2008 Mar 29 Sat to March 30 Sun in Bologna, Italy

SCBWI Bologna Biennial Conference 29 & 30 March 2008 - Manuscript
& Portfolio Review Deadline: 31 January 2008! - Join the SCBWI &
the Bologna Children's Book Fair for two days packed with
information, workshops, laughs, books, networking and much, much
more! We've lined up publishers, editors, art directors, writers,
illustrators, and agents from the four corners of the world to
bring you the latest in children's book publishing around the
world and to encourage your career and the on-going creative
conversation. The SCBWI Bologna Biennial Conference is presented
the weekend prior to the largest children's book fair in the
world in Bologna, Italy. This is a not-to-be-missed event and
there are only a few places left!

Our program includes: Paul Zelinsky talks of technique and
technology in his keynote, WHAT THE HOW!? Jana Novtny Hunter
leads a group critique: THE RELATIONSHIP OF WORDS AND IMAGES IN
PICTURE BOOKS. Pat Cummings leads illustrators in an afternoon
workshop, KILLER PROMOTION, while Susan Fletcher takes writers on
a two-day workshop journey, CROSSING BORDERS: Writing Fantasy and
Historical Fiction. Then David Saylor (Vice-President & Creative
Director Scholastic, Founder of Graphix imprint) talks about
GRAPHIC NOVELS for Children and the Graphix imprint of
Scholastic. ARIOL (comic) creators Emmanuel Guibert & Marc
Boutavant TALK COMICS, or, HOW TO SEDUCE A COW WHEN YOU'RE A
SHORT-SIGHTED DONKEY. . . and that's just Saturday!

Sunday, Kathleen Duey dazzles with THE WORDSMITH'S SECRETS,
Babette Cole talks picture books in her presentation, EVERY
PICTURE TELLS A STORY. Breakouts for illustrators with publishers
and others: INTERNATIONAL BOOKS FOR PRE-READERS, ILLUSTRATORS
INTERNATIONAL, FIRST LOOK portfolio takes.

For Writers: THE ART AND CRAFT OF STAND OUT BOOKS with three
stand-out authors; SECRET AGENTS/FIRST PAGES, FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
Leonard Marcus answers ALL the questions during his talk,
EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERYTHING.

And finally, the publishers' panel, WHY I LOVE THIS BOOK AND &
PUBLISHED IT closes the day. We adjourn to a local bookshop on
Sunday night for a closing cocktail-dinner- dance.

http://scbwi. org/events.htm and click on SCBWI@Bologna to register.
Questions? Bologna@SCBWI.org
 

Faculty

Josh Adams, together with his wife and longtime agent Tracey
Adams, co-founded Adams Literary in 2004. Prior to his work at
Adams Literary, Josh spent more than a decade in media and
publishing. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Josh received his
MBA from Columbia Business School. He and Tracey live in
Charlotte, NC, with their two daughters.

Stephen Barbara joined the Donald Maass Literary Agency in
January of 2006, where he is agent and contracts director. He
specializes in discovering, developing, and managing talented
authors with long-term career goals in the field of books for
young readers. His clients include acclaimed middle-grade
novelist and picture book author Lynne Jonell (Emmy and the
Incredible Shrinking Rat), Teddy Children’s Book Award
winner Tammar Stein (Light Years), and middle-grade novelist Lisa
Graff (The Thing About Georgie). Prior to joining DMLA, Stephen
worked brief stints at HarperCollins and the Fifi Oscard Agency.

Marc Boutavant was born in France in 1970. He is both an author
and an illustrator. His series, Ariol (Bayard) and Mouk (Albin
Michel Jeunesse), are but two examples of the many books he has
created for different French publishers (Mila, Actes Sud Junior,
among others); his book, Another Night Before Christmas is
published by John Murray Publishers in England and Cinnamon is
published in Japan by Shogakukan. With humor, sweetness and a
retro-chic style, his work focuses on the little details of
everyday life of children and their parents.

Val Brathwaite has worked in book publishing for 20 years. Before
moving into children’s books, Val started her career at
Allen and Unwin adult publishers in London where she worked on
fiction, life style books, fantasy fiction including Tolkien and
graphic novels. Val has worked with various children’s
publishers: Orchard Books, Harper Collins, Kingfisher, Belitha
Press and Scholastic. Her experience ranges from young pre-school
novelty books and board books to picture books, young fiction,
teenage fiction and non-fiction. Val has commissioned and worked
with many illustrators over the years. She is now the Design
Director of Bloomsbury Children’s Books. Val lives in
London with her husband and two sons.

