New England SCBWI
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

In December 2008, Hasbro Children’s Hospital and Imago Foundation for the Arts are presenting an exhibit called “WORDS + PICTURES: Rhode Island Celebrates Childrens’ Books” at Hasbro Children’s Hospital and Rhode Island Hospital.

Participating writers and artists include: Mary Jane Begin, Christoper Denise, Anika Denise, Marlo Garnsworthy, Jill LaMere, Ellen Blomgren, and Mara Berkley.

The Children’s Book Caucus of PEN New England has just announced the entry guidelines for its annual Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award.

Entrants must be residents of New England who have not been published in book form and are not under contract with a book publisher. (See the guidelines for more detail on what “unpublished” means.) Each person can submit only one entry, whether in picture books, novels, poetry, or nonfiction.

All submissions must be postmarked by Monday, February 2, 2009.

The Nevada region of SCBWI has been offering a mentor program for the past couple years, matching pre-published or lightly-published members with more established children’s book creators. The program is open to “mentees” from other regions, including ours, who are willing and able to travel to Nevada for in-person meetings with their mentors.

December 1, 2008 is the postmark deadline for applications, and the 2009 mentors are: Esther Hershenhorn, Yuyi Morales, Laurent Linn, Ellen Hopkins, Lynda Sandoval, Terri Farley, and Susan Hart Lindquist.

Details are available on the Nevada SCBWI website, www.nevadascbwi.org

From Steve Mooser and Lin Oliver in the SCBWI head office…

Sue Alexander, the SCBWI’s first member, who from the day she joined envisioned the possibilities of the organization and then for nearly forty years worked tirelessy, unselfishly, and courageously to insure that the vision became a reality, died suddenly last Thursday. For many years she chaired the Board of Advisors, administered the Golden Kite Award, and oversaw the Executive Office’s day to day operations. And she did all this while raising a family and authoring numerous books from schoolroom favorites like Small Plays for You and A Friend to classics such as Nadia the Willful.

The Sue Alexander Award, given each year to the most promising manuscript critiqued at the summer conference, honors her generosity in mentoring and promoting the work of aspiring authors. She is irreplaceable, but her legacy will long endure.

We would like to put together a book of tributes and remembrances from those of you who knew Sue, or were touched by her work. The book, when completed, will be presented to her family, her hsband, Joel and her three children, Stacy, Marc, and Glenn. To add your thoughts, you may respond to this Discussion Board thread.

With sadness,

Steve and Lin

SCBWI members Laura Purdie Salas and Lisa Bullard will teach a three-week online class in June that focuses on how to research publishers and put together a submissions package. The class will offer individualized feedback on cover letters, identifying special markets, writing a proposal, and other steps. Salas’s website offers more information.

SCBWI New England’s April0 2008 conference has reached capacity for the Saturday session, and we cannot accept any more registrations for that day or any walk-in registrations. So many people have already signed up that our main sessions on Saturday will fill the hotel meeting space to the level allowed by fire regulations. We will have to turn away walk-ins if they show up. We apologize that we cannot accommodate everyone.

There is still space in the Sunday session. We’re also planning “Encore” sessions to reprise some of the most popular workshops this fall. We’ll announce the dates and locations of those sessions on this website.

If you have already registered for the conference, or wish to register for Sunday only, please start here to review information about the speakers, workshops, critiques, and other program information.

SCBWI New England congratulates member Sarah Marwil Lamstein for sharing a Sydney Taylor Honor with illustrator Neil Waldman for their picture book Letter on the Wind: A Chanukah Tale, published by Boyd Mills Press.

The Sydney Taylor Book Awards recognizing the best in Jewish children’s literature are given each year by the Association of Jewish Libraries.

Each year, the PEN New England Children’s Book Caucus honors emerging writers and writer-illustrators with its Susan P. Bloom Children’s Book Discovery Award. Winners will present their work to the public at the PEN New England Children’s Book Discovery Evening in April 2008, and winning manuscripts will be read by editors from Candlewick; Houghton Mifflin; Farrar, Straus and Giroux; or Little, Brown.

