Richard Michelson - Poet and Children's Book Author

RICHARD MICHELSON is a prize-winning poet and children’s book author. His first book, Tap Dancing for the Relatives, was praised by Nobel Laureate Elie Weisel as "deeply moving.". Battles & Lullabies was selected by ForeWord as one of the 12 best books of 2006. Michelson’s poetry has appeared in many anthologies, including The Norton Introduction to Poetry. Clemson University named Michelson the R. J. Calhoun Distinguished Reader in American Literature for 2008, and he was the featured poet for the 20th Anniversary edition of Image Journal. New work is forthcoming in The Harvard Review.

Michelson’s books for children have also received many honors. He has been a finalist for both the Massachusetts Book Award and the National Jewish Book Award. He has twice been the recipient of a Skipping Stones Multicultural Book Award. Other recognition includes a Publishers Weekly Best Book Award, a New Yorker Best Book Award, a Children’s Book Committee Book of the Year, and most recently, Amazon.com cited As Good As Anybody as one of the 12 Best Children’s Books of the Decade.

In January 2009, "As Good As Anybody: Martin Luther King and Abraham Joshua Heschel's Amazing March Toward Freedom," was awarded the prestigious Sydney Taylor Award Gold Medal from the Association of Jewish Libraries, and “A is for Abraham,” was awarded the Silver Medal. This is the first time in the award's 41-year history that one author has been honored with their top two awards. The Sydney Taylor Award is the most coveted award for writers of Jewish children's literature. Isaac Bashevis Singer was the first award recipient.

In addition to being an author, Mr. Michelson is a popular guest speaker. Within the past year he has lectured, and read from his works in India, Eastern Europe, and throughout the United States. He represented the United States at the Bratislava Biennial of Children’s Books in 2005. Michelson has written for the New York Times Book Review, Publishers Weekly, Nextbook and other publications. He is the Curator of Exhibitions at The National Yiddish Book Center and owns R. Michelson Galleries in Northampton, Massachusetts.

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