For more than twenty-five years, I’ve been a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) . The organization supports writers and illustrators, both published and aspiring, through a website, a bimonthly newsletter (for which I write a column, “The Illustrator’s Perspective”), and local, regional, and national conferences, plus many other services.
SCBWI is essential in connecting children’s book creators – to methods for improving our work; to information about publishing; to agents, editors, publishers, reviewers and others in the market; and best of all, to each other.
For me, those connections got broader last week. In anticipation of my presentations at Seoul Foreign School, teacher and writer Christina Farley (far right in photo) invited me to meet with members of the newly-formed Korea chapter of SCBWI. We gathered over a delicious Korean meal: Christy, her husband and I, and two other writers – Leta (far left) and Jenny (second from left), who formed and directs the Korea chapter.
What’s more delightful to a group of writers than spending an evening talking craft and marketing? The hours sped by as we shared. The chapter only formed in January, but its members are active: networking all over Asia and the world (they had some great connections for me), savvy about children’s book publishing, and most importantly, serious about writing.
The chapter presented me with a wonderful gift – a display of traditional Korean kites (SCBWI’s logo image is a kite).
It was so great meeting you! I left that night on a high from chatting about writing and how the world around us can infiltrate what and how I write personally. So glad we could meet up.