Golden Gate Conference at Asilomar 2011

The 28th Annual SCBWI Golden Gate Conference and Retreat will be held at Asilomar from February 25-27, 2011.

Over the years, the Asilomar conference has gained a reputation as one of the best intimate gatherings of authors and illustrators.  Recent speakers include Newbery-winning authors Gary Schmidt, Jacquelyn Woodson, Christopher Paul Curtis, Karen Cushman, Linda Sue Park, Lois Lowry, and Paul Fleischman, and Caldecott-winning illustrators Gerald McDermott, David Diaz, and Betsy and Ted Lewin.

The conference is limited to a small group of approximately 125 people. The Asilomar grounds are on the Pacific Ocean near Monterey Bay in Northern California, two hours south of San Francisco. Many of the Asilomar buildings are historic, and the famous dining hall, designed by Julia Morgan, provides a friendly, personal gathering place for conference attendees and speakers. You can see the conference grounds in more depth at www.visitasilomar.com. Our focus for this year's conference is technology as it relates to children's books. Registration will open November 1, 2010.

This year's faculty includes:

David Wiesner, Author/Illustrator, Keynote Speaker David Wiesner has been awarded the Caldecott Medal three times, for Flotsam in 2007, The Three Pigs in 2002, and Tuesday in 1992. He has received the Caldecott Honor twice, for Sector 7 in 2000 and Free Fall in 1989. Free Fall is the first title he both authored and illustrated. His cover art now graces The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. Among many other accolades, David has been nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.

Cynthia Lord, Author, Keynote Speaker Cynthia Lord's debut novel, RULES, was a New York Times Bestseller and has received numerous awards, including a Newbery Honor and the Schneider Family Book Award. A former elementary and middle-school teacher, Cynthia also spent a year teaching on a Maine island, which is the setting for her second novel, TOUCH BLUE, which released in August and was named an IndieNext Top Ten book for Autumn 2010. She is also the author of HOT ROD HAMSTER, a Publisher’s Weekly Bestseller and a Parents’ Choice Recommended picture book. She lives with her husband and her two children fifteen minutes from the ocean in Brunswick, Maine. You can visit Cindy on the web at www.cynthialord.com.

Mark Holmes, Production Designer, Pixar Animation Studios A 15-year veteran of Pixar Animation Studios, Mark Cordell Holmes has worked on many of Pixar's films in various capacities, from character and environment sketch artist, to graphic designer, art director and production designer. In that time he has been fortunate enough to work with some of the industries strongest storytellers within one of the most unique and successful creative environments in animation history. For Mark, the privilege of designing for a visual storytelling medium has not only fulfilled a lifelong love for comics, movies, and books, but has also enriched his greatest passion, writing. Between juggling a full-time job, raising a family, teaching, pursuing personal artwork and photography, he has developed numerous screenplays and has written a literary fiction novel and the first novel in a three-part YA series. Additionally, another editor will be attending the conference, to be announced.

Rick Richter, President, CEO, and Chair, Ruckus Media Group: A leader in children’s intellectual property development and a seasoned publishing executive, Rick served most recently as as President and Publisher of the Simon & Schuster Children’s Division (1996 – 2008). There he established the company as a consistent award-winning children’s and young adult publisher of many bestselling brands, including Olivia (Nickelodeon, Spring ‘09) and The Spiderwick Chronicles (Paramount, ‘08), He’s Just Not That Into You (New Line, ‘08) and Yes, Man (Warner Bros '08). In 1990, Rick co-founded Candlewick Press, the prestigious children's publisher based in Boston. "The goal of Ruckus is to combine the most creative minds in children's media with tremendously exciting new mobile devices. We'll be satisfied when a mom or dad can hand their phone or tablet to their child without one ounce of guilt, knowing that the experience the child is about to have will entertain them, challenge them, perhaps make them giggle, and be utterly satisfying." Beginning in May, Rick will be an adjunct professor at the NYU Master of Science Program in Publishing.

