Guest Post by Holly Thompson
I’m so grateful to Lee Wind for inviting me to be the guest blogger for August. Lee volunteered time, enthusiasm and talent to this SCBWI Blog for an incredible fourteen years! Thank you, Lee! And thank you Justin Campbell for stepping up as official SCBWI Blogger!
My early introductions to SCBWI went as follows:
When I was an undergrad, author and creative writing professor Corinne Demas recommended me to assist author Patricia MacLachlan in a summer writing program for children.
While assisting Author Patricia MacLachlan in that program, I met the invited guest author/illustrator Naomi Kojima, visiting from Tokyo.
Teaching at a K-9 school in New England, my colleague, children’s book author Amy Gordon, read my manuscripts and invited me to a Jane Yolen critique event.
This is how SCBWI works–one introduction to another, one experience to another, learning from each other.
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| Banner for SCBWI Japan by Naomi Kojima |
Jump forward over my first three years of teaching in Japan, to the NYU Creative writing program, to writing a novel, to teaching creative and expository writing at NYU and Brooklyn College, to freelance editing…a time period when only now and then did I allow myself to draft stories for children--because I thought that writing for adults was what real writers did.
But when I moved to Japan a second time, I learned of an SCBWI event in Tokyo featuring prominent Japan children’s book editor Akiko Beppu, and at that event, I re-met author/illustrator Naomi Kojima.
Soon, on top of a full-time job and raising bilingual children, I was involved in building SCBWI Japan with Naomi Kojima, John Shelley, Mariko Nagai, Avery Fischer Udagawa and many other talented children’s book creators. I became Regional Advisor, then Co-Regional Advisor and Co-Editor of our region’s newsletter. Yes, I was always exhausted, but this team made things happen!
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| SCBWI Japan team of many years that stepped down in 2023-24: Naomi Kojima, Mariko Nagai, Avery Fischer Udagawa, Holly Thompson |
Our SCBWI Japan team aimed to hold events 11 months of the year. We invited Japan-based creatives and children’s book experts to present to our chapter, plus overseas editors, art directors, authors, illustrators and translators visiting Japan. We held regular creative exchanges; gathered for sketch- and word-crawl outings; held KidLit Create Days; developed the SCBWI Japan Translation Day; and initiated a five-month SCBWI Japan MG/YA Novel Revision program.
Participation in cultivating, growing and tending the SCBWI Japan chapter involved volunteer time on top of my full-time job. Yet by planning and running events, participating in Creative Exchange critique sessions, inviting and interacting with speakers, and actively helping our SCBWI Japan region to thrive, we, the SCBWI Regional Team and all the enthusiastic members, met month after month and learned from authors, illustrators, translators, editors, agents, art directors, and educators. We gained deep understanding about crafting works for children and teens around the globe, and we grew an active community of supportive creatives–giving us constant sources of inspiration, information, and encouragement in our own creative endeavors.
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| Logo for SCBWI Japan by Dionnie Takahashi |
Volunteering in a small SCBWI region such as SCBWI Japan, means that illustrators, authors and translators often participate in events together, learning from each other across creative fields. In our creative exchange events, illustrators have become stronger authors, authors have learned from illustrators where to write less, and translators have learned from author’s ears and illustrator’s eyes where text can be sharper or clearer.
Of course, SCBWI teams shift. Volunteers step up and step down. Some global chapters wane. But SCBWI Japan continues to thrive.
Now, during work trips back to Japan, one of my great joys is to attend events led by the current SCBWI Japan Team–Mari Boyle, Alec McAulay, Kazumi Wilds and Susan Jones–to soak in the creative energy they impart, and connect with long-time SCBWI Japan friends and meet new members of the group.
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| Current SCBWI Japan Team: Alec McAulay; Kazumi Wilds; Mari Boyle, Susan Jones |
For me, volunteering with SCBWI has been a treasured learning journey of children’s book creation–via one introduction to another, one experience to another, one conversation to the next, learning from one another. Step up and volunteer when you have the chance--you’ll gain lifelong friends, mentors and opportunities.
August 2025 SCBWI Blog posts by Holly ThompsonAugust 7 SCBWI: One Intro to Another, Learning from Each OtherAugust 14 AFCC: SCBWI Opportunities in AsiaAugust 21 Translation and Reading the Wide World of KidLitAugust 28 Observe, Experience, Research, Write–The Impact of a Teen Internship
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