Entrants must be residents of New England who have not been published in any genre (with the exception of magazines or self-publishing), and neither the submitted work nor another work by the author can be under contract to a book publisher. The Caucus judges are able to accept only one entry per person, in one of the following four categories: picture books, novels, poetry, and nonfiction.

The postmark deadline for submissions is Friday, February 1, 2008. For all the rules on submitting work for the Discovery Award, please visit PEN New England’s webpage.

The Foxboro, MA elementary schools are sponsoring a fundraiser. They are requesting author and illustrators to donate their signed books to be given away in a literacy basket. The event is November 16, 2007. If you would like to donate one of your signed books, please send your book to: Laura Brillant-Giangocarle, 2 Lauren Lane, Foxboro, MA. 02035 Contact #: 617-201-3498

SCBWI New England congratulates Massachusetts member and volunteer Melissa Stewart for winning the SCBWI/Anna Cross Giblin Nonfiction Research Grant, funded by author James Cross Giblin. She is working on a book on body science titled It’s Spit-Acular!: The Secrets of Saliva.

SCBWI New England also congratulates Massachusetts member Susan Meyer for receiving a Letter of Merit in this year’s Work-in-Progress Grants process.

Here is more information about grants and awards available to SCBWI members.

The Foundation for Children’s Books has announced its series of “Conversations with…” noted people from the field of children’s literature for 2007-08.

The Massachusetts Center for the Book has announced its 2007 Massachusetts Book Awards, and SCBWI New England congratulates two members for having their titles designated Honor Books in the category of Children’s Literature:

Sara Pennypacker, for Clementine

Elizabeth Winthrop, for Counting on Grace

TheSCBWI Memory Fund was established in 2005 to remember two SCBWI members, illustrator Anne Barrow and writer Ruth Landers Glass. At our 2006 conference,scholarships in their names were awarded to an illustrator and a writer for our 2007 conference.
This year, SCBWI NE would like to award two scholarship grants for our 2008 Annual Conference, April 12, 2008. To apply for the Ruth Landers Glass Scholarship writers should submit, by e-mail, one picture book manuscript, three poems, or ten pages of a novel or nonfiction work to: Jan Kozlowski, Scholarship Chairperson, at this email address: necritiquegroups@gmail.com
To apply for the Anne Barrow Scholarhip, illustrators should submit up to twelve samples of art 8.5x11, electronically by email, on CD, or by sending clean color copies (NO originals please!) to Margo Lemieux, Scholarhip Chairperson, Box 583, Mansfield, MA 02048 or scbwira_ma@yahoo.com Write Anne Barrow Scholarship on the envelope. No artwork will be returned. Paper copies and mailed CDs must be postmarked by April 25, 2007. Electronic copies of manuscripts and artwork must be received by April 25, 2007

Welcome to the new NESCBWI website, redesigned with updated technology and rushed into service to replace our old ailing web platform. While most of the site works as it ought to, some areas have yet to be completed—most notably the CONNECTIONS speakers directory, which will be added back as soon as possible.

Thanks to everyone who provided input and suggestions on how the New England SCBWI website could be improved, and especially to those who pointed out parts of the new site that needed further tweaks and fixes.

SCBWI New England congratulates member (and past RA) Jane Yolen on receiving the Roots of Writing Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Female Writers.

This is the first year the award has been granted. The SF-FFW announced this award in 2005 to honor seven influential female science fiction and fantasy authors: Betty Ballantine, Madeleine L’Engle, Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K. Le Guin, Kate Wilhelm, Joanna Russ, and Andre Norton.

SCBWI New England congratulates members from the region who have won Magazine Merit Plaques for material they published in children’s magazines last year. In fact, three of the four 2005 plaque winners come from our region:

• Patricia Bridgman for her story “Ghoulies and Ghosties” in Cricket


• Susan Meyer for her poem “Summer is Ending” in Cricket


• Brian Lies for his cover art for Spider

Whispering Pines, being held March 27-29, 2009, is a writers’ retreat for the serious writer. This retreat, limited to 24 full time participants, is an opportunity to work intimately with professionals in an idyllic setting.

