Not only is Patti Smith one of the most beloved artists ever, she is also an accomplished author with the New Yorker’s memoir taking home “One Book, One New York” 2019 contest for Just Kids.

The contest is a joint venture between the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment with Buzzfeed which had New Yorkers vote online throughout April to select the book they’d like all of NYC to read.

On top of this, there will be 1,000 copies of Just Kids available to check out at libraries throughout the five boroughs. The titles that Smith topped for the award were: Fatima Farheen ‘Mirza’s A Place for Us’, Nicholasa Mohr’s ‘Nilda’, Jacqueline Woodson’s ‘Another Brooklyn, and Min Jin Lee’s

‘Free Food for Millionaires’.

Smith’s 2010 memoir focuses on her and her late friend Robbert Mapplethorpe’s journeys life in the city as aspiring artists in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The memoir is also being turned into a mini-series by Showtime who bought the rights back in 2015 however, further details are still to be released regarding the adaptation.

Next Friday, will see Smith be in conversation at PEN America’s World Voices Festival with Buzzfeed Books editor Ariana Rebolini (2018’s One Book winning author, Jennifer Egan, will introduce her).

“When Robert Mapplethorpe and I stepped from Brooklyn to Manhattan, a half century ago, we were empty-handed yet possessed a vision of how we wished to evolve as artists and human beings,” Smith said in a statement.

“New York was the city that welcomed and formed us, was emblematic of our struggles and successes. It is moving to imagine that our story will represent, through One Book, One New York, the countless stories of those who come to our diverse and complex city, with dreams of their own. Robert would be as happy as I am to achieve this recognition, especially grateful that the book has been chosen by the same readers for whom it was written.”