Faculty

Profile

Lauren Simkin Berke is a Brooklyn based American artist, illustrator, and bookmaker. Berke draws for clients such as The New York Times, MIT Technology Review, and Rémy Martin, illustrating book covers including Katie Rain Hill's Rethinking Normal, the Paris Review Edition's The Writer's Chapbook, and the first edition of Susan Stryker's Transgender History. They are the illustrator of Were I Not A Girl: The Inspiring and True Story of Dr. James Barry with Anne Schwartz Books (an imprint of Penguin Random House), and have two books coming out spring 2026: B is for Bibliophile with Enchanted Lion Books, and Zine Making & Bookbinding with Chronicle Books. They are represented by Illustration Division.

Degrees Held

M.F.A. in Illustration as Visual Essay, School of Visual Arts, 2003

B.A. in Anthropology, Cornell University, 2001

Awards And Honors

American Illustration 24, 27, 28, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 , 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 and 43; (book) American Illustration 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 34, 37 and 44 (web annual); 3x3 Annual No. 18 and 21, Merit Winner; 3x3 Annual No. 16, Honorable Mention; Print Magazine, 3rd annual Hand Drawn, 2013; Society of Illustrators annual, ILLUSTRATORS 51, 52, 54, 59, and 60; Communication Arts, Illustration Annual 52; University College Designers Association, print illustration award of excellence, 2008.