Brett Helquist

In February 2019, Helquist was the Artist Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the 37th annual Life, the Universe, & Everything science fiction and fantasy arts symposium.

In August 2017, Helquist donated several boxes filled with early sketches of his illustrations for A Series of Unfortunate Events to BYU's Special Collections department. These sketches were displayed at BYU until the end of September 2017.

Helquist has lived in New York City since 1993. Immediately after graduating from BYU, Helquist was an intern for illustrator Robert Neubecker. For six years, he worked as a graphic designer, drawing for magazines and newspapers in his spare time. He has been published in the children's magazine Cricket, and in The New York Times. He is represented by Steven Malk of Writers House in New York City.

He also produced new illustrations for a reprint of the 1981–1991 Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series by Alvin Schwartz (Harper & Row, 2011):

Brett L. Helquist (born November 1965) is an American illustrator best known for his work in the children's book series A Series of Unfortunate Events. As such, his illustrations for that series have appeared in multiple media, including the books, the audio book covers, and the calendars. Helquist graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) with a BFA in illustration in 1993. After graduation, he moved to New York City where he worked full-time as a graphic designer, occasionally drawing for newspapers and magazines. Helquist's work has been featured in children's magazines, along with The New York Times. He has illustrated almost 50 books.

Helquist was born in Ganado, Arizona, in 1965, and grew up in Orem, Utah, with his six sisters. His love of art and his desire to become an illustrator came from reading comic strips in newspapers as a child. Helquist served as a Mormon missionary in Hong Kong, then earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts from Brigham Young University in 1993. Prior to entering the illustration program at BYU, Helquist studied as an engineering student. He took a year off during his time as a student to take a job in Taiwan where he illustrated a textbook. This experience helped him make the decision to switch to illustration and the visual arts. From there, he worked closely with Utah artist and BYU professor of illustration Robert Barrett.

Helquist produced new cover illustrations for a reprint of the 1954–1976 Green Knowe series by Lucy M. Boston (Harcourt, 2002; retaining the original interior illustrations by the writer's son Peter Boston):