I’ve just returned from the SCBWI Canada East conference in Montreal. I had a fantastic time! It was great to meet some new people, and reconnect with friends. A huge thank you to Peggy Collins, Alma Fullerton, Lizann Flatt and Rachel Eugster for all of the hard work organizing such a great event.
The weekend started on the Friday at a Babar-En-Ville, a children’s bookstore in Montreal. There we had a chance to listen to some great reading from authors of children’s and YA books.
Peggy Collins reading from Tooter’s Stinky Wish. Photo by Debbie Ohi.Debbie Ohi opened the Saturday with a wonderful, humorous, and inspiring talk. It was great hearing Debbie talk about her struggles and experiences. I think everyone in the room came away feeling very energized.
This was my third time attending an SCBWI conference and I have to say that this was was my favorite so far. The smaller size of this conference makes it intimate enough that you can talk with almost everyone, and have a chance to interact with the industry professionals in a smaller and more casual setting. There was a great group of talented illustrators in attendance, and we had some great critique workshops and discussions with Laurent Linn (Simon & Schuster) and David Diaz, illustrator and Caldecott Medalist.
Great shot of all the illustrators during our critique workshop. Photo by Debbie OhiDebbie also won one of my prints in the silent auction! WooHoo!
Debbie Ohi after she won my print in the silent auctionThe illustrators went on a really fun sketch crawl on Sunday. It was a great opportunity to chat and do some sketching.
It was a great weekend of learning, inspiration, catching up with friends and meeting new people. Overall – a very fun and energizing weekend!
Jill Santopolo, Linda Pratt, Bonnie Bader, and Laurent Linn answering some final questions on SundayIf you want to see more photos – Debbie Ohi has a great set of photos from the conference on her Flickr page.
Debbie also has a really nice in depth summary of the weekend (with tons of great photos) on her website in 3 parts. Part 1 is here
Great conference report, Chris. And so great to meet you! Love your art. 🙂
Great write up, Chris! Thanks for sharing your impressions.