SCBWI Pennsylvania: West

Looking to explore your passion for writing or illustrating children's books? As a member you'll gain access to an array of helpful resources, including information on upcoming events, opportunities to connect with other professionals in the industry, and valuable insights on the art of creating and publishing children's books.

SCBWI PA West will be hosting an Art Show of our region's kidlit artists at Ketchup City Creative (612 Main St, Pittsburgh, PA 15215)! The show will open July 26th and run through August 5th. Meet up with us for the main opening 7 PM, July 26. Picture book illustrations, spot illustrations, editorial illustrations and more will be on display and for sale. Come meet your local children's literature community!

June 21, 7 PM - Come mix and mingle with us at Industry Public House (4305 Butler St, Pittsburgh, PA 15201). Cocktails, food, chatter and cheer will be in abundance! All members are welcome. Bring cash for the bar and for food! See you there!

In this workshop, brought to you by The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Award winning author Kelly Starling Lyons will lead participants in learning the ins and outs of writing books for children.

In this workshop, brought to you by The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Award winning author Kelly Starling Lyons will discuss budget friendly ways to market your book.

This workshop will cover three scenarios for maps – basic cartography of your fiction's world, city roadmaps and building plans, and lastly mapping out a complicated action sequence. Come prepared with place markers (buttons, lego pieces, seeds, coins, etc), a list of locations both natural and manmade (towns, farms, roads woods, mountains, streams, oceans) in your story, markers or crayons, tracing paper and pencils!

Sketchy Characters is a group of Picture Book writers and artists. We meet in person monthly for writing and sketching and exercises, coffee and casual conversations. Our illustrators work in both digital and traditional mediums. We also talk about upcoming event ideas. This is a supportive community of artists committed to the Kid Lit craft – join us!

Meet with us for a casual, all-inclusive night of drawing and brews at Trace Brewing in Bloomfield (4312 Main St, Pittsburgh PA 15224) Upcoming dates: Jan 11 / Mar 14 / May 9 / July 11 / Sept 12 / Nov 14. Open to members and non-members alike!

The best way to get inspired to write is to read, and to read lots of different kinds of books! SCBWI PA West is launching a book club with a monthly online zoom meeting to discuss our reading. We would love to have you join us!