Over 1,000 writers and illustrators braved winter storms to
attend the SCBWI Winter Conference in New York City. I was fortunate to arrive
in the middle of the night, just before the blizzard.
My first day was spent at the Writers’ Intensive Writing the Novel in Verse lead by
SCBWI’s Bonnie Bader and featuring Emma Dryden, Andrea Davis Pinkney, Ellen
Hopkins and Sonya Sones. The intensive was a nice balance of lecture, writing
exercises and roundtable collaborations.
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| Bryan Collier and Kathy Evans |
The conference opened with a keynote from Bryan Collier who
inspired us with his artistic journey and shared an illustrated picture book
that brought the audience to tears. He encouraged us to, “Lean into anything
you can, remember it all, even into your childhood, even if it is painful. These
are your gifts.”
This was followed by a panel about
crafting picture books moderated by Laurent Linn with Andrea Beaty, Andrea
Davis Pinkney, Greg Pizzoli and Daniel Salmieri. Andrea Davis Pinkney shared,
“I don’t tone it down for children. I take them on a journey. My goal is that
they don’t even know that they are reading a book.” Andrea Beaty spoke about
collaborating with her illustrator and mining her own imagination when her
publisher and readers wanted more Iggy
Peck, Architect books. Close examination of Iggy’s classmates in the
illustrations inspired her new book Rosie
Rever, Engineer. Greg Pizzoli compared picture books to music, specifically
punk rock. Daniel Salmieri spoke about picture books that inspired him as a
child (Stinky Cheese Man) and offered
this tip for illustrators, “Mimic the facial expressions and body language of your
characters. Feel what the character feels.”
The first day offered two breakout
sessions. This is an opportunity for attendees to learn from industry
professionals in a classroom type setting. I attended Writing Middle Grade
Fiction with Andrew Harwell, Senior Editor Harper Collins and author of The Spider Ring. He used the award
criteria for the Newbery Medal to offer advice about writing middle grade
fiction that stands out and encouraged writers to seriously consider what makes
their manuscripts different and special. A common pitfall he notices in
submissions is that they begin with a subject important to a child reader, like
divorce, yet include tons of details about the experience examining the
parents’ feelings. He urged us to stick to the perspective of children 8 – 10
years old.
Lunch was my first social of the
day, the International, Spanish and Translator Social. A large group gathered
and discussed international resources, La Cometa (SCBWI’s Spanish Bulletin),
publishing in Spanish inside the US and outside the US, international
publishers, translator initiatives (SCBWI members can contact ITC@SCBWI.org to be included on the translator
listserve) and international rights.
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| SCBWI International and Translators Social |
My second breakout session was
First Chapters with Andrea Davis Pinkney, Vice President and Editor-at-Large of
Trade Books at Scholastic. She spoke about the important elements of writing,
especially the first chapter and how to invite the reader into the chapter with
a hook - pull - hold. Hint: Think about sitting in the audience before
a play. The environment indicates that something
is about to happen and when the curtain goes up the audience should be
instantly dazzled. This is what the first chapter should do for the reader.
Martha Brockenbrough moderated a
panel about social media in children’s literature featuring Travis Jonker (The
Yarn podcast), Cynthia Leitich Smith (Cynsations) and Matthew Winner (Busy
Librarian & All The Wonders) All of whom praised Debbi Ridpath Ohi as
someone who uses social media well because: she is a resource for others, she
gives takeaways for her audience, she’s playful, she says what we’re all
thinking (through her humorous cartoons) and she is truly herself.
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| Kathy Evans and Debbie Ridpath Ohi |
Taherah Mafi spoke about her
journey for the closing keynote. She said, “When your skin is thin and you feel
things deeply, this can seem like a problem but actually for a writer this is
not a problem, feeling deeply is something positive.”
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| Taherah Mafi and Kathy Evans getting cozy over Taherah's book Shatter |
SCBWI threw a Gala Dinner for all
in attendance. Imagine a party with 1,000 friends old and new. At the
conference I met Tribute Fund award winner Kathy Evans of SCBWI British Isles
who has now stepped into the role of co-RA for the region. Kathy’s debut novel More of Me will be released in Germany
soon.
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| Kathy Evans German cover |
You might think that would be a
full day at a conference. But SCBWI is known for socials. After the Gala Dinner
Party was the opportunity to attend one of three socials: Illustrators, New
Members & First Time Attendees, or LGBTQ & Allies. I attended the LGBTQ
Social. We discussed new trends in LGBTQ literature with industry experts and
shared our challenges and successes. Greg McGoon told of how his fairytale
picture book The Royal Heart received
positive national media attention and has been acquired by the GSAs of many
schools.
Stay tuned for Day 2 in a future blog post.
Angela Cerrito serves as SCBWI’s Assistant International Advisor. Her novel, THE SAFEST LIE (Holiday House) has been named one of The Guardian’s Best Children’s Books of 2015, a Notable Social Studies Book for Young Readers, a Jewish Book Award Finalist, a Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Older Readers and SCBWI’s Crystal Kite Award. THE SAFEST LIE is based on her research in Warsaw, Poland, including interviewing Irena Sendler, a mastermind spy and member of the Polish resistance who helped over 2,500 children escape the Warsaw ghetto. This research was made possible with the help of SCBWI’s Kimberly Colen Memorial Grant. Angela’s debut novel, THE END OF THE LINE (Holiday House, 2011) about a boy coming to terms with his role in the death of a friend, received many awards including VOYA’s Top of the Top Shelf. Her one-act play IF THEY COME TONIGHT, based on the life of Irena Sendler, was produced in Texas. She speaks about writing, early literacy and the Warsaw ghetto children rescues at schools, workshops and international festivals. www.angelacerrito.com
