Writing All Weekend

 The Wellington Children's Book Association is running a writing weekend.... Spaces will fill fast.

Join Us to Celebrate The New Zealand Book Awards for Children's and Young Adults 2020

The Book Awards will be virtual this year... However, we will be gathering together in person at The Children's Bookshop in Kilbirnie. We will have a short AGM where we just need to vote to remove our incorporation tag. (We incorporated to make things easier for the conferences.)

THEN IT"S PARTY TIME!

Please RSVP to us at 

the.wcba at gmail.com

or 

The Children's Bookshop in Kilbirnie

 Congratulations to all the finalists!

  

Rest In Peace Jack

It is with profound sadness that we farewell our beloved patron, Jack Lasenby 1931- 27.09.2019
Jack's memorial service will be at the Mana Crusing Club, Paremata Thursday 3rd October at 11am.

There have been many tributes to Jack. The Spinoff has collected them for a memorial page, including one from the Wellington Children's Book Association.

I ask that if you are reading this you find time to raise a glass and toast the master storyteller, Jack Lasenby.

Spinoff Memorial Page- Dear Jack we love you

Radio New Zealand announcement

2016 Radio Interview with Kim Hill

The workshop... after

We had a full house yesterday for The Skinny workshop. It was a packed day with huge amounts of information... ideas... pizza... more ideas... laughter...
We got to play with our nifty new toy... the projector. Thank you Suzanne for projector wrangling.
We love CORE education because they lent us a screen.
We LOVE LOVE LOVE The Children's Bookshop in Kilbirnie for the venue.
(Our wallets can confirm this.)
It was lovely to see familiar friends and make a whole load of new ones on the day.
And we gained some new members for the membership list. (hehehehehe)

Our warmest thanks to our amazing presenters.
Mandy Hager
Marie Hodgkinson
Eileen Mueller
Juliette MacIver
Adele Jackson
Ruth McIntyre

We all know what we are going to be working on in the future don't we... a collaborative graphic novel about a paranormal rugby player with a high stakes emotional ending, killer cover, and branded rainbow content.

Emails are going out soon to participants with extra reference material.

The Skinny on Children's Book Publishing.

The Wellington Children’s Book Association in conjunction with The Children’s Bookshop are hosting a one day workshop in children’s writing and publishing.

July 21st 10-4pm at The Children's Bookshop Kilbirnie.

The day consists of intensive aspects in writing craft, understanding the children’s book marketplace and what it takes to be successful.

The craft of Writing the Ending with Mandy Hager 
Mandy Hager, a multi-award-winning writer of Young Adult novels, will turn her laser eyes to the business of endings. How can you wrap up a story leaving the reader fully satisfied?

Writing in Tandem.
Marie Hodgkinson is a publishing tutor at Whitireia and an author of many novels. Marie will look at the pros and cons of collaborative writing.

Novice Graphic Noveling with Adele Jackson. 
Adele is a visual communicator who works across the publishing industry in illustration who works across the children’s publishing industry in illustration, comic strips, infographics, and design. Adele will explore what it takes to present a story visually.

Online marketing with Eileen Mueller
Eileen has her finger on the pulse of online marketing books for children. This is a specialist area and it helps that Eileen has had great success with her own children’s novels.

Gaps in the market with Ruth McIntyre
Ruth McIntyre lives children’s books. As the owner of the award-winning Children’s Bookshop, she is able to say what readers are looking for, what works and what doesn’t in the realm of children’s books.

The Judge's Eye with Maureen Crisp and Ruth McIntyre.
As past judges of the New Zealand Children’s Book Awards, Maureen and Ruth bring their expertise on what makes an award winner stand out from the crowd.

Juliette’s Junket- What overseas opportunities really mean with Juliette MacIver 
Juliette was recently a guest of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival. This meant flying there and then presenting workshops to children. What is expected of you at such an event? What do you need to prepare for? Is the ability to ride a camel a pre-requisite?

Lunch is provided along with afternoon tea.

Numbers are capped at 30 people and we expect this workshop day to fill up fast.

Email the Wellington Children’s Book Association Inc  (the.wcba at gmail dot com) to register your interest. Payment will confirm your place.
$50 Early Bird rate until June 30th 
$70 full rate.

The WCBA is a not for profit organisation dedicated to raising the profile of children’s books in New Zealand.

