Wilton Library is pleased and honored to welcome Françoise Mouly, the art editor of The New Yorker since 1993, for a special talk on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m. Mouly will present The New Yorker: From Cover to Cover, called “the definitive presentation of the world’s most popular and evocative magazine covers.”
We are excited to name this as Wilton Library’s gift book selection for 2026. Mouly will be in conversation with Roz Chast, whose cartoons and covers for The New Yorker have appeared continuously since 1978.
For a century, The New Yorker cover has signaled authority at a glance: famous lettering set against images that amuse, provoke and unerringly capture the spirit of our times. Since 1993, Mouly has guided that iconic format into new visual territory, honoring the magazine’s visual authority, treating its covers as journalism on current affairs and expanding its range globally with a roster of world-famous illustrators.
In this unparalleled collection, Mouly presents hundreds of covers that explore the evolution of the magazine’s iconic look, from its origins to now. She charts the history of the magazine’s cover imagery decade by decade and highlights special illustrators whose work defined the magazine’s identity. She also brings famous, era-defining covers to the forefront, including Saul Steinberg’s iconic New York-centric map “View of the World From 9th Avenue” (March 19, 1976); the black-on-black silhouette of the World Trade Center towers in “9/11/01” (September 24, 2001), conceived by Art Spiegelman and drawn by Mouly; and Barry Blitt‘s controversial “The Politics of Fear” (July 21, 2008), depicting the Obamas’ fist-bump.
This is a book that will appeal not only to New Yorker devotees but to anyone interested in art that reflects and inspires a cultural conversation.
Françoise Mouly
Of the more than 1,600 covers Mouly has overseen for The New Yorker, many of these have been named cover of the year by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME). In 1978, she founded the groundbreaking comics anthology RAW with Spiegelman, her husband and frequent collaborator. Together they coedited the New York Times bestselling Little Lit series and the Toon Treasury of Classic Children’s Comics.
Among her numerous awards and honors, Mouly was awarded France’s highest honor, the Ordre National de la Legion d’Honneur, and Smithsonian magazine’s Ingenuity Award for her work in Education, and was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame. To learn more about Mouly’s long career transforming comics see her biography by Jeet Heer, In Love With Art.
Roz Chast
Chast is known for turning everyday anxieties into sharply funny, unmistakably personal cartoons. She has been one of the most influential cartoonists of her generation, earning many honors including the Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society in 2015 as well as the National Humanities Medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2024.
Her 2014 memoir, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, about caring for her aging parents, became a critical and commercial success, winning major awards and becoming the first graphic novel to be named a nonfiction finalist for the National Book Award. It also won the 2014 National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography, as well as many other awards.
There will be time for Q&A after the presentation followed by a book signing.
This program is cosponsored by Darien Library.
Elm Street Books will be on site to sell The New Yorker: From Cover to Cover, and Chast’s latest book written with Jason Adam Katzenstein, The Two Saddest Kitchens. A portion of the proceeds goes to Wilton Library.
Registration for this program is required. Please register online or call 203.762.6334.
For more than 131 years, Wilton Library has served as the cultural and intellectual center of Wilton with the mission to inform, enrich, connect, and inspire our community. Wilton Library is honored to be recognized with state and national awards. The library is located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road in the heart of Wilton Center. For more information, visit the Wilton Library online or call 203.762.3950.
