A Visit with Vesper Stamper

Description

Illinois Prairie District Public Library welcomes nationally-acclaimed author and illustrator, Vesper Stamper, for a special guest appearance on Thursday, November 7, 2019, from 5:30 – 7:00 pm at the Germantown Hills branch, located at 509 Woodland Hills Rd., Germantown Hills, IL 61548. Ms. Stamper is the author and illustrator of What the Night Sings, a novel about Holocaust survivors in the period after World War II. IPDPL will be giving away copies of What the Night Sings during Ms. Stamper’s visit to the first 20 guests to arrive. Ms. Stamper will sign copies of her book following the presentation. While many books have been written about victims of the Holocaust during the war, the number of titles focusing on the survivors in the years after the war is significantly fewer. What the Night Sings is the story of Gerta Rausch, a teen Holocaust survivor who must come to terms with who she is and how to rebuild her life after being liberated from a Nazi concentration camp. The book’s central theme explores how people, especially children, who suffer trauma, go on to rise above their experiences as victims and go beyond surviving to flourishing. What the Night Sings tells a compelling story, punctuated with evocative illustrations in Ms. Stamper’s signature style. Vesper Stamper was born in Nuremberg, Germany and raised in New York City. Her family was an eclectic mix of engineers, musicians, and artists who didn’t think Voltaire too tough for bedtime reading, Chopin Valses too loud for wake-up calls, or precision slide rules too fragile as playthings. She married filmmaker Ben Stamper right out of college, after earning a BFA in Illustration from Parsons School of Design. Together they have two wildly creative children. When Vesper earned her MFA in Illustration as Visual Essay from the School of Visual Arts, Ben gave her an orange tree. She illustrates and writes under its leaves and blossoms at her grandfather’s old drafting table, in the pine woods of the Northeast. Ms. Stamper has previously illustrated children’s picture books. What the Night Sings is her first novel. Follow Vesper Stamper on Instagram and Facebook @vesperillustration and learn more at www.vesperillustration.com.