SCBWI VIC June 13 Meeting

Jane Godwin, Publisher of Books for Younger Children at Penguin is our guest speaker for the upcoming June 13 SCBWI Victoria Meeting. Jane will reflect on things she's learnt as a children's writer and publisher. Award winning children's writer and illustrator Jude Rossell  will talk about collecting ideas and inspiration and the indefatigable Corinne Fenton will tell us about judging the Dorothea Mackellar awards.

Please register by 10 June if you would like to attend (registration details below). 

Speaker Details -

Things I've learnt so far: Reflections of a Children's Writer and Publisher

Jane Godwin is a publisher of books for young readers at Penguin Books Australia. She is also a highly acclaimed author of over twenty books for children across all areas and ages. 

Much of her time is spent encouraging and supporting authors with whom she works. Jane is the creator of the highly successful Our Australian Girl series whose quality historical fiction for middle readers is ground-breaking. 

Jane spends as much time as she can (while engaging in a busy full-time job!) working with young people in schools, running various literature and writing programs and encouraging students in their own creative ventures. Jane has worked with Alison Lester in Indigenous communities including Groote Eylandt, Mornington Island and Yakannara.

Most of her waking hours are dedicated to pursuing quality and enriching reading and writing experiences for young people—whether it’s as a writer, a publisher or a speaker/facilitator in schools. Jane Godwin is published internationally. She has received many accolades, including the 2000 Queensland Premier's Award (Children's Books) for The Family Tree and the  2006 Aurealis Award for The True Story of Mary Who Wanted to Stand on Her Head.

She's had shortlistings in the CBCA Book of the Year Awards, the Prime Minister’s Literary Award, the New South Wales State Literary Award (Patricia Wrightson Prize), the YABBA award and Speech Pathology Australia Awards. Each of Jane's publications have been made notable books in the CBCA Awards.  

Jane's most recent novel is Falling From Grace (Penguin, 2006). Her most recent picture book, How Big is Too Small?  is illustrated by Andrew Joyner and due for release in May 2015.  

Upcoming titles include What Do You Wish For? illustrated by Anna Walker, to be published in October 2015, and Bear Make Den co-written with Michael Wagner and illustrated by Andrew Joyner, due to hit bookshelves in early 2016.

Inside the Dorothea Mackellar Awards with Corinne Fenton

Corinne’s award winning books include Queenie One Elephant’s Story, The Dog on the Tuckerbox, and Flame Stands Waiting all published by Black Dog Books.

Hey Baby! a love letter to baby, was shortlisted in the SCBWI Crystal Kite Awards for 2013. This was followed last year with Hey Mum, I Love You, Hey Dad, You’re Great and Hey Baby, It’s Christmas.

Also released last year, were Chasing Shadows, published by Ford Street and Little Dog and the Christmas Wish published by Black Dog Books. Little Dog was shortlisted for the Crichton Award in this year's CBCA shortlists.

Moving on from her role in SCBWI, Corinne is the 2014/15 judge for the Primary School section, of the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards.

Judith Rossell On Collecting ideas and Inspiration

Judith Rossell is a writer and illustrator. Her books include maze and puzzle books, picture books and novels, and have been published in more than ten languages. She has written 11 books and illustrated about 80.

Recent picture book titles include Oliver (published by Harper Collins US), To Get To Me, by Eleanor Kerr (published by Random House) and Bogtrotter, by Margaret Wild (published by Walker Books).

Her illustrated novel Withering-by-Sea, published by ABC Books, won the 2015 Indie Book Award for Children and YA, and is shortlisted for the 2015 CBCA Younger Readers Book of the Year. She teaches at RMIT and at the Australian Writers Centre, and has a cat the size of a walrus.

Show and Tell 

As usual, we will have a brief ‘Show and Tell’ segment, so if you have a recent publication to show us or news of a recent success to share (such as an award or grant) we’d love to hear from you.  

