SCBWI
Society of
Children's Book Writers
and Illustrators
More than 215 people attended the Austin SCBWI 2019 Writers & Illustrators Working Conference on May 18-19 and left inspired and ready to create.
Author P.J. Hoover moderates the publishing panel. Photo: Susan Johnston Taylor
Three large publishing houses were …
More than a dozen Austin SCBWI members braved the rain to enjoy a sneak peek at Lark & Owl Booksellers in Georgetown last month. Founder and general manager Jane Estes led a tour of the new independent bookstore a few …
Trisha de Guzman at FSG has acquired world rights to Adrianna Cuevas’s debut middle grade novel, Nestor’s Guide to Unpacking, about a Cuban-American boy named Nestor with a secret ability to speak to animals. Nestor and his mother move to …
Congratulations to the recipients of Austin SCBWI’s first RA Scholarship.
The scholarship was started this year by Regional Advisor Samantha M Clark to lift up a voice that shows great promise in children’s books.
We were thrilled to see the …
Congratulations to author Amy Bearce, who recently signed with agent Alice Sutherland-Hawes of the Madeleine Milburn Agency. A Southwest Texas chapter member, Amy was last year’s Honor recipient of the Cynthia Leitich Smith Mentor Award at Austin’s annual conference. Author …
Congratulations to Austin author Cynthia Levinson, winner of the 2018 Crystal Kite Award, for The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton and published by Atheneum Books for Young …
Austin SCBWI member Varian Johnson recently received a Coretta Scott King Honor award for his MG novel, THE PARKER INHERITANCE (Arthur A. Levine, 2018) from the American Library Association.
The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding …
Congratulations to the winners of our 2019 Diverse Worlds Scholarship! The contest was judged by agents Stefanie Von Borstel of Full Circle Literary and Tanusri Prasanna of Foundry Literary + Media.
The winners are:
Illustration: Reggie Brown (New Friend/First …
To ring in the New Year, Tara Dairman, author of The Great Hibernation (Random House) and The Four Stars foodie series (Putnam/Penguin) informed a full house how to deal with anxiety in the writing process. First, she confessed to …
What do you love about SCBWI?
• Speakers
• Webinars
• Workshops
• Scholarships
• Networking
• Annual conference
How does Austin SCBWI afford these amazing events?
Austin SCBWI is run by an enthusiastic group of volunteers! And we keep …
By Susan Johnston Taylor
Membership has its perks, as they say. But SCBWI has so many programs for writers and illustrators that even long-time members may not know about all the opportunities available to them.
The October meeting of the …
Writers braved the rain October 8 for a special chat with Newbery-winning author Kwame Alexander prior to his BookPeople event in celebration of his latest novel, SWING.
In a casual and candid conversation, Kwame talked about the 18 years it …
The hill country bloomed with more than wildflowers the weekend of September 14-16, 2018. Inspiration was in the air at Austin SCBWI’s first Picture Book Retreat for Authors & Illustrators.
Ariel Richardson, Chronicle Books, Abigail Samoun, Red Fox Literary and
…
Wow , what an incredible turn out for our September meeting! SCBWI Austin was privileged to have such a talented panel present at our September monthly meeting.
Our panel included Ann Rose, agent with the Prospect Agency, Ariane …
Congratulations to Austin SCBWI member Gloria Amescua for signing with agent Taylor Martindale Kean at Full Circle Literary.
Gloria met Full Circle Literary agent Stephanie Von Borstel at the 2017 Austin SCBWI conference, where Stephanie critiqued one of …
Connection seemed to be the theme of SCBWI’s 2018 Summer Conference in Los Angeles, Aug. 3-6.
Libba Bray, Lois Lowry and Lynda Mullaly Hunt all talked about how writing connects us in their keynotes.
All equal parts hilarious and emotional, …
Austin SCBWI joined the Texas Authors and Illustrators RoundTable of TLA to co-sponsor a booth at the TLA Annual Meeting this month.
At the booth, local authors and illustrators who are members of both organizations promoted their own books and …
The Austin SCBWI chapter bids a huge THANK YOU to P.J. Hoover, who’s stepped down as the Assistant Regional Advisor after serving for the last three years.
Stepping into her duties, we’re excited to welcome Gayleen Rabakukk, who has …
SCBWI Austin was privileged to have a wonderful team of librarians at our June monthly meeting. Filled with information about books, requirements, selection and state lists, the librarians gave us a peek into what the process looks like when selecting …
The Parker Inheritance (Levine/Scholastic), written by Austin SCBWI member and author Varian Johnson, was selected as a 2018 Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book in the fiction and poetry category. These awards are among the most prestigious honors in the field …
The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist by Cynthia Levinson (illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton) won the 2018 Crystal Kite Award for the Texas/Oklahoma region. The Crystal Kite Award is given to fifteen books …
Congratulations to Aimee Thomas, who has won Austin SCBWI’s 2018 Cynthia Leitich Smith Writing Mentor Award! Plus, our mentor Jennifer Ziegler has decided to expand her mentorship to include an Honor recipient, Amy Bearce.
Aimee receives a year’s mentorship …
A record 250 people attended the Austin SCBWI 2018 Writers & Illustrators Working Conference on April 28-29 and left feeling inspired and ready to work.
A rapt audience listens to Simon & Schuster art director Lucy Ruth Cummins.
Three of …
IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO BE
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN.
GEORGE ELIOT
The topic of our February SCBWI meeting led by Melissa Buron, MAB Media, was Learning, Fear and Creativity: How to use Science to Improve Your Creative …
Austin SCBWI’s annual Creators of Diverse Characters Scholarship gives scholarships in three categories: novels, picture books and illustration. We awarded two scholarships in each category: The winner gets a full scholarship to the 2018 Austin SCBWI Writers & Illustrators Working
…Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims of Hurricane Harvey across the south and eastern areas of Texas. Libraries have lost their collections and so many people have lost their homes or experienced severe damage. So we're …
Twelve finalists were nominated for our 2017 Cynthia Leitich Smith Writing Mentor Award at our 2017 Writers & Illustrators Working Conference, two of them nominated twice for difference manuscripts. And now we're thrilled to announce not one but two …
Perseverence seemed to be the buzz word at the 2017 SCBWI Summer Conference in Los Angeles July 7-9. From debut authors Stephanie Garber, who wrote the New York Times bestselling novel CARAVAL, and Kim Turrisi, who wrote the YA novel JUST …
Congratulations to Austin SCBWI Regional Advisor Samantha M Clark.…
Austin SCBWI's annual Creators of Diverse Characters Scholarship expanded in 2017 to give scholarships in three categories: novels, picture books and illustration. We awarded two scholarships in each category: The winner gets a full scholarship to the 2017 Austin SCBWI …
Picture books seem simple. They’re somewhere around thirty-two pages. They generally don’t have a lot of words. Cute characters galavant throughout. Sitting down, however, to actually create a picture book, the process presents itself as a tangled knot.
