Vashti Harrison
Vashti Harrison (born 1988) is an American writer, illustrator and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, New York. Her book, Big, received the 2024 Randolph Caldecott Medal.
Vashti Harrison
Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0
- Name
- Vashti Harrison
- Born
- 1988
- Known for
- Illustration
- Awards
- Caldecott Medal (2024)
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- film director · writer · illustrator
- Fields
- children's and young adult literature · illustration · film
- Education
- University of Virginia
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Vashti Harrison (born 1988) is an American writer, illustrator and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, New York. Her book, Big, received the 2024 Randolph Caldecott Medal.
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Vashti Harrison (born 1988) is a film director, illustrator and writer, of American nationality.
The film director was educated at University of Virginia. Activity centred on children's and young adult literature, film and illustration. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Vashti Harrison • Born — 1988 • Alma Mater — University of Virginia (BA) California Institute of the Arts (MFA) • Known for — Illustration • Awards — Caldecott Medal (2024)
Early life
Early life
Harrison was born in 1988 to an African American father and an Indian mother, who is from Trinidad and Tobago. She was in TAG (Talented and Gifted) and was described as a "quiet and polite student" by her TAG teacher Ms. Corson. She went to Nandua Middle in ACPS. She earned her BA in 2010 from the University of Virginia as a double major in Media Studies and Studio Art with concentrations in Film and Cinematography. She held the Aunspaugh 5th Year Fellowship in the McIntire Department of Art in 2010. She then went on to receive an MFA in Film and Video from California Institute of Arts in 2014, where she attended Disney and DreamWorks Animation classes.
Career
Career
=
Little Leaders series
Little Leaders series
The bestselling book Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History tells the story of 40 African-American women who shaped history. Harrison says that she was inspired during Black History Month, when she began to illustrate and write about black women from American history. The book was picked up by the publishers LittleBrown Books, and has both a UK (March 2018) and US (Dec 2017) version. The book includes the stories of Mae Jemison, Katherine Johnson, Maya Angelou and Alice Bell. It was nominated for an NAACP Image Award before it was released. In January 2018 Vashti Harrison appeared on the Daily Show to discuss Little Leaders.
Illustration and books
Harrison used Instagram to get her first artistic commissions, through this meeting Apple which led to live drawing on iPads in New York. She was inspired to create children's picture books after moving back to Trinidad and Tobago. In 2016 Harrison attended the SCBWI Mid-Atlantic Conference, where she entered and won a drawing competition "Draw This!" to have her illustration shared to all their industry partners. This was the beginning of her illustrating and writing career - two months later, she had an agent - Simon & Schuster. Harrison illustrated Surishtha and Kabir Sehgal's Festival of Colours, the story of Holi, released in 2018. Her illustrations also appear in Cece Loves Science by Kimberly Derting and Shelli R Johannes. Her book (as illustrator) Sulwe won a 2020 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Children category. In 2024, her book (as author and illustrator), Big, was awarded the Randolph Caldecott Medal.
Films =
Harrison's films are experimental and rooted in Caribbean heritage and folklore. Her films have been screened at the New York Film Festival, Rotterdam International Film Festival and Edinburgh International Film Festival. She uses public appearances to offer advice for aspiring artists. • Field Notes (2014) is a visual guide to the spiritual culture of Trinidad and Tobago. Harrison shares her own stories about shape-shifters and bloodsuckers, alongside the ghosts of the islands' past. In 2014 it won Best Local Short Film at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival. It was nominated for the Best Short Film at the 2015 Edinburgh International Film Festival. • Sixteen (2015) the coming-of-age story of Harrison's mother; a metamorphosis from a difficult childhood to beautiful adulthood. It premiered at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival in 2015, where it was nominated for Best Short Film. • Forged from the Love of Liberty (2016) is a poem about curses and superstitions, named after the anthem of Trinidad and Tobago. • Harrison worked as a character designer on Hair Love (2019), a Pixar-style animated short which celebrates a positive black father-daughter relationships through the usage of black hair. The film received $284,000 Kickstarter funding, after a campaign headed by NFL wide receiver Matthew Cherry. Hair Love won Best Animated Short Film at the 92nd Academy Awards. Harrison also illustrated a children's book based on the film.