Babette Cole was born in Jersey (1950). Convent educated, she
spent most of her time drawing pictures and writing stories. She
graduated from Canterbury College of Art (England) in 1973 with
first class honours. She worked with Peter Firmin and Oliver
Postgate (Children’s BBC TV), giving her the start she
needed. Since then, Babette has published over 70 books
worldwide. Her most famous book is Mummy Laid An Egg, published
in 72 languages with over 2 million copies sold. It won a Brit
Award in 1993 for the best illustrated children’s book of
the year. Doctor Dog is now a successful TV series (Sky TV).
Babette Cole is a K.I.A.D fellow.

Pat Cummings. Along with freelancing for editorial and
advertising clients, Pat Cummings has been illustrating and
writing children’s books ever since her graduation from
Pratt Institute in 1974 and has received the Coretta Scott King,
the Orbis Pictus and the Boston Globe-Horn Book awards for her
books. She has written and/or illustrated over 35 titles and
edited the Talking with Artists series and Talking with
Adventurers. Pat worked as a producer and writer for Gullah,
Gullah Island, a Nickelodeon children’s show and is now
developing a series on children’s books for a cable TV
program. She teaches children’s book illustration at
Parsons School of Design and regularly lectures on the subject of
children’s books at schools, universities, libraries and
conferences. A member of The Society of Children’s Book
Writers and Illustrators and The Writer’s Guild, she is
also on the boards of the Authors Guild, Author’s League
Fund, and the SCBWI Board of Advisors.

Kathleen Duey is being dragged through the dark woods of the
second book of a fantasy trilogy for teens and adults. To balance
her world, she has begun writing a middle-grade genre-bender, and
a book/ DVD /website project for K-3. Also in the works: a
book/film project for adults and an HBO option on an adult novel
(written with a partner). She loves the elusive and fascinating
craft of writing and works very hard at it.

Susan Fletcher is the author of eight novels for young readers,
including The Dragon Chronicles Series (Dragon's Milk, Flight of
the Dragon Kyn, Sign of the Dove); Alphabet of Dreams, Shadow
Spinner, and Walk Across the Sea. Last year her first picture
book came out, Dadblamed Union Army Cow. Some of the honors her
books have received are: American Library Association Notable
Books for Young Readers; American Library Association Best Books
for Young Adults; Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Blue Ribbon; School Library Journal Best Books; Finalist, Western
Writers of America Spur Award; and two Oregon Book Awards.

Susanne Gervay is an award winning Australian children's and YA
author. She is also an educational specialist and holds the
position of co-Regional Advisor SCBWI (Australia/ NZ). Susanne
sits on the board of the NSW Writers Centre and heads the Sydney
Writers & Illustrators Network. Her books include I Am Jack, a
rite-of-passage book on school bullying and Butterflies, awarded
Outstanding Youth Literature on Disability (IBBY). Her latest YA
book, That's Why I Wrote This Song breaks new ground with its
integration of music, film, and text with downloadable songs and
video clip on YouTube www.youtube. com/watch? v=Ess -R0dHtX8
<http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=Ess-R0dHtX8> . www.sgervay. com
<http://www.sgervay. com>

Fiammetta Giorgi joined Mondadori as an editor for the children's
list in 2002 and became Editorial Director in 2005. After a
degree in Greek and Latin literature, she began her publishing
career in 1991, as an editor for scholastic publishers (Einaudi,
Bompiani). In 1995, she moved to fiction, as an editor for the
adult paperback imprint Tascabili Bompiani. At this time, she
also began translating fiction from German and English into
Italian (translating, among others, a few titles by Christine
Nstlinger and The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants by Ann
Brashares). It was through translating that she discovered her
real passion for children’s literature.

Candy Gourlay worked as a foreign correspondent, strip cartoonist
and press photographer before discovering she could combine these
skills as a web and graphic designer. She believes passionately
that the rise of the social web is an exciting opportunity for
children’s authors to engage with readers and has been
experimenting with various aspects of the web to discover the
best ways to do this. In 2005, Candy returned to her native
Philippines to write and present the Radio 4 documentary
Motherless Nation. The experience led to two novels about
separation and yearning. Her novel Ugly City won a place in
British SCBWI's Undiscovered Voices Anthology which came out in
February 2008.

