SCBWI Summer Spectacular More Successful--and Accessible--Than Ever |
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The first-ever SCBWI All-Digital Summer Spectacular, which took place from Friday, July 31 to Tuesday, August 4, turned out to be spectacular in every way. The historic faculty, consisting of over thirty of the brightest stars in the children’s book galaxy, delighted the audience with intimate and inspirational conversations about the art and craft of creating for children. Many participant wrote to describe their pleasure at “having a first row seat” to every session, and also commented that they felt they got a particularly intimate view into the work, process, and personality of each presenter.
CLICK HERE to watch highlight videos from the Summer Spectacular.
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Recapped: A Closer Look at the Summer Spectacular |
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“There are three things any successful writer needs: Persistence, talent, and luck. No two of those are any good without the third. You need all three…But the only one you can control is the persistence.”
--Philip Pullman
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Raúl the Third is the Pura Belpré-winning illustrator behind Lowriders in Space and ¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market. Kwame Alexander is the New York Times bestselling author of 21 books including The Crossover, Booked, and The Undefeated. Despite working in different mediums and genres, they are both dynamic, expressive, and incredibly passionate about their art, which resulted in a riveting conversation between the two creators.
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The last keynote conversation on Saturday was a meeting of two fabulous Caldecott-winning author/illustrators, Dan Santat and LeUyen Pham. They explained how when it comes to illustration, it takes so much more than drawing ability to create a great book.
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On the last day of the Summer Spectacular, we were treated to a conversation between Laurie Halse Anderson and Meg Medina. Anderson is the mind behind modern classics like the National Book Award finalist Speak, Shout, Chains, and Fever 1793, while Medina is a Pura Belpre and Newbery Medal winner known for Merci Suarez Changes Gears, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, and Burn Baby Burn. The two novelists had a serious, poignant discussion about legacy and intention in craft.
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Mac Barnett (The Terrible Two, Leo: A Ghost Story) and Jon Klassen (the New York Times best-selling Hat Trilogy) are two very smart, sharp, and funny people. They’ve developed a kind of shorthand from their six collaborations on picture books, including the Shapes trilogy, Extra Yarn, and the Caldecott Honor book Sam and Dave Dig a Hole. They were kind enough to deconstruct the process of creating Sam and Dave for the SCBWI audience.
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“My first rejection, I went into the closet and cried. After that, it was all about determination…Determination is as important as talent. Talent is certainly important, but without the determination, it’s probably never going to happen. So you need to say, Okay, okay. They didn’t want this one but wait till they see the next one!” --Judy Blume
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How do you make readers laugh? Are people born funny or do they achieve it through years of practice? If anyone knows the secret, it might be one of the three authors in the last keynote conversation of the Summer Spectacular. Lin Oliver and Henry Winkler (also an Emmy Award winner you may know from the small screen) are the creators of the New York Times best-selling Hank Zipzer series, and the new series Alien Superstar. Jeff Kinney is the author and cartoonist of the wildly popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, which is beloved all over the world.
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People in the publishing industry often talk about the close relationship between author and editor—the trust, support, and shared enthusiasm that goes into making a book. That’s all true, but few author-editor pairs have been friends since fifth grade! Many years after their first meeting, author/illustrator Grace Lin and Alvina Ling, who is VP and editor-in-chief at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, have worked together on titles including The Year of the Dog, Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, for which Lin won a Newbery Honor medal.
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The only thing that can make a conversation between two iconic writers more exhilarating is if those writers are fans of each other. Nic Stone, the best-selling author lauded for her debut YA novel Dear Martin, voiced her admiration for National Book Award Finalist, Coretta Scott King Award winner, and National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature in 2020 Jason Reynolds. Joining this duo in the second half was Caitlyn Dlouhy, Vice President & Editorial Director of Atheneum books, who has worked with Reynolds on books like Look Both Ways and Long Way Down.
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As the author of 382 books (and counting!), Jane Yolen has a wealth of advice to share. There is literally a Jane Yolen book for every day of the year, though she is best known for Owl Moon, The Devil’s Arithmetic, and the How Do Dinosaurs series. In this keynote conversation, she sat down with picture book writer Heidi Stemple (who also happens to be her daughter, co-writer, and co-conspirator) to talk about the joys of the craft. They looked back at Yolen’s classic 1987 picture book Owl Moon, and read from their latest collaboration, I Am the Storm.
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Jacqueline Woodson is a three-time Newbery Honor winner, a former Young People’s Poet Laureate, and she was named the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature by the Library of Congress for 2018 and 2019. Truly a living legend—and she could have no better conversational partner than her own editor, the venerable Nancy Paulsen, who has spent decades shepherding beautiful, award-winning books into the world.
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Highlighting SCBWI Member: Kailei Pew |
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It isn’t news how predominantly white the publishing industry is and has been for way too long. When the #publishingpaidme and other hashtags alike broke a few months back, SCBWI member Kailei Pew wanted to make a difference, no matter how big or small. Kailei came to us and asked if she could help fund tickets for BIPOC children’s book creators to attend the SCBWI Summer Spectacular.
Kailei was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.
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The SCBWI/Smithsonian Institution Nonfiction Workshop is Going Digital! |
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Our first-ever nonfiction workshop with the Smithsonian has been rescheduled and will now be held online from November 6--8, 2020. Because this is a virtual event and can accommodate many attendees, registration for this previously closed event will reopen in September. Stay tuned for more information!
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SCBWI Exclusive With...
Deanna F. Cook
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Deanna F. Cook is the award-winning author of several books for kids, including Food Faces and the best-selling Baking Class, Cooking Class, and Cooking Class Global Feast! She served as the creative development director at FamilyFun magazine and has been an editor at Scholastic, Disney, and Kidstir.com. She lives in western Massachusetts and can be found online at deannafcook.com.
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Draw This! is our monthly prompt word for illustrators. Artists can post their DrawThis! entries on Twitter and Instagram.
There is no longer a gallery for DrawThis! View the July entries by searching the tag #SCBWIDrawThis.
Congratulations to the July winners! The prompt word was "Night Sounds"
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The August/September prompt word is: Ancestors
Please note that the due date for this prompt is September 20.
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Want to appear in the next issue of INSIGHT? Post a picture to social media and tag it #FacesofSCBWI |
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Moments from our wise, funny, fabulous faculty for the SCBWI Summer Spectacular.
All photos by Sonya Sones.
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