Events July August 2018

We were very sad to hear of the passing of Island Bay bookseller (and lovely person) Fay Far.

You can read about Fay here.

The Island Bay community is proposing an annual “Fay Day” in Fay’s honour, when people are encouraged to down their devices and pick up a book. This will be on the anniversary of her death each year so look out for it next 1 July (or don’t wait until then, buy a book to remember Fay anyway)

The NZ Book Council AGM is at 6pm on Wednesday 1 August at Meow, followed by an evening of True Stories Told Live – storytelling from the heart, featuring Sharon Lam, Gem Wilder, Annaleese Jochems, Hana Pera Aoake, Freya Daly Sadgrove, Curti Icon and Eamonn Marra as MC. This will be a great evening (and free! and the AGM won’t take long!) so RSVP now!

The NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are in full swing and it’s great to see a number of Wellington authors and illustrators short-listed, congratulations to them all.

There are also lots of interesting posts and competitions on their Facebook page. 

The award ceremony is on Wednesday 8 August at Te Papa, and tickets may still be available here. 

The 2^nd National Writers Forum, run by the NZ Society of Authors, is being held in Auckland on 21-23 September. Anyone who went to the first one will tell you how amazing it was, and several WCBA members have signed up already.  Have a look at the programme and see if you can find any cheap fares, it will be another great weekend. (Just for starters: the programme includes an Opening address by Philip Pullman, beamed in by videolink!)

The NWF is aimed solely at writers: “a 2.5 day intensive where writers talk, learn and share information about the craft of writing, the business of writing and the world of words”, and also a chance to meet other writers from around the country.  

Have a look at Best books I never wrote, a regular column in the Saturday Dominion Post, compiled on 14 July (you might have to scroll down) by Fleur Beale, and on 7 July by Ruth Paul. Lots of wonderful NZ titles quoted, which is great to see!

We've received a request from a local high school, as follows:

The learning support department at Wellington East Girls’ College are looking for a pool of reader/writers to support our learning support students with their NCEA assessments. These students have learning differences such as dyslexia and qualify for special assessment conditions. This will be for internal assessments on an as needed basis. The tasks may involve reading the questions to them and recording their answers. They would appreciate a calm and reassuring temperament.

We would love your support to help these students achieve their full potential. As you will be working in a school environment police vetting will be required.

(Reimbursement of expenses or modest pay is available)

If you are interested, please email Deborah Marshall: Deborah.Marshall@wegc.school.nz

And lastly, a plug for The Sapling. I’m sure you all know about this wonderful website by now, and the fantastic job it is doing in supporting NZ children’s literature,  but the editors would appreciate your support too in spreading the word and liking and sharing articles.  

Storylines Betty Gilderdale Award 2017

We are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2017 Storylines Betty Gilderdale award for outstanding service to children’s literature is our very own Maureen Crisp!!

From the Storylines press release issued today: 

STORYLINES BETTY GILDERDALE AWARD 2017 

Wellington teacher, author and literary blogger Maureen Crisp has been announced as the winner of the 2017 Storylines Betty Gilderdale award for outstanding service to children’s literature. 

“Storylines is delighted to honour Maureen as one of the unsung heroes of children’s literature in this country,” says Storylines chair Dr Libby Limbrick. “She was convenor of two national conferences for children’s writers and illustrators, in 2009 and 2015, and also serves as president of the Wellington Children’s Book Association.

Her weekly blog on news and views on children’s publishing is followed by many published and aspiring writers. She also began and continues to contribute to the online children’s writing competition Fabo Story, an opportunity enjoyed by many hundreds of children around the country.” 

Maureen Crisp is also a published author of junior fiction. 

The Storylines Betty Gilderdale Award honours Betty Gilderdale, a lifelong advocate and supporter of children’s literature, through her academic research, work as a reviewer and 30 years' committee service to Auckland’s Children’s Literature Association. Prior to 2000, the award was known as the Children’s Literature Association’s Award for Services to Children’s Literature.

The Award is given for outstanding service to children’s literature and literacy and carries a monetary prize of $2000. As part of the award presentation, to be held in Wellington on Monday 27 November, Maureen Crisp will deliver a 40 minute address known as the Storylines Spring Lecture.

Congratulations Maureen from all of us in the WCBA!!
and please put Monday 27 November in your diaries for the award ceremony. 

Keep an eye on the Storylines website for more details.