Writer's Workshop

As much as I go into schools and hopefully help children in their own writing, I am also learning all the time myself.
This weekend I was lucky enough to attend the Writer's Workshop run by the wonderful Sarah Odedina who is the Children's Editor of Pushkin Press, a small, literary based Children's Publisher. 
Sarah has been in the business a long time and had amazing support for the Workshop from all her contacts. The idea behind it was to reach out to people who are trying to find their 'voice' and may be under-represented in the children's book market. 
We listened to talks from some amazing speakers including the previous Children's Laureate, Malorie Blackman and award winning YA author Patrice Lawrence.

I gained so much from the weekend and feel privileged to be part of such an inspiring event. We were given the opportunity to network with all of the Industry professionals, from publishers, to agents, booksellers to contracts experts. We had practical advice on writing and what happens during the publishing process.

The best thing, for me, was to be able to talk to so many different writers coming from such a wide range of backgrounds, all with amazing stories to tell. It makes me excited to think about the future of children's books and what might be next. I'm making sure I'm a part of it!

If you're interested in the workshop for yourself, or a friend, Sarah has set up a blog that you can sign up to for more information: www.writersworkshop.blog. She also made a film of the event which will hopefully be on the blog soon for you all to watch.

​There is always so much to get involved in - try not to miss out.