Weekend registration includes accommodations and meals. You will have the opportunity to work with others who are committed to quality children’s literature in small groups and will also benefit from a thirty minute one-on-one critique with your mentor. You will also enjoy all of our mentors’ presentations (Saturday and Sunday) and intimate after dinner Q&A sessions, including a “first pages activity.” The setting allows for quiet meditation, networking, or attention to your individual project—you design your own retreat!

Saturday only participants will enjoy presentations from author, Ellen Wittlinger and senior editor, Jennifer Rees. Afterwards, visit with other professionals over a relaxing lunch that boasts an outstanding menu. Although one-on-one critiques are not included, genre-based peer group critiques take place all afternoon.

Sunday only participants will enjoy presentations from our author/illustrator, Maryann Cocca-Leffler, and editor, Sarah Shumway. Enjoy the company and professionalism of other participants over a delicious lunch.

On Saturday, November 15, SCBWI in Southern New England will host ENCORE 2008, a day of four workshops from recent regional conferences. If you missed any of these workshops, this is your chance to catch up and hone your storytelling and marketing skills.

For this event, SCBWI New England is teaming with the Alliance for the Study and Teaching of Adolescent Literature (ASTAL) at Rhode Island College in Providence. The registration fee of $50 includes a buffet lunch.

For information and a simple registration form, download this PDF file, print it, fill it out, and mail it in. Additional information on the workshops and presenters is below. The registration deadline is 3 November.

Directions to Rhode Island College.

SCBWI Salons are gatherings for published authors and illustrators of children’s books…

…to share ideas, triumphs, and struggles
…to discuss what SCBWI-NE can do to help us as published members
…to grow as artist
…to be inspired by experts in the field
…to get connected

Join the Writers of Lower Fairfield on Saturday, June 7, 2008, from 3 – 5 p.m. as we welcome authors Nora Raleigh Baskin, Elise Broach, and Sarah Darer Littman.

The 2008 Whispering Pines Writers’ Retreat, A Working Weekend for the Serious Writer, took place February 29-March 2, 2008.

The retreat, limited to 20 full time participants, was an opportunity to work intimately with professionals in an idyllic setting. Participants had the opportunity to work with others who are committed to quality children’s literature in small groups and also benefited from a thirty minute one-on-one critique with an assigned mentor. The setting allowed for quiet meditation, networking, and attention to participants’ individual projects in a “design your own retreat” format.

Participants enjoyed presentations from award-winning author Mark Peter Hughes, Charlesbridge Publishing editor Emily Mitchell, illustrator Ilene Richard, and Candlewick Press associate editor Kaylan Adair. Thanks to everyone involved for another successful event!

SCBWI Northern New England’s working weekend for the serious writer of middle-grade and YA books will feature authors Marsha Qualey and Louise Hawes and editor Julie Romeis. Its theme is “Feeling Your Novel: What Is an Internal Arc, Anyway?”

This retreat will take place from Friday, May 16, to Sunday, May 18, at Vermont College in Montpelier. The deadline for applying is February 8, and people are already signing up for spaces. Read on for all information about the program and instructions for applying.

SCBWI Eastern NY/Capital District is pleased to announce an

Illustrator Master Class
with Tim Gillner
Art Director, Boyds Mills Press

When: November 17th, 2007, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., registration opens at 8:30 a.m.
Where: Dominican Retreat & Conference Center, 1945 Union Street (Rt. 7), Niskayuna, NY 12309, 518-393-4169.
What: An intimate workshop of 30 illustrators focusing on the craft and process of children’s book illustration.

For everyone who couldn’t attend our 2007 Whispering Pines Retreat, Jan Kozlowski has compiled a list of writing books that the group put together.

• READING LIKE A WRITER-Francine Prose
  
• ON WRITING-Stephen King
  
• STEERING THE CRAFT-Ursula LeGuin
  
• WRITE YOUR STORY-Marion Dane Bauer
  
• NO MORE REJECTIONS: 50 SECRETS TO WRITING THAT SELLS-Alice Orr
  
• A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN-Virginia Wolfe
  
• MAKING A LITERARY LIFE-Carolyn See
  
• THE WRITER’S JOURNEY: MYTHIC STRUCTURE FOR WRITERS-Christopher Vogler
  
• THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES-Joseph Campbell
  
• BIRD BY BIRD-Anne Lamott
  
• ARTIST’S WAY-Julia Cameron
  
• WALKING IN THE WORLD-Julia Cameron
  
• WRITING MAGIC: CREATING STORIES THAT FLY (2007)-Gail Carson Levine
  
• WRITING FICTION: A GUIDE TO THE NARRATIVE CRAFT-Janet Burroway and Elizabeth Stuckey French
  
