It was lovely to be able to meet in person for our regular SCBWI Victoria gathering. The weather was superb and the Docklands as usual provided a beautiful waterfront vista.
Our afternoon commenced in the ‘Library at the Dock’ Melbourne with a warm welcome from Caz Goodwin, our Victorian ARA. We were at capacity (given the COVID regulations) with around 40 attendees, and it was great to see so many friendly faces.
We all love ‘Show & Tell’, the segment where members can briefly present their latest book release or award news or other bookish news. Here are the members and their wonderful new releases.
Next, we enjoyed a highly relatable talk by Jody Pratt, a Melbourne based illustrator and artist who loves all things nature, particularly animals.
Jody talked about maintaining an illustration career whilst managing family and a full-time day job—the lows, highs and the importance of determination, passion, and peers.
Her picture book, Little Bilby’s Aussie Easter Egg Hunt was published in 2020, and Little Bilby's Aussie Bush Christmas followed in 2021. Both were published by Hachette. Jody has previously managed the office of Illustrators Australia and worked in libraries for 25 years and currently works for Darebin public libraries.
Our guest speaker, Maryann Ballantyne is publishing director at Wild Dog Books, a multi-award-winning Australian independent publisher of books for children and young people. Wild Dog produce beautiful books on our environment, our history, our future, and everything in between.
Maryann has worked in the Australian publishing industry for over thirty years. She is passionate about ‘stories that tell us something about ourselves’ and ‘reflect upon where Australia has come from and who we are now’.
Good books come from the most surprising places. Maryann talked about the origins of a few Wild Dog titles, which include concepts ranging from maths and voting to being an Australian citizen and truly Australian emergency services. She spoke about what it is about the stories that excites her and what makes them saleable. There was a questions and answer segment to round up Maryann’s talk.
Maryann Ballantyne with a Wild Dog book, ‘Little Lon’
Jody Pratt (L) Maryann Ballantyne (R)
Before we finished there were two lucky door prize winners who each received one of Jody’s ‘Little Bilby’ picture books.
Thanks to our SCBWI Vic Team, Caz Goodwin, Jess Racklyeft, Amy Adeney and me (Kaye Baillie) and to speakers Maryann Ballantyne, Jody Pratt and to everyone who joined us to make it a special afternoon. Mark your diaries for our next event May 7 at Docklands.