Children's Book Caucus
About the Children's Book Caucus
The PEN New England Children's Book Caucus (modeled after the PEN American Center Children's Book Committee) began in the fall of 1996 to address the interests of the large children's book community in New England.
The caucus has featured panels on the state of children's book publishing, on family values and children's books, on the power of children's book reviews, and on the author/editor and the author/illustrator relationships. Past presentations have addressed the explosion in creative nonfiction, the serious aspects of writing humor and "crossover authors": the challenge of writing for children and adults. More recently, the caucus presented discussions on breaking the mold in children's literature and on how boys and girls connect with books.
The Children's Book Caucus events are open to the public and are held on occasional Tuesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Brookline Public Library in Brookline, MA. We invite all members of the children's book community to join us and become members of PEN New England.
The PEN New England Children's Book Caucus is chaired by children's book author and illustrator, Leslie Sills. Other committee members are Susan P. Bloom, Susan Goodman, Robie H. Harris, Lisa Jahn-Clough, Lois Lowry and Liza Ketchum. For further information, please contact us.
Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award Submission Guidelines
Each year, the PEN New England Children's Book Caucus honors emerging writers and writer/illustrators with its Susan P. Bloom Children's Book Discovery Award. Winners will present their work to the public at the PEN New England Children's Book Discovery Evening on Sunday May 4, 2008, and winning manuscripts will be read by editors from Candlewick, Houghton Mifflin, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, or Little, Brown and Company.
Entrants must be residents of New England who have not been published in any genre (with the exception of magazines or self-publishing), and the submitted work (or another work) must not be under contract. We are able to accept only one entry per person, in one of the following four categories: picture books, novels, poetry and nonfiction.
The deadline for submissions is Friday, February 1, 2008. Entries need only be postmarked by that date. If you want to be sure your entry has been received, enclose a self-addressed and stamped postcard. Please do not require a signature for delivery.
All work should be-in both format and quality-ready for consideration by a publisher. The Caucus does not determine ahead of time the number of winners or the categories to be represented. Winners will be notified by late March.
To submit your work, please follow these guidelines:
- Each submission of text should be approximately 10 pages in length, though picture books may be shorter. PLEASE NOTE: Manuscripts will not be returned.
- Picture books: Send complete text. If you are a writer and not an illustrator, there is no need to send along illustrations. Similarly, illustrators are encouraged to submit illustrations without text. Author/illustrators should include sample illustrations or a book dummy, which will be returned if an appropriate SASE is provided. Do not send original artwork.
- Middle grade or Y/A novels: Send one or two chapters.
- Poetry: Send up to ten poems.
- Nonfiction: Send one or two chapters, plus a brief outline or table of contents.
- For longer works, submissions may include a synopsis or outline, although it is not required.
- Include a short biographical statement about your experience and interest in the field.
- Include a phone number and e-mail address (if available).
- Enclose a business-sized SASE for notification of decisions.
- Mail your submission to:
- PEN New England/CBC Discovery Night
- c/o Kim Ablon Whitney
- 1663 Cambridge St. #3
- Cambridge, MA 02138
Members of the PEN New England Children's Book Caucus serve as judges, and include: Susan P. Bloom, Susan Goodman, Robie Harris, Pat Lowery Collins, Lisa Jahn-Clough, Liza Ketchum, Lois Lowry, Leslie Sills, and Kim Ablon Whitney.