Where's the fall conference?

Oh no, October is almost gone and we haven't had wik (Writing and Illustrating for Kids) yet!

What happened? Where did it go?

Not to worry, wik is still around. Our Conference Coordinator, Tay Berryhill, is very busy confirming the final speakers for wik March 10-11, 2018 in Birmingham, and our line-up is already AWESOME!!!!

Let's start with the AMAZING Linda Sue Park! Not only is she a Newbery winner for her novel A Single Shard, but she has written many wonderful books about important issues like A Long Walk to Water, and delightful picture books for the youngest audiences, like Bee-Bim-Bop, Yum - Yuck, and Yaks Yak. Mystery is no mystery to her with two books in the 39 Clues series, and fantasy is one of her fortes with her Wing and Claw series. Linda Sue is the perfect keynote speaker for a conference that boasts "Something for Everyone" and offers more than 30 breakout sessions and a choice of six half day intensives on Sunday.

For our Illustrators, no, we won't be in Decatur this spring -- but don't worry, ILLUSTRATOR DAY is still happening - just in a different location.

And our keynote speaker for Illustrators Day is ....
     (wait for it)...
the phenomenal,
award winning,
fun and fantastic,
illustrator and
illustration instructor,
(drum roll please!)


Pat Cummings!

Pat's work includes illustrations for texts by some of the best children's book authors, including Mildred Walker, Nikki Grimes and Mary Stolz, and her own texts and illustrations, including her beautiful rendering of Carousel, her retelling of Beauty and the Beast, the touching tale, My Aunt Came Back, and the fun filed Harvey Moon books make Pat is the perfect keynote speaker for our first wik Illustrators Day.

Plus, there will be an Art Director led mentorship, agents and editors (yes, the plurals are intentional), including an agent for the Illustrators Day quickfire portfolio review session. Please note that for our first spring wik, our agent One-on-One sessions and intensives will take place on Sunday instead of Friday.

We hope to see all of our regular Illustrators' Day and spring conference attendees at wik in Birmingham in March!Check the registration page (under construction) at for more details about all of the wonderful speakers we have lined up. https://southern-breeze.scbwi.org/events/wik18/