Meeting and Registration Details

Date: Saturday 13 June, 2015
Place: DiMattina's Restaurant (upstairs room), 306 Lygon St, Carlton
Time: 2pm—5pm (all are welcome to stay on afterwards to chat and drink downstairs)
Cost: $25 members, $30 non-members (includes afternoon tea)

Payment: To reserve your place, payment must be received by Wednesday 10 June. You can pay in one of the following ways:
1. Direct Deposit to: 
            National Australia Bank
            Account Name: Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
            BSB: 082 187
            Account Number: 82 863 8450

Please be sure your name appears with the deposit amount on your payment statement. Please also send a follow-up email to Caz Goodwin (carolyn_goodwin@bigpond.com) advising when payment was made. 
 OR
2.   Cheque made out to SCBWI and posted to:
             Caz Goodwin,
             37 Auburn Road,
             Hawthorn East Vic 3123.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Victorian SCBWI Committee members
Caz Goodwin - Assistant Regional Adviser
Chris Bell - Assistant Coordinator and CBCA Liaison
Serena Geddes - Illustrator Coordinator
Betty Sargeant - Technology and Social Media
Jo Burnell - Membership Coordinator, Newsletter Editor

Gatherings for 2015
Our remaining three meeting dates this year will be on:
     13 June
    5 September 
    21 November

Report on SCBWI Event - 14 March, 2015

It was a full house at the Melbourne SCBWI event on Saturday 14 March. After some highlights of members’ successes and new book announcements, award winning Young Adult and children’s book writer and illustrator, Gabrielle Wang talked about her publishing journey, from inception to today.

Gabrielle traced her love of illustrating back to a childhood gift of a set of 72 Derwent colour pencils, admitting that, as she struggled at school, it never occurred to her that she might be able to write the stories she illustrated. After writing about a dream she’d had, and some prompting from Hazel Edwards at a workshop, Gabrielle decided she could write the stories too. Her books are drawn from her dreams, as well as her family history as goldmine generation Chinese-Australians. Her favourite readers to write for are 8-12 year olds, the target readership for her acclaimed Pearlie books in the Our Australian Girl series.

Acclaimed artist Anna Walker told us that she always wanted to illustrate picture books, and has kept a visual diary of all her ideas and story possibilities since she first fell in love with pictures – ideas that can result in a new book years after they were first jotted down. One of the scenes from her picture book Peggy was influenced by the vision of a bird trapped in a shop window in Paris, which she’d captured in her visual diary more than a decade before. She often turns her exquisite drawings and artwork into soft toys and three-dimensional models, and is constantly experimenting with new techniques and media.

International bestseller James Phelan was the last speaker. In his presentation he attributed his writing talent to an “overactive imagination” prompted by reading books by Roald Dahl, Paul Jennings, and The Hobbit, among other iconic stories. Believing that writers were “old men” he pursued a career in architecture to fill his days until he would be old enough to join their ranks. He obtained an MA and PhD in literature with the same plan in mind, but continued to write in his spare time, producing the first of many successful thrillers that launched his career. Since then, he’s written more than sixteen books for teens and young adults, including the thirteen-book series for Scholastic, The Last Thirteen.

Nicole Hayes is the author of The Whole of My World (Random House 2013). Her new novel, One True Thing will be published by Random House in May.

SCBWI Victoria Gathering - 14 June

The SCBWI Victorian committee would like to invite you to our June gathering (full details below). We have a great line-up of speakers including Susannah Chambers from Allen & Unwin and SCBWI members Chris Bell and Sherryl Clark.

Susannah will speak about what Allen and Unwin are looking for and publishing. She will share her observations of the children's books scene in the US - editing, publishing, trends - and the Australian books that sell in the US market.

Chris will, amongst other things, share some insider tips on the Varuna Writers’ House selection process - this information was gathered especially for SCBWI in a one-on-one chat with CEO, Jansis O’Hanlon.

Sherryl will explain the challenges and choices available when publishing in the current era, she will bring to this discussion her experiences as an author of more than 60 books.

As usual, we will have a brief ‘Show and Tell’ segment, so if you have a recent publication to show us, or news of a recent success to share (such as an award or grant), we’d love to hear from you.

Meeting Details:
Date: Saturday 14 June, 2014
Where: DiMattina’s Restaurant (upstairs room), 306 Lygon Street, Carlton
Time: 2pm - 5pm
Cost: $25 members, $30 non-members (includes afternoon tea)

We look forward to making you feel welcome. This is a great chance to foster friendships and connections within our community of writers and illustrators.