# Richard Michelson

Richard Michelson (born July 3, 1953) is a poet and a children's book author.
In January 2009, As Good As Anybody: Martin Luther King and Abraham Joshua Heschel's Amazing March Toward Freedom, was awarded the Sydney Taylor Book 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 50-year history that one author has been honored with their top two awards. Michelson received his 2nd Silver Medal in 2017 and his 2nd Gold Medal in 2018.
Michelson has twice been a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award (2008, 2006) and won the 2017 National Jewish Book Award for The Language of Angels. He was twice the recipient of the Skipping Stone Multicultural Book Award (2009, 2003). Other recognition include a National Network of Teachers of the Year Social Justice Award 2017, two Massachusetts Book Award Finalist (2017, 2009), two NYTimes Notable Children's Books (2010, 2011), a 2007 Teacher's Choice Award from the International Reading Association, and a 2007 Publishers Weekly Best Book Award. In 2019 Michelson became the sixth recipient of the Samuel Minot Jones Award for Literary Achievement.
Clemson University named Michelson as the Richard J. Calhoun Distinguished Reader in American Literature for 2008, and he was the featured poet for the 20th Anniversary edition of Image Journal: Art Faith Mystery. Michelson's poetry has been included in many anthologies, including The Norton Introduction to Poetry, Unsettling America: Contemporary Multicultural Poetry, and Blood to Remember: American Poets on the Holocaust. Battles & Lullabies, published by the University of Illinois Press, was selected as one of the 12 best poetry books of 2006 by ForeWord Magazine. More Money than God, published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, was runner up for the 2016 Paterson Prize. Sleeping as Fast as I Can (Slant Books) is forthcoming in April 2023.
Michelson 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 was the Curator of Exhibitions at the National Yiddish Book Center and owns R. Michelson Galleries in Northampton, Massachusetts.

## Personal life

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Michelson was the son of a shopkeeper, Maurice, and homemaker, Caroline (Kay). Michelson experienced personal tragedy in his late twenties when his father was killed during a robbery. The horrors of the holocaust also figured strongly; Michelson's aunt, recalling her years as a young Jew living in Europe, is haunted by memories of Hitler's Gestapo. While his poetry for adults—published in the collections Tap Dancing for the Relatives and Battles and Lullabies—reflects the serious nature of his reflections on history, racism, and culture, his work for younger readers is inspired by his love of, and respect for family and culture.
In 1972, when Michelson was only 19, he set off on a tour of the mid-west, selling fine-art reproductions for three years and subsequently becoming devoted to art and literature. It was during this time that Michelson met his wife to-date, Jennifer Michelson, currently an Interfaith Minister.
Michelson's wife, Jennifer, and he have two children, Marisa and Samuel. Marisa is a composer and playwright. Samuel is the Director of Operations at a high end architectural hardware company called Nanz. Their hobbies include theater and biking.

## Career

Richard Michelson is a poet, children's book author, curator, speaker, and owner of R. Michelson Galleries located in Northampton, MA. He has also curated exhibitions at the National Yiddish Book Center. Michelson is a popular guest speaker and lecturer. He has traveled throughout the world talking to children and teachers about his love of poetry and social justice.
In 1976, Michelson was able to open his first art gallery which he ran for three years before moving back to the east coast and opening the R. Michelson Galleries, a 4-story monumental old bank building with 60 ft. ceilings and marble floors located in Northampton MA, which Michelson continues to run to this day. It exhibits the works of numerous contemporary sculptors, painters, and printmakers. His gallery showcases well known artists such as Leonard Baskin (sculptor and printmaker), Leonard Nimoy (photographer, actor), Randall Deihl (painter), Thomas Locker (landscape artist) and more than 50 additional artists. It also incorporates a wide range of illustration art, including original works by Theodor Seuss Geisel, Mo Willems, Jane Dyer, Mordicai Gerstein, Trina Schart Hyman, Maurice Sendak, Barry Moser, Tony DiTerlizzi, Mary Azarian, E. B. Lewis, Diane DeGroat, and Jules Feiffer.
Michelson hosts Northampton Poetry Radio, and served two terms as Poet Laureate of Northampton, Massachusetts.