Special Guest Northern Highlight - SCBWI North West

Special Guest Northern Highlight

SCBWI North West

 Tell us about the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) North West.

SCBWI NW has around 75 members currently and until recently we met once a month on a Saturday in the events room at Waterstones, Manchester Deansgate. Though Manchester is our central point, members come from Cumbria, Shropshire and Sheffield. We generally split into age groups for critiquing with a large picture book group, a more compact middle grade group, a tween group that sometimes merges with YA and sometimes goes its own sweet way, and a YA group (they tend to make the most noise!). After critiquing, we have lunch and aim to have a workshop in the early afternoon.

     

How have you had to adapt to COVID-19?

Obviously face-to-face meetings are not an option for the time being. Like the rest of the world, we have become converts to Zoom and now our critique groups meet online. As usual, we submit work for critiquing two weeks before our meeting and then share feedback online. We found that we were missing the cross-critique group chat so we’ve had a number of virtual socials. Another new initiative has been two book groups. As you might expect, we have a monthly book group to discuss new children’s books but, in a daring move, we have also set up a book group to discuss books written for adults! All of these groups have had healthy numbers and have been a welcome distraction.

 

     Tell us a bit about your recent events, successes and ventures. 

As part of Manchester Book Festival with Manchester Metropolitan University, we had an event to celebrate some of the books written by our members: Louisa Reid (Gloves Off and Wrecked), Marie Basting (BMX Princess) and Anna Mainwaring (Tulip Taylor and Rebel with a Cupcake). This was a panel event followed by the opportunity to have one-to-one feedback with either an agent or an editor: Rachel Leyshon from Chicken House, Bella Pearson from Guppy Books and Anne Clark Literary Agency. 

  

(Guppy Books) (Chicken House)

(Firefly Press)

 We also had an online book launch to celebrate Susan Brownrigg’s debut MG novel, Gracie Fairshaw and the Mysterious Guest, set in 1930s Blackpool. Dom Conlon has also had two books published this year, a picture book, Leap, Hare, Leap and a book of poems about the moon, This Rock, That Rock. Ruth Estevez has a novel, Erosion, coming out later this year.

 

(UCLan Publishing) (Graffeg Limited)

We are so proud of all our talented writers as all these novels have come out of the work we have seen develop month by month, sometimes year by year. There is more to celebrate in the pipeline but we are sworn to secrecy – you’ll have to join our group to find out more!

    

What for you is the 'spirit of North’ and do you feel this spirit influences your group?

Such a good but hard question! We feel that a certain dry humour, resilience, the landscape of the North, and characters with northern voices are all examples of 'northern spirit'. All of these elements can be seen in the work of our writers. It feels rare to read children’s books with that northern voice and we’d love to see more.

    

 Who for you are the great Northern/Scottish writers and illustrators?

     Members of our group replied: Alan Garner, David Almond, Steve Webb, Caryl Hart, Sophie Cameron (former SCBWI winner of Undiscovered Voices), Danielle Jawando.

     

What are your favourite children's books set in the North?

Kes and Weirdstone of Brisingamen.

     

Why is it so important to develop and support creative talent across the country?

If publishing remains solely based in London then this restricts access for writers across the country. Travelling to meet agents or attend workshops takes time, money and energy, all of which can be in short supply. 

If we want to see books published that reflect all parts of the UK, which surely is a given, then publishers need to look beyond the same kind of voices and find something new. We love initiatives such as UCLAN’s ‘Northern Children’s Book Festival’ (originally YA but now includes MG) as it means writers and book lovers can connect more easily.

     

What would you like to see from children's publishing in the North?   

We love what you’re doing – keep at it! We’d like even more insight into what editors are looking for across the age groups.

 

You can find out more about SCBWI at https://britishisles.scbwi.org

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