SCBWI Podcasts

In this episode we are joined by Neal Shusterman ! Neal Shusterman is the New York Times bestselling author of more than fifty award-winning books for children, teens, and adults , including Challenger Deep, which won the National Book Award , Courage to Dream, a Sydney Taylor Honor Book , Scythe, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book , the Unwind Dystology, which won more than thirty domestic and intern...

In this episode we are joined by Paul O. Zelinsky! Paul O. Zelinsky grew up in Wilmette, Illinois, the son of a mathematics professor father and a medical illustrator mother. He drew compulsively from an early age, but did not know until college that this would be his career. As a Sophomore in Yale College he enrolled in a course on the history and practice of the picture book, co-taught by an Eng...

In this episode we are joined by Oliver Latsch! Translator and agent Oliver Latsch grew up bilingual in German and English in East Africa and Germany. He trained to be a scientist and had just completed his PhD in Biology in the U.K. when he was asked to help get some best-selling German children’s books published in English. This led to a career as a literary agent and translator. Since then, he...

In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Erin Lee! Erin Lee is an elementary school teacher and artist living in Long Sault, Ontario. She graduated from the University of Ottawa with an Honors degree in Fine Arts, Visual Arts. Erin has published three award-winning children’s books: Benjamin and the Backyard Beast, Out of Season, and Maggie the Magnificent.  Erin has written short st...

In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by artist John Parra! John Parra is an award-winning artist, illustrator, author, and educator, best known for his, Latino themed, children’s picture books. His work on, Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos, was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year. His MTA artcard poster, Birdhouse Subways, was displayed throughout NYC s...

In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Michael Dante DiMartino! Michael Dante DiMartino is an American animator, producer, writer, and director. He is best known, together with Bryan Konietzko, as the co-creator of the animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, both on Nickelodeon. He has also written for podcasts and has authored novels.  You can purcha...

In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Desmond Hall ! Desmond Hall was born in Jamaica, West Indies, and moved to Jamaica, Queens. He has worked as a high school biology and English teacher in East New York, Brooklyn; counseled teenage ex-cons after their release from Rikers Island; and served as Spike Lee’s creative director at Spike DDB. Desmond has served on the board of the Par...

In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Margaret Finnegan ! Margaret Finnegan is the author of the Junior Library Guild Selections Sunny Parker Is Here to Stay , New Kids and Underdogs , We Could Be Heroes , and Susie B. Won’t Back Down . Her work has appeared in FamilyFun , the Los Angeles Times , Salon , and other publications. She lives in South Pasadena, California, where she en...

In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Dan Gutman ! New York Times best-selling and award-winning author Dan Gutman has written more than 190 books for readers from kindergarten through middle school. Dan’s My Weird School series includes 100+ titles, and has sold more than 35 million copies globally over the past 20 years. Dan also is the author of the best-selling Genius Files se...

In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Dr. Sabic-El-Rayess ! Dr. Sabic-El-Rayess first became a teacher as a young teen during the Bosnian Genocide. In a letter written by President Joe Biden himself, he wrote: “I am inspired by the bravery and strength you have shown in the face of heartbreaking tragedy and persecution.” Reflecting on Dr. Amra Sabic-El-Rayess’ award-winning memoir...

In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Phil Bildner! Phil Bildner is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books for young people including the NCTE Charlotte Huck Award Honor-winning middle grade novel, A High Five for Glenn Burke , the Margaret Wise Brown Prize-winning picture book, Marvelous Cornelius , and the Texas Bluebonnet Award-winning picture book Shoeless Joe...