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q47492984: Vashti Harrison
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Vashti Harrison”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
References ==== External links
References ==== External links
www.vashtiharrison.com
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.American Library Association announces 2024 Youth Media Award winners. ala.org.
- 2.Alumna Vashti Harrison Publishes Book Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History. UVA Arts. July 2025.
- 3.Cheapcuts Short Documentary Film Festival short films London. March 2025.
- 4.Vashti Harrison. Simon & Schuster.
- 5.Vashti Harrison, Author, Illustrator and Filmmaker. AALBC.com, the African American Literature Book Club.
- 6.LIVE from #NOFF2016 - Director Vashti Harrison. bckstry.org Connecting & Supporting Creative Professionals in Lafayette and Acadiana. 2016-10-25.
- 7.Field Notes. IFFR. 2015-08-31.
- 8.Vashti Harrison.
- 9.Field Notes uses Visual Art to explore Caribbean Heritage. The Trinidad Guardian Newspaper.
- 10.Eye for Film: Edinburgh International Film Festival 2015 - Shorts programme. www.eyeforfilm.co.uk.
- 11.Vashti Harrison Caribbean Film. caribbeanfilm.org.
- 12.Lineup of Caribbean film selections announced for ttff/15. trinidad+tobago film festival. 2015-08-11.
- 13.Forged From the Love of Liberty Third Horizon Caribbean Film Festival 2017. Third Horizon Caribbean Film Festival 2017.
- 14.Season of Strangers. Atlanta Film Festival.
- 15.The Interview : Vashti Harrison. Black Girl Nerds. 2017-07-26.
- 16.Director Matthew Cherry Leverages Twitter to Fundraise 'Hair Love' Film - Black Enterprise. www.blackenterprise.com. 28 July 2017.
- 17.Gibbs, Adrienne. 'Hair Love,' Pixar-Style Film About Dad And Daughter, Surpasses Kickstarter Goal With $284,000. Forbes.
- 18.Hair Love Animated Short Film. Kickstarter.
- 19.Anderson, Gayle. Black History Month: 'Hair Love' Book Signing with Academy Award Winning Author Matthew A. Cherry. KTLA. Nexstar Media. February 21, 2022.
- 20.Vashti Harrison: An Evening of Live Art Apple Store, SoHo arts pulsd. pulsd.
- 21.Vashti Harrison (@vashtiharrison) • Instagram photos and videos. www.instagram.com.
- 22.Meet Vashti C. Harrison, the Artist Sprinkling Her Magic One Book, Film & Illustration At A Time. Nia Magazine. 2017-12-07.
- 23.SCBWI July Insight 2016. www.scbwi.org.
- 24.Illustrator Spotlight: Vashti Harrison. KidLit411.
- 25.SCBWI April 2017. www.scbwi.org.
- 26.Festival of Colors by Surishtha Sehgal and Kabir Sehgal. aalbc.com: African American Literature Book Club.
- 27.Cece Loves Science by Kimberly Derting and Shelli R. Johannes. aalbc.com: African American Literature Book Club.
- 28.Vashti Harrison Receives 2020 NAACP Image Award. 24700. 22 February 2020.
- 29.WRAL. BEST-SELLERS: CHILDREN'S BOOKS :: WRAL.com. WRAL.com.
- 30.Harrison, Vashti. Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 2017-12-05. 9780316475112.
- 31.Vashti Harrison. F = For women on the rise.
- 32.Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison. aalbc.com: African American Literature Book Club.
- 33.The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Comedy Central.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q47492984: Vashti HarrisonWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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