Pennsylvania: West Regional events
Serious about improving your craft? SCBWI's regional events provide opportunities for professional growth and help you connect with a supportive, creative community.
Kidlit Art Show
Aug 08, 2025
1 event
Unlimited seats
Artist Image Resource, 518 Foreland St, Pittsburgh, PA 15212
SCBWI PA: West will be hosting our second annual art show showcasing the amazing kidlit illustrators in our region! Come see the art on Opening Night, August 8 at 6PM EST at Artist Image Resource, 518 Foreland St, Pittsburgh, PA 15212
SCBWI PA West Presents: Canva Basics for Authors and Illustrators (With Susan Johnston Taylor)
Aug 18, 2025
1 event
Online event
Unlimited seats
Canva is a powerful tool that anyone can use to create book trailers, Instagram reels, slide presentations, social media headers, and other graphics. With the free desktop version of Canva, this webinar will cover the basics of setting up a project, adding images, text, and animation, changing colors, fonts, and other effects, downloading or sharing your project, and more. Monday, Aug 18 at 7 PM EST / Zoom 45 Minute Presentation / 15 Minute Q&A $15 for Members / $20 for Non-Members Susan Johnston Taylor is the author of the Crystal Kite-awarding STEM poetry book Animals in Surprising Shades: Poems About Earth’s Colorful Creatures. She's written over a dozen books for the educational market, and her writing also appears in magazines and poetry anthologies for kids and adults.
SCBWI PA West Presents: Drab to Delightful: Creating Engaging Picture Book Characters with Mirka Hokkanen
Sep 08, 2025
1 event
Online event
Unlimited seats
Are you feeling stuck with designing characters for picture books? Have you gotten feedback that your characters are stiff or not drawn consistently? This webinar is designed to help you take your character designs from bland and stiff to charming and energetic. You’ll learn how to use the personality of your character to guide its design, how to use shapes to convey personality, how to make an appealing character, how to draw expressions and poses, and Mirka’s top tips for drawing characters consistently. This class is perfect for beginner and intermediate illustrators wanting to illustrate picture books for kids. Mirka uses examples from her own work and from other picture books to illustrate each lesson. September 8 / 7PM EST / 45 minute presentation / 15 min Q&A / $15 for members / $20 for non-members
SCBWI PA West Presents: Mix & Mingle - Sept 19
Sep 19, 2025
1 event
Unlimited seats
Margaux in East Liberty, 5947 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Sept 19, 7 PM - Attention all members! Come mix and mingle with us at Margaux in East Liberty, 5947 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15206. Cocktails, food, chatter and cheer will be in abundance! All members are welcome. Bring cash for the bar and for food! See you there!
SCBWI PA West Presents: Helpful Tips on Querying a Publisher with Leslie Eva Tayloe
Nov 06, 2025
1 event
Online event
Unlimited seats
As an award-winning author of three children’s picture books, I’ve queried publishers directly for the past five years without an agent. In this presentation, I’ll share helpful tips on the following: • Preparing Submission: What a writer needs to do before submission. • Record Keeping: How to organize and track your submissions. • Finding Publishers: Where to search. • Submitting Your work: Best practices. • The Query Letter. Thursday, Nov 6 at 7PM EST 45 Minute Presentation / 15 Minute Q&A $15 for Members / $20 for Non-Members