and the world’s lessons have proved more reliable than my teachers’. I wrote, wrote, wrote—all kinds of things, but always a journal and poetry. I drew, drew, drew—all kinds of things, from kids in laundromats to odd, experimental drawings that tried to express how I felt. I worried that I was never doing the right thing. But I was.
To young writers and artists I would say: Be still. Listen to the world, not to the marketplace. And forget advice-givers like me. Listen to the world and let it tell you what to paint and write, because you are its hand and its voice.
Current Status
Currently, I am finishing a young adult fantasy series, The Seeker Chronicles. I’m writing a chapter book, which I will illustrate in black and white. And I continue to journal and write poetry and paint watercolors for myself, because that keeps me sensible.
Career Path/Artistic Path
In high school, I was firmly told that I could not be both a writer and an artist; that in fact it was unwise to be either. Fortunately, all my attempts to not be a writer-artist failed miserably. Slowly—through college work-study and small illustration jobs (at 16 I spent the summer drawing mayfly genitalia; at 22, a year in Mexico drawing tombs)—I built up a freelance art business. From there it was only one very long, slow step to writing and illustrating children’s books.
Exhibitions
As a children’s book illustrator, I’ve had many solo and joint exhibitions of art and illustration, but the most important one so far has been:
- 1995 – 96 Art from The Red Cloak, written and illustrated by Betsy James, Chronicle Books
- 1989, was included in: Brave Little Girls: Courageous Girls in Children’s Picture Books National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, 1997
Award History
- 1966 National Merit Scholar
Book awards as follows:
- 1991, Long Night Dance, Dutton Children’s Books 1989: Voices of Youth Advocates Best Fantasy
- 1994, Mary Ann, Dutton Children’s Books 1994, School Library Journal Best Book
- 1995, Mary Ann, Dutton Children’s Books 1994, Child Study Children's Book Committee Book of the Year
- 1995 – 96, The Mud Family, Putnam/Oxford University Press 1994, Our Choice of the Canadian Children's Book Centre
- 1996, Blow Away Soon, Putnam 1995, Child Study Children's Book Committee Book of the Year
- 1997, Flashlight, Knopf 1997, Junior Library Guild selection
- 2004, My Chair, Scholastic 2004, New York Public Library 100 Best Books
Recognition Through The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
- Junior Scholastic Writing Awards of 1963 – “Commendation” for poem/s, The Wise Men and/or The Gulled Gallant and the Frivolous Fair
- Junior Scholastic Writing Awards of 1966 – First place, Short-short story, Five Children
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