The Green Room

Sparking conversations about language, nature, and imagination

Our Most Recent Event:

Brian Selznick in the Green Room on May 2oth

We welcomed renowned author and illustrator Brian Selznick to Hawaiʻi, and to the Green Room on Oʻahu at the Hanahauʻoli School on Saturday, May 20th, 2023, at 6:30pm.

The Associated Press called Selznick “one of publishing’s most imaginative storytellers.” Selznick’s most recent bestselling novel Kaleidoscope was a New York Times Notable Children’s Book of 2021.

In praising his body of work, The Washington Post said, “Brian Selznick proves to be that rare creator capable of following one masterpiece with another.”

Brian’s new immersive novel Big Tree, his most broadly reaching and ambitious work to date, is a love letter to the natural world. The story follows two tiny sycamore seeds, Louise and Merwin, as they try to save the world while searching for a safe place to grow.

The novel opens with this epigraph:

On the last day of the world
I would want to plant a tree

—From “Place” by W.S. Merwin

The story began as an original idea from film legend Steven Spielberg, with guidance by Illumination Founder and CEO Chris Meledandri. It grew into Big Tree, which was released worldwide in hardcover and ebook in April 2023.

Mahalo to Anne Swayne Keir and the Keith and Judy Swayne Fund for generously supporting the 10th year of this program as a Green Room Host, and to the Hanahau’oli School Professional Development Center for their generous support.

Illustrations from *Big Tree* by Brian Selznick

Brian Selznick is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed illustrator whose books have sold millions of copies, garnered countless awards worldwide, and been translated into more than 35 languages. His novel, Big Tree (April 4, 2023 worldwide publication), which began as an original idea from film legend Steven Spielberg, is a trailblazing adventure with nearly 300 pages of illustrations. Selznick broke open the novel form with his innovative and genre-defying thematic trilogy, beginning with the Caldecott Medal-winning and bestselling book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, adapted into Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award-winning movie Hugo. He followed that with the #1 New York Times bestseller, Wonderstruck, adapted into the eponymous movie by celebrated filmmaker Todd Haynes, with a screenplay by Selznick, and the New York Times bestseller, The Marvels.

Selznick’s two most recent books for young people, Baby Monkey, Private Eye, co-written with his husband David Serlin, and Kaleidoscope, a New York Times Notable Children’s Book of 2021, were both New York Times bestsellers. He also illustrated the 20th anniversary edition covers of the Harry Potter series. His recent collaborations include a reimagined Nutcracker at the Joffrey Ballet with Christopher Wheeldon and a screenplay of the forthcoming animated version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby with William Joyce as director.

Recently:

Dr. Bill Baker in The Green Room (Online Broadcast)

In January, The Merwin Conservancy held its first “Green Room” arts and ecology event of the year, with renowned botanist and Merwin Conservancy researcher-in-residence Dr. Bill Baker. Hosted at the historic Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Center on Maui, this special event featured Billʻs important work with a team of researchers to complete the tree of life for flowering plants— an evolutionary roadmap that is essential for the exploration of the properties of life on Earth.

Mahalo to Anne Swayne Keir and the Keith and Judy Swayne Fund for generously supporting the 10th year of this program as a Green Room Host.