PNLA Quarterly, Vol. 63 No.1 Fall 1998
Karen Cushman Acceptance Speech:
Young Reader's Choice Award, 9-12 Grade
Division
Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a mystical time called the 1970s,
I belonged to a woman's group. One of our exercises was to imagine a place where we always felt calm, peaceful, at home, so that when we were anxious or upset, we could think of that place and relax. Some women thought of the beach or the woods, others church or their childhood home. I said the library. So I think it only fitting that this award for The Midwife's Apprentice is being given to me by a group of librarians. I want to thank the children of the Pacific Northwest for the honor and the Pacific Northwest Library Association for the occasion.The Midwife's Apprentice is one of those rare books that was a delight to write--I wish there were more of them. It began with the title. I loved that title and carried it around with me for a long time but I didn't know what the book was about until I got the image of a homeless child, sleeping on a dung heap, longing for a name, a full belly, and a place in the world. Then I saw images of a girl rising from her nest in a dung heap, the cat escaping from the bag, Alyce coming clean and shining from the river, the blossoms bursting forth on the trees, as the girl grew in confidence and authority, from waif to midwife's apprentice. The book took only six months to write, partly because most of the research was done for a previous book, partly because I knew this girl and this longing for a place in the world. And it seems the young people of the Pacific Northwest could also relate to the girl and the longing.
I am truly grateful for the honor and the award, and I regret that my injury has kept me from joining you today. I now truly know what "the neck bone's connected to the shoulder bone" means.