On September 21st, the South Australian SCBWI community held their annual Professional Day, and what a super day of professional learning it was.
The day began with a zoom presentation from Marisa Pintado from Hardie Grant. Marisa took us through what she was looking for, and not looking for, in works from picture books to YA. She explained the imprints of Hardie Grant and why centring the child reader and authenticity are so important. Marisa was extremely generous with her time and expertise, and we cannot thank her enough for sharing this with us.
We were very lucky that Sue Whiting was in Adelaide as a fellow of the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust and was able to join us to present. Sue Whiting has a widely acclaimed body of work, from picture books to YA. It was such a pleasure to hear Sue talk us through her novel writing process and the importance of being an ideas collector.
In the SCBWI community, we learn so much from each other’s stories. Local Adelaide illustrator and writer Robin Tatlow-Lord took us through her own journey into children’s illustration. She shared images and anecdotes about the stages of her visual art career and how this led her to creating exciting work in this space.
After lunch and lots of industry chatter, Charlie Archbold took us through a probing in-conversation with writer and poet Sharon Kernot. Sharon’s haunting YA verse novels have won numerous awards. Sharon talked to us about poetry and its power, her own life experiences and the origin stories of her verse novels.
Our last speaker was another local illustrator and writer, Lauren Mullinder. Lauren shared her journey to publication—for picture books and as an illustrator for junior and middle grade texts. It was fascinating to hear about her design career, which, like so many writers and illustrators, runs in parallel to her adorable children’s book creations.
We finished with speed launches, where members shared their recent publications.
A common theme among all the presenters was the importance of persistence and finding joy in the craft of creating. A publishing contract for illustrators and writers may not be guaranteed but creative living and our own authenticity can be.
It was a wonderful day, and we look forward to seeing everyone again at our Christmas party on 28th November.
Charlie Archbold