Germany/Austria

Goodbyes and Hellos Sept 2015

Dear fellow writers and illustrators,

as you might have noticed it got a little quiet around me. Things are buzzing in a very positive way, but this left me with little time to commit to my volunteer position for SCBWI. Hence, I made a difficult but inevitable decision – I will be stepping down as RA for our region with immediate effect. The good news – Patti Buff will be taking over as RA. So I am putting our region in very capable hands! Thank you so much Patti for all your support as ARA and taking over as Regional Advisor! I know Patti has already some lovely events planned for you and I am sure the Germany + Austria region will flourish wonderfully under her guidance.

I hope to see you on future events!

Keep writing and illustrating and follow your hearts and dreams!

Warm wishes,

Maria

_______________

Hi everyone,

First, I want to say a huge thank you to Maria for all of her hard work she's put in over the last few years for SCBWI Germany & Austria. It's been a pleasure working with her and although I am sad to see her go, I also understand her need to focus on her own work. And family. And clients. And, and, and. So please join me in wishing Maria all the best for all of her endeavors!

Now that summer is over and most of the school holidays are over, play time is over and it's time to get creating. And I hope SCBWI can be a part of that. No matter what part of Germany or Austria you live in, I hope you will take advantage of some of the workshops and webinars being offered this fall.

Upcoming Events hosted by SCBWI Germany & Austria:

Going There: Romance & Sex Writing in YA Literature Webinar with Carrie Mesrobian

When: Tuesday, September 22, 8 – 9:30pm

Where: Webinar will be held on WebEx. Participants will receive an invitation to join once registered.

Are you writing a YA story but feel hesitant about how to handle the romantic kissing parts? Are you feeling unclear about how much information to include when the story turns to sexual relationships? In this webinar, we'll discuss how to approach these situations and give you the confidence and permission you need to write about this aspect of your characters' lives. Using writing prompts and reading assignments, Carrie will offer participants practical ways to find your way through these tricky scenes and situations.

About Carrie:

Carrie Mesrobian is an instructor at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. Her debut novel, Sex & Violence was a finalist for the American Library Association’s William C. Morris Award and the winner of the 2014 Minnesota Book Award. Her second novel, Perfectly Good White Boy received starred reviews from Kirkus & Publishers Weekly and was a Tayshas Reading List Pick. Her third novel, Cut Both Ways, received starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus. With author Christa Desir, she produces The Oral History Podcast, which features discussions on sex and young adult literature.

The webinar is open to SCBWI members and non-members and will be presented in English. For more details and to register, visit our website: https://germanyaustria.scbwi.org/events/going-there-romance-sex-writing-in-ya-literature-webinar-with-carrie-mesrobian/

NRW Chat and Creative Crawl

When: Saturday, September 19, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Where: Ludwig im Museum, Heinrich-Böll-Platz, 50667 Cologne

The Ludwig is the coffee shop in the museum.

Directions can be found here: http://www.ludwig-im-museum.de/kontakt.html

Fee: No cost, but bring money for drinks/food if you desire.

RSVP: Seating is limited so please RSVP by sending an e-mail to Laurel Decher at ldecher@gmail.com

What to bring: pen/pencil, paper, current project

If you live in or near North Rhine-Westphalia and you’d like the NRW Chat and Creative Crawl to come to a city near you, send us an e-mail:

Laurel Decher at ldecher@gmail.com or

Jane Joo Park at janejpark@gmail.com or

Stuttgart Meet Up

When: Saturday, September 26 at 10:30 am

Where: Stadtbibliothek Stuttgart, Mailänder Platz 1, 70173 Stuttgart, Germany

Join SCBWI member Catherine Freiss for a morning of reading, writing, drawing, critiquing and general creativity followed by booky chat over lunch. For more information email Catherine at cjfriess@gmx.com.

Frankfurt Book Fair?

When: Friday, October 16 – Sunday, October 18

Where: To be determined

Patti is willing to look into renting a house near Frankfurt during the book fair in October if enough people are interested in. Plan is to rent the house together, host a workshop on Saturday then travel to the fair together on Sunday. Costs would be around €100 per person plus food and visitor ticket to the fair. If interested, please email patti@germanscbwi.org right away.

Upcoming Events hosted by SCBWI Europolitan Regions:

SWITZERLAND:

On 12th September, Sandra Nickel will be presenting a workshop entitled "Enter: The Antagonist. No–scratch that. Enter: The Antagonists, Plural” in Solothurn (Soleure), Switzerland.

The protagonist always takes center stage. But the strongest stories contain multiple antagonists, and we're not just talking Bad Guys. Sure, Voldemort taunts Harry, but what is Harry without his inner doubts, Hermione nagging him, or a ticking clock pushing him to go faster. In this workshop, come ready to explore which type of antagonist is best at what, and how to push your protagonist to his or her limits. Using examples from Harry Potter the workshop covers 13 antagonist archetypes, providing examples of these archetypes for stories ranging from picture books to middle grade to young adult.

While this workshop will focus primarily on examples from middle grade and young adult works, picture book writers should also find it helpful.

The workshop is open to SCBWI members and non-members. The workshop will be presented in English. For more details and to register, visit our website: https://switzerland.scbwi.org/events/workshop-enter-the-antagonist-no-scratch-that-enter-the-antagonists-plural/

FRANCE:

FROM ORDINARY TO EXTRAORDINARY:

The craft of creating a great story and maximizing its market potential

Saturday, October 3

10:00-4:00pm

A workshop led by agent Sarah Davies

Founder of Greenhouse Literary Agency with offices in the UK and US

Former Publishing Director of Macmillan Children’s Books, London

The publishing industry can seem impenetrable, but this is an opportunity to get an inside, confidential look. The workshop will focus on crafting fiction that publishers will want. For more information, visit: https://france.scbwi.org/events/writers-workshop-in-paris-from-ordinary-to-extraordinary/

PICTURE BOOK WEBINAR SERIES

This webinar series starts on October 13 and is for authors, illustrators and author/illustrators. Deepen your knowledge of writing and illustrating picture books from start to finish: generating ideas, writing the story, making a dummy book and submitting to publishers. If you're just starting out or if you're further along in the process, this webinar series of four sessions will help you. Visit https://france.scbwi.org/events/scbwi-france-picture-book-webinar-series-idea-to-dummy-book/ for more information.

BELGIUM:

Online Workshop with Executive Editor Jill Santopolo of Philomel Books

October 30, 2015

9 – 10:30 pm

A craft-intensive online workshop with Jill Santopolo, executive editor at Philomel Book.

Focus on Voice:

In this two-part online workshop, we'll focus on voice, voice, voice–word choice, sentence structure, images. We'll talk about how voice and character are two sides of the same coin, and how voice and world-building are related as well. After the first lecture webinar, attendees will submit two versions of a 350-word scenes, each written from a different characters' point of view. In the second online meeting, Jill will lead 7-8 writers at a time through an analysis of the voice in the scenes, and provide a paragraph-long critique after that session. For more info visit: https://belgium.scbwi.org/events/scbwi-belgium-webinar-with-executive-editor-jill-santopolo-of-philomel-books-2/

NETHERLANDS:

SCBWI Children's Lit Craft Network Amsterdam – Theme: Inspiration and Collaboration for Illustrators

11 Sep 15

Amsterdam

A Children’s Book Art Department: An Inside Look – Webinar with Giuseppe Castellano

17 Sept

SCBWI Children's Lit Craft Network Den Haag

19 Oct 15

The Hague

Agent Day with Clare Wallace and Neeltje Smitskamp

25 Oct 15

Amsterdam