Emmanuel Guibert is one of the most ridiculously talented
creators to come from France (Emmanuel didn’t write this,
his US publisher did!). Besides the Sardine in Outer Space series
(published by Dargaud in France and First Second in the US), his
many works for readers young and old include Alan’s War,
an extraordinary biography of his late friend Alan Cope, a WWII
veteran, and The Professor’s Daughter (written by Joann
Sfar). His trilogy, Le Photographe has already been
translated and published in 10 languages --this is the story of a
Doctors Without Borders mission in Afghanistan during the Soviet
occupation. With Marc Boutavant he has created the delightful
short-sighted blue donkey, Ariol, who tries every day (but never
succeeds) to win the heart of a certain cow and whose best friend
Ramono is a tough pig.

Katherine Halligan is currently Editorial Director for Picture
Books and Novelty at Scholastic UK. She joined Scholastic in
September 2006, and since then has been responsible for
re-launching their picture book list. Previously she was Senior
Commissioning Editor at Simon & Schuster UK, and before that at
Macmillan Children’s Books, where she worked primarily on
the Campbell Books list. Originally from California, she has
lived in the UK for eleven years.

Laura Harris is the Publishing Director, Children’s Books
at Penguin Australia. She has been with Penguin for nine years
and has worked with Morris Gleitzman, Melina Marchetta and Mem
Fox, to name a few. She previously worked for HarperCollins
Publishers, where she commissioned books for adults and children,
and before that, was an Editor for the prestigious NSW School
Magazine. She has been a judge for the HQ Magazine Short Story
Competition, published various articles and reviews and lectured
in editing and publishing. Laura also spent a few years living in
a small Greek village that had three discos! Though surrounded by
creative, talented people in her work, she has checked with her
doctor who assured her, she doesn’t have a novel in her!

Jana Novotny Hunter was born in Czechoslovakia and grew up in
England. A graduate of Hornsey College of Art, she spent many
years in America where she worked as a textile designer, teacher,
writer of teenage books and a mum. Jana has written over 40 books
for children, including the prizewinning story of a deaf
girl’s struggle to become oral, Read My Lips, and the
picture books When Daddy’s Truck Picks Me Up, Little Ones
Do! and I Have Feelings. As a Visiting Lecturer at Anglia
University, Cambridge, Jana has taught illustrators about the
relationship between image and text in picture books. She also
runs writing workshops and works as an editor for
children’s books. Jana lives in a cottage by the river
Thames, a tiny piece of country life amidst
the bustle of London.

Leonard Marcus is one of the world’s leading authorities
on children’s books and children’s publishing. His
many books include Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon; The
Wand in the Word; Pass It Down; and Golden Legacy. Two books
celebrate their tenth anniversary this year: Dear Genius and A
Caldecott Celebration, the latter with an expanded new edition.
Leonard is Parenting magazine’s book critic and writes
frequently for the New York Times Book Review. This May, Houghton
Mifflin will publish his long-awaited history of American
children’s book publishing, Minders of Make-Believe. Visit
his web site at: www.leonardmarcus. com
<http://www.leonardm arcus.com> .

Nancy Miles studied book publishing at Oxford Polytechnic for
three years and then went straight into children's books where
she’s remained. She worked for various companies including
Heinemann Young Books, HarperCollins and Hodder Children's Books,
starting and ending in rights. With plenty of negotiating
experience behind her, launching her own agency seemed a logical
progression. Miles started her agency in 1993 and runs it from
west Wales. Good transport and computer links make communications
with clients and publishers very easy and, happily, she
hasn’t found the geographical location to be a hindrance.

Sarah Odedina began working in publishing in 1987 for the
literary agent Abner Stein in London. From there she moved for
four years to Penguin where she worked selling adult rights and
then in to children’s rights for Orchard Books. She knew
immediately that children’s books was the area for her and
after about 5 years at Orchard, she moved to Bloomsbury as
Publisher of the children’s list, where she’s been
for 11 years. While at Bloomsbury she has published a stellar
list of prize-winning, best-selling authors and has also had the
opportunity to launch a list in the USA and Germany.