Katherine Jacobs, Associate Editor, Roaring Brook Press Katherine Jacobs is an associate editor at Roaring Brook Press. Roaring Brook, founded in 2002, is a creative, innovative publisher of books for children of all ages, from toddlers to teens. The RB list includes Caldecott author/illustrators Eric Rohmann, Mordicai Gerstein, and Laura Vaccarro Seeger, as well as the popular Bad Kitty books by Nick Bruel. Katherine’s books include the chapter book series Gym Shorts by Betty Hicks, the middle-grade Cat Royal Adventure series by Julia Golding, nonfiction picture books books by Don Brown, Ghosts in the House! by Kazuno Kohara, and the forthcoming Long Story Short by Ireland’s first children’s book laureate, Siobhan Parkinson. She is also a graduate of the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons College in Boston, MA.

Courtney Bongiolatti, Editor, Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers Courtney Bongiolatti is an Editor at Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers. She edits books of all ages, but mostly middle-grade boy and all young adult. Among the books she has edited are titles in the best-selling Private and Privilege series by Kate Brian, Smile for the Camera by Kelle James, Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs, Crave by Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz, Lucky by Wes Tooke, and the H.I.V.E series by Mark Walden. Upcoming projects that she is excited to be editing are The Hunter Chronicles by Eric Patten, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin, and Wildefire by Karsten Knight.

Arianne Lewin, Executive Editor, Putnam Books for Young Readers Arianne Lewin is an executive editor at Putnam Books for Young Readers. Most recently she was senior editor at Hyperion, where she edited Cinda Williams Chima, Whoopi Goldberg, Julie Anne Peters, Laura Numeroff, and Amy Krouse Rosenthal, among others. Although she does have a special affinity for young adult fiction, Arianne does acquire books in all genres.

Josh Adams, Literary Agent, Adams Literary Josh Adams, together with his wife Tracey, runs Adams Literary, a boutique literary agency exclusively representing children’s book authors and artists. A graduate of Dartmouth College and Columbia Business School—where he studied finance and accounting, and was awarded the Abe Shuchman Memorial Award in Marketing—Josh spent more than a decade in publishing and media before bringing his editorial and business backgrounds together as a literary agent. You can find more at www.adamsliterary.com.

Ginger Glark, Literary Agent, Curtis Brown Ltd. Ginger Clark has been a literary agent with Curtis Brown, LTD. since the fall of 2005. She represents science fiction, fantasy, paranormal romance, literary horror, and young adult and middle grade fiction. In addition to representing her own clients, she also represents British rights for the agency’s children’s list. Previously, she worked at Writers House for six years as an assistant literary agent. Her first job in publishing was as an editorial assistant at Tor Books. She is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and a member of the Contracts Committee of the AAR. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband. Ginger is taking on new clients.

Alexandria LaFaye, Author Alexandria LaFaye is the author of novels for readers of all ages, many of whom choose her rich stories for book club discussions. Born in a small town in Wisconsin, reading gave her big dreams – she published her first novel before she was thirty! Her novel Worth won the 2005 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction. With degrees in history, English, children’s literature, and creative writing, Alexandria enjoys speaking to students of all ages about reading, writing, and her life as an author.

Gianna Marino, Author/Illustrator Gianna Marino was born in San Francisco and spent her early years galloping horses through Golden Gate Park. Her explorations expanded after graduating from high school and in order to afford her many journeys around the world, Gianna had several jobs at once: apprenticing a muralist, a jewelry designer, a product designer and driving horse carriages through the park. She finally landed a permanent position designing toys for children. But after one too many years in a corporate box with no windows, Gianna left for good and began writing and illustrating, telling stories from her personal life experience. Her first children’s book, Zoopa (Chronicle Books, 2005) was placed on the prestigious Texas 2x2 list and was nominated for the Northern California Book Award in Children's Literature as one of the best works by a northern California author published in 2005. Her second book, One Too Many(Chronicle Books, 2010) is getting rave reviews. Gianna has three picture books coming out with Viking - Meet Me at the Moon (Spring 2012), Too Tall Houses (Fall 2012) and Whoosh (Spring 2013).

Namrata Tripathi, Executive Editor Namrata Tripathi is an Executive Editor at Atheneum Books for Young Readers, and imprint of Simon & Schuster’s Children’s Publishing. She acquires fiction and nonfiction picture books, middle grade and YA novels, and select graphic novels. She has had the pleasure of working with Ian Falconer, James Howe, Lane Smith, Judith Viorst, Christopher Myers, Rosemary Wells, and Jim Averbeck (whom she met at Asilomar) among others, including several wonderful debut authors and illustrators. She is interested in finding young, bold picture books and novels with a unique voice and diverse characters.