Fall 2006 Iowa SCBWI events

Back to writing school
10 a.m. September 30, Ankeny's Kirkendall Public Library

Come share your experiences with continuing your writing education. Four panelists will discuss various "formal" paths to continuing education, including experiences with the Institute of Children's Literature, the University of Iowa's Summer Writing Festival, and the Vermont College MFA program in writing for children and young adults. Panelists are writers from central Iowa and include Sharelle Byars Moranville, Cindy Johnson, Kay Smith, and yours truly.

Out of Left Field: Humor and Public Speaking
October 20-22, Sheraton in downtown Iowa City
(link to brochure as pdf)

This is Iowa's SCBWI fall conference, and it looks like a great one. Speakers include some excellent humor writers:

• Bruce Coville
• Sid Fleischman
• Lisa Yee (if you haven't read Millicent Min, Girl Genius, you're really missing out)

Editors/agents/art directors include

• Meghan Day, assistant editor with Holiday House
• Deborah Kaplan, art director with Penguin Young Readers Group and Puffin
  
• Paul Rodeen, agent based in Chicago with Sterling Lord Literistic
• Michael Stearns, editorial director with HarperCollins

Additional fabulous speakers include

• D'Anne Love, author
• Candace Fleming, author (she writes the excellent "scrapbook" biographies"; note that her site doesn't load properly in Firefox--use Internet Explorer)
• Deborah Hopkinson, author
• Lin Oliver, author and executive director of SCBWI
• Cheryl Zach, author
  

Photos from the July residency in Vermont

Brazilian drink night in the basement of Bishop Hall. From left to right around the table are Christen, Frances, Margaret (my roommate), Nancy, Trent, Page, Barbara, Mari, and Lisa.


Nancy and Frances pose in front of the restaurant where our whole class went out for supper one night. This place is in Marshfield, about 17 or 18 miles from Montpelier. We piled into three cars. Trent recommended the place, and it was excellent.

This is the wacky chef from the restaurant above. His dining area is small, so he invited us behind the counter to hear about his specials that night. It's worth going just to see his performance.

I thoroughly enjoyed my dessert called the "Johnny Depp." It was caramelized pastry and whipped cream.