Martha Rago's first position was at G.P. Putnam's Sons as
assistant to the Art Director, Nanette Stevenson. The varied list
included classics from Wanda Gag and Margot Tomes, new works from
both established greats such as Eric Carle, Tomie DePaola, Ed
Young, Marc Simont as well as newer illustrators such as Patricia
Palocco and Elise Primavera. Over the next five years she
progressed from Senior Designer at E.P. Dutton to Art Director at
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; then on to Henry Holt as Creative
Director. Martha worked closely with well known artists such as
Ted Rand, Peter Sis and Eric Carle, and newer artists such as
Peter McCarty, Denise Fleming, Laurie Keller, Bryan Collier,
Randy Cecil and Julie Paschkis, who won awards and critical
acclaim during this time. After ten successful years at Henry
Holt, Rago was offered the opportunity to join HarperCollins as
Executive Art Director. She is currently the Associate Creative
Director at HarperCollins.

John Shelley. Born in Birmingham, UK, John Shelley studied
illustration at Bournville School of Art and Manchester Poly
under Tony Ross, before working extensively in editorial and
publishing in London, co-founding Facade Art Studios in 1984. His
first major picture book The Secret in the Matchbox was
shortlisted for the 1989 Mother Goose Award in the UK, and
received a Parent's Choice Award in the US. Fascinated by
Japanese art, Shelley moved to Tokyo in 1987 and quickly
established himself in the Japanese commercial illustration
market. In addition, he has continued to illustrate over 30
children's books for both Western and Japanese markets. His most
recent self-authored picture book is The House of the World
(Benesse, Tokyo 2008). Recently, after many years in the Far
East, Shelley has returned to the UK, but still retains strong
links with Japan. A member of JAGDA (Japan Graphic Designers
Association) , he stands on the SCBWI Board of Advisors, and until
recently was the Illustrator Coordinator of SCBWI Tokyo.
http://www.jshelley .com <http://www.jshelley .com>

Bridget Strevens-Marzo wrote and illustrated her first picture
books for Little, Brown UK in 1990-92, after studying Chinese and
Art history at King's, Cambridge, painting at the Beaux-Arts,
Paris, and copying in the Louvre. Storyboarding for a multimedia
company added the computer to her brushes. From perennials like
Margaret Wild's Kiss, Kiss!, to Sturges's How Do You Make a Baby
Smile? (PW starred review) to the graphic Big Book for Little
Hands (Bayard, France/ Tate UK, British Book Design Award
shortlist), Bridget works from France with publishers across the
world, and her books come in many international co-editions.
http://www.bridgets trevens.com <http://www.bridgets trevens.com>
Bridget is a member of the SCBWI Advisory Board.

Marie Wabbes was born in Brussels, where she studied engraving
and illustration. Her first picture book came out with Ecole des
Loisirs, France, in 1965 and since then she has never stopped
writing and illustrating. Most of her 175 books, among them,
Little Rabbit, have been published worldwide. From her country
home, she rode and bred Arabian horses for many years. Following
her husband to Africa, she trained young African artists to
create children books using their own cultural background, and
these books were published in Cameroon and in the US.

Cecilia Yung has been in children's trade publishing since 1980.
She started as a book designer for Four Winds Press and has since
served as Art Director for Four Winds Press, Macmillan Children's
Books and Viking Children's Books. She is currently Art Director
and Vice President at Penguin Books for Young Readers, where she
oversees illustration and design for hardcover titles for two
imprints, G. P. Putnam's Sons and Philomel Books. The highlight
of her work in publishing is to discover and develop new talent.
She is fortunate to have worked with some of the major artists in
the field from legends Eric Carle and Tomie DePaola, best
sellers Jan Brett, Patricia Polacco and Maira Kalman, to
Caldecott medal and honor winners E. B. Lewis, David Small, Simms
Taback, Peggy Rathmann, Lane Smith, Emily McCully, and Ed Young.

Paul Zelinsky lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife in a
fairly recently empty nest. They have no pets and are cutting
down on the houseplants. Paul’s books have won wide
acclaim and many awards, including the Caldecott Medal for
Rapunzel and three Caldecott Honors, for Swamp Angel,
Rumpelstiltskin and Hansel and Gretel. He is known for the
variability of style and genre in his books, which range from the
much-loved movable The Wheels on the Bus to illustrations for
children’s novels such as Beverly Cleary’s Ralph S.
Mouse and her Newbery-winning Dear Mr. Henshaw. His digitally
manipulated pictures for Rita Golden Gelman’s Doodler
Doodling was a runner up for the Bologna Ragazzi award in 2006.