Some say it’s worth the detour, I’d say it’s worth the trip: the first SCBWI Europolitan Conference in Paris. I know it’s worth the trip, because as the Regional Advisor of SCBWI The Netherlands I am one of the organizers of this amazing and inspiring conference for children’s book writers and illustrators. We bring you a conference packed with workshops, presentations and opportunities to share your work. Attend sessions that meet your interests, whether you’re published or unpublished, an illustrator and/or a writer. • Work with our faculty in small groups to develop your craft • Register for a professional critique to get individual advice on your projects • Meet fellow members and potential critique partners • Enter some friendly contests and get your…
Mina Witteman – author | editor | teacher of creative writing
Posts tagged “SCBWI”
Daily prompt prompts me to write an entire blog post without using three-letter-words. A true challenge, particularly to a foreigner like me. Could I do that? An entire post without a single three-letter-word? We will discover quickly. When procrastinating my days away on the internet, I came across this wonderful blog post by Shaun Levin. Shaun is an English writer. He is also a writing teacher, always exploring ways to inspire students, ways to inspire himself. When Shaun designs writing courses, he bases them on a premise: through direct experience of a city writers deepen their understanding, their experience of a sense of place, they become more aware of a city’s relevance to whichever prose genre. By writing, eating, walking, floating around a city,…
We are looking back at an excellent first SCBWI NL conference. I think every single participant loved the speakers, their keynotes, lectures and the hands-on break-out sessions. I particularly liked Doug Cushman’s opening keynote and his advice to always remember how you started, why you started, and, most important, what drove you to wanting to be a writer or an illustrator. His Space Cat is a terrific illustration of that: written when Doug was 8 years old and published a couple of years ago. As he said: we don’t change that much. Erzsi Deàk of the Hen&ink Agency enlightened us on what agents and editors are looking for these days. Her breakdown of the buzz at the Frankfurt International Book Fair was insightful and helpful…
Three things came together this past week. We had a couple of late bloomers signing up for the first SCBWI conference in the Netherlands. Yay! D-Day is this coming Saturday and I am very, very excited about the illustrious illustrator and writer Doug Cushman who will open the conference. The title of his keynote? In the Beginning Was Space Cat. Who doesn’t remember the cosmic adventures of the space hero who effortlessly rivals Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon and many other great space age heroes? Space Cat was the onset of Doug’s stellar career, as it still is the onset of the reading careers of so many kids. The other thing that came to me was the Literary Death Match. These killing matches, as co-creator…
We are happy to announce that the preparations for the first conference of the SCBWI The Netherlands chapter are in full blast. The registrations are in, the speakers are lined up, the venue is ready! But… We have a couple more seats available, so we have decided to extend the registration period until October 8. First come, first serve! We also have two more spots available for manuscript reviews and some more for the portfolio reviews. So polish up your WIPs and dust off your illustrations, and send them in. Agent Erzsi Deàk and Writing Coach Sarah Blake Johnson are ready to provide you with the most valuable advice on your projects. Submission deadline: 8 October latest! If you sign up for a portfolio review…
Mina Witteman 