DATE: September 7, 2012
CONTACT: Quinette Cook
CHAPTER: Minnesota
LOCATION/TIME: Minnesota
MNSCBWI is excited to announce that the 2012-2013 Mentorship Award is open for submissions! The mentorship program is a competition for members of Minnesota SCBWI in which the prize is a one-year, one-on-one mentoring relationship with an established author or illustrator. The 2012-2013 Writing Mentor is Kurtis Scaletta
and the Illustration Mentor is Jennifer Emery.
Kurtis Scaletta writes children’s literature and teaches creative writing online for the Loft Literary Center. He is the author of the middle-grade novels Mudville, Mamba Point, and The Tanglewood Terror, which were published by Knopf Books for Young Readers. He is also the author of the Topps League chapter book series published by Abrams Amulet and illustrated by Eric Wight. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife and young son and several cats.
Jennifer Emery has a BFA in illustration from Columbus College of Art and Design. In the 13 years she's been illustrating for children's publishing, she's illustrated – picture books, created art for cards at American Greetings, puzzles, calendars and too many educational projects to count. She appears regularly in Highlights for Children magazine as well as their Hidden Pictures book collections. Jennifer is a proud member of the Picture Book Artists Association and SCBWI. She lives and works with her border collie, Butler, in Minneapolis, MN.
One writer and one illustrator will be selected as the recipients of this award. The recipient isn’t necessarily the “best” submission, but one the judges feel would benefit most from a mentorship program. The mentor and mentee determine the specifics of the mentorship relationship–mentors may provide critique, instruction, ideas, etc. through one-on-one meetings, email and/or phone calls.
Guidelines:
• Applicant must be a current member of SCBWI.
• All applicants (writers & illustrators) must include an essay, stating in one or two paragraphs explaining what you hope to accomplish with the mentor.
• Writer applicants, email the first 5 pages of your manuscript (double-spaced, 12 point type, Arial or Times New Roman). Pages should be numbered and include a title, but no name. Picture book manuscripts can be emailed in their entirety.
• Illustrator applicants, email 5 images (Please format these as JPEGs at 72 dpi; maximum image size 1M). Total file size may not exceed 4MB for the entire submission. A typed submission summary that includes the title or brief description of each illustration, in the order in which they should be viewed, the dimensions of the original work, the medium, and a line or two from or about the story or scene that’s being illustrated.
• These are blind submissions. Please do not put your name on any of your manuscript pages or illustration samples. Name and contact information should be included on your cover letter and essay, along with the title of your manuscript or illustrations.
Submissions must be received by email on or before Friday, September 7, 2012.
Please e-mail these materials as attachments in a single message to Celia Waldock, Mentorship Coordinator: cawaldock@yahoo.com. NOTE: Any submission that does not follow these guidelines will be disqualified. Include Writer or Illustrator Mentorship on your subject line.
If you have questions about the mentorship award or are interested in mentoring in 2013-2014 please contact Quinette Cook, Regional Advisor, at studio@quinettecook.com