• WRITING DOWN THE BONES-Natalie Goldberg
  
• WILD MINDS-Natalie Goldberg
  
• TAKE JOY-Jane Yolen
  
• WRITE FIRST-Donald Murray
  
• BREATHING IN, BREATHING OUT- Ralph Fletcher
  
• STARTING FROM SCRATCH: A DIFFERENT KIND OF WRITER’S MIND-Rita Mae Brown
  
• ZEN AND THE ART OF WRITING-Ray Bradbury

January 30st - February 1st, 2009

Full conference information including schedule, faculty, and registration is now available at the main SCBWI website: http://scbwi.org/events/ny_09/conf_ny_09.htm.

All active SCBWI Members should look for the conference brochure in the mail. The main sequence of the conference will take place on January 31st and February 1st with an optional day of Writers’ or Illustrators’ Intensives available to a limited number of conference-goers on January 30th.

The 38th Annual SCBWI Summer Conference will take place in Los Angeles, California, from August 7-10, 2009. Save the dates!

If you missed the 2008 Annual SCBWI Summer Conference in Los Angeles but want to feel like you were there, be sure to check out:

• SCBWI Paints the Town Red: A Conference Recap (PDF) by Michelle Parker Rock
  
• 2008 Summer Conference Daily Overview (PDF) by Nancy Lewis
  
• Conference pictures by Rita Crayon Huang!
  

The workshop committee of New England SCBWI welcomes proposals for the Spring 2009
conference, “Many Voices.” The focus of the 2009 conference is creating literature in many
voices and through many forms so that all children can find themselves in the stories they
read.

This is one of the largest regional SCBWI conferences, and we welcome proposals from
everyone. We also encourage artists and writers of color, those who are differently abled,
and others from underrepresented groups to propose conference workshops. In addition to
our customary emphasis on fiction, we will spotlight illustration, poetry, graphic novels, and
non-fiction.

The conference will take place Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon, April 24th through 26th, 2009 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Some of the faculty at the SCBWI New England 2008 Conference have agreed to make their workshop handouts and other resources available in digital form through this website, or through links on their own sites. As we receive those documents and links, we’ll upload them and update this announcement.

Congratulations to the winners of the Illustration Poster Showcase at SCBWI New England’s 2008 conference!

Illustrators were invited to submit their best pieces on the theme "Take Flight," with winners selected by a jury of conference faculty on the basis of their storytelling, character, setting, color, focus, and composition. Entrants were divided into published and unpublished categories and People’s Choice prizes were awarded for entries selected by conference attendees.

Here are the winners and the randomized ballot numbers used for the anonymous judging:

Published 1st Place: Frank W. Dormer (#20)
Published 2nd Place: Kim Jacobs (#1)
Published 3rd Place: Wayne Geehan (#13)
Published Honorable Mention: Robert Squier (#14)

Unpublished 1st Place: Kelly Light (#47)
Unpublished 2nd Place: Brad Garman (#58)
Unpublished 3rd Place: Sam McCullough (#41)
Unpublished Honorable Mention: Kevin Gillespie (#66)

People’s Choice 1st Place: Kelly Light (#47)
People’s Choice 2nd Place: Jennifer Meyer (#5)
People’s Choice 3rd Place: Priscilla Alpaugh Cotter (#62)
People’s Choice Honorable Mention: Laura Foltz-Felice (#55)

We had a wonderful critique faculty at this year’s SCBWI New England conference! All of those publishing professionals agreed to accept submissions from conference attendees for a limited time, even if their company policies don’t normally welcome such submissions. They provided our conference organizers with descriptions of what they’re looking for and what they don’t need now.

This information is a perk of attending the SCBWI New England Conference, and will be available by email only to people who were at that event. We ask that it not be posted online or shared publicly in any other way.