PYI 2024 Sessions: in person ON Saturday, October 26, 2024

The Importance of Storytelling
As storytellers, it’s important to understand the significance of storytelling and how it connects us to our readers. Being a storyteller is a responsibility with a long history and I’m excited to share some traditional stories and talk about why what we do is so important.

Speaker Melanie Florence

Un-Stick Your Picture Book Manuscript: Tell It What It Is

If your picture book manuscript is falling flat despite great crafting and characters, the culprit is often an identity crisis: it has lost track of what it is, who it’s for, or what its core themes are. Gain clarity and confidence in your writing and revising by pinning all those down. Come with a manuscript-in-progress to workshop!

Speaker Erin Alladin

Face the Facts: Crafting the Nonfiction Proposal

Unlike with a novel, you shouldn’t jump right in to writing a middle-grade nonfiction book. The first thing you need is a proposal – a combination of detailed plan and convincing argument. Drafting a compelling proposal takes time, research, and persuasive writing. Once you understand the fundamentals, you’ll be pitching in no time.

Speaker Heather Camlot

Illustration as Productive Rebellion

The rebellious gap between text and image creates a complementary, rather than repetitive, experience that is central to illustration. We’ll look at how rebellion – as a mindset and as an act you actually perform at the drawing table – can integrate that gap into every scene, and how to be in productive tension with the author, publisher, and reader you’re ultimately serving.

Speaker Jack Wong

Turning Up the Volume: The Story Behind So Loud!

Join Annick Press editor Khary Mathurin, author Sahar Golshan, and illustrator Shiva Delsooz for a discussion of how So Loud! evolved from first draft to published picture book. They will discuss the role of mentorship, relationship-building, and nuanced representation in the process of creating a book by both a debut writer and a debut illustrator.

Speakers Sahar Golshan, Shiva Delsooz, Khary Mathurin

Reading by Flashlight: Using Suspense to Hook Young Readers

Narrative arc, setting, subplots, foreshadowing, pacing, conflict, dialogue, red herrings, and rabbit holes – every element of your book is a tool for building suspense. Let’s explore the best ways to create both long-term and short-term suspense and keep young readers eagerly flipping pages long after lights out.

Speaker Christina Kilbourne

Set Your Silly Goose Loose! Writing Early Chapter Books That Delight

As last read-alouds/first read-alones, early chapter books occupy a special place. They’re bold, brave, and full of big feelings. But in this category–above all else–silly sells. In this workshop, you’ll mine your brain for nuggets of weirdness and whimsy to delight your inner 6- to 9-year-old. We’ll discuss characters, word counts, illustrations, series vs. standalones, and more.

Speaker Anna Humphrey

Speakers Jillian Dobson, Rosena Fung, Priti Maheshwari, Ronnie Riley

Moderator Andrew Katz

The Unforgettables: Crafting Memorable Characters in Fiction and Nonfiction

Wanda Taylor will take writers on a journey through character development for fiction and nonfiction. She will discuss why it's important to find those qualities, such as humility and vulnerability, that demonstrate a character's authenticity to make them leap from the page and cause them to stay in readers' minds. Bring one of your work-in-progress characters to this interactive session!

Speaker Wanda Taylor

Collage 101

Thinking of incorporating collage into your illustrations, but not sure where to start? This workshop aims to demystify the medium of paper collage. From simple sketch phase to digital output phase and everything in between, Ashley will share the many tips and tricks and surprising shortcuts she’s learned over the years.

Speaker Ashley Barron

Speakers Sarah Howden, Karen Li, Samantha Swenson

Moderator Naseem Hrab

Writing the Tough Stuff

Periods. Cancer. Bullying. Depression. Consent. Anger. Grief. For many kids, books are the only place they can turn to for explanations, validation, and solutions to life’s thornier parts. But how do you avoid preaching, condemning, or glossing over these experiences? In this workshop we will go deep, discussing how to write about heavy subjects, taboo topics, and uncomfortable feelings authentically and sensitively for middle grade readers.

Speaker Vikki VanSickle

The How-Tos of Humour: A Serious Study of Hilarity
Let’s get serious about being silly. Do you want to insert mirth into your manuscripts? Add inanity into your illustrations? Well, languish in laughlessness no longer! Marcus has made it his singular scholarly pursuit to suss out the secrets of comedy construction and is prepared to share the many practical methods to help put the funny into your next project.

Speaker Marcus Cutler

The Claire Mackay Memorial Lecture is sponsored by the Peter and Eleanor Daniels Foundation

Speaker Kathy Stinson