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Anyone can attend any Network,
anywhere at anytime!
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Live, in-person, and online meetings are free and open to all! Networks focus on craft and industry programming and are our first point of outreach with the wider creative community.
Scroll down to see the complete list
of networks and offerings!
Network Representatives are valued SCBWI-IL volunteers.
Contact them with your questions about attending any of our programs.
Interested in starting a NETWORKS group?
Email Sheila Path-McMahon, co-RA
All Network times are CST
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Want to stay connected and never miss out on exciting opportunities, resources, and community happenings? For the latest updates and event information for SCBWI members, join our Google Listserve by emailing Alan Woodrow.
You can also find our latest information on the SCBWI Illinois website here.
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JUNE
For more information on the networks, scroll down
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JULY 2026
For more information on the networks, scroll down
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AUGUST 2026
For more information on the networks, scroll down
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SCBWI-IL Members: You can also join in the fun at our SCBWI Illinois Illustrators Network Group on Facebook – request to join here.
SCBWI member illustrators please make sure you are on the illustrator Google Group! To be added please email Allan Woodrow
| | Illinois Illustrators’ Network | | |
Email Network Co-Reps Louann Brown for more information:
Louann Brown
| | Equity & Inclusion Network | |
Diversity Network Meetings create a space where writers and illustrators who’ve traditionally been left at the margins in children’s publishing can get together. At these meetings we’ll build community, share stories of hurdles and successes, work to dismantle barriers, improve diversity and inclusion in children’s literature and SCBWI-IL, work on our craft and improve our writing and/or illustrating careers.
Our focus on diversity springs from the #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement: We recognize all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, Native, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities. Because of the breadth of this focus, we will be particularly conscious of the intersectionality of oppressions and identities. Allies are welcome. (An ally is a person who supports, empowers, or stands up for another person or a group of people.)
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The Diversity Network is seeking volunteers to step into the role of Network Representative.
Please email co-RA, Sheila Path-McMahon, if you are interested!
| | Chicago Northside Network | | |
Email Chicago Northside Network Representative Mary Jo Gugliemo or Claudia Guadalupe Martinez for more information.
Mary Jo Gugliemo
Claudia Guadalupe Martinez
| | Chicago's Southland Network | | |
Chicago's Southland Network meets at 7 PM. Join other creatives for exercises and craft discussions. Email Jim Danielson for the Zoom link.
Mark your calendar for 7 PM on:
Thursday, June 11
Thursday, July 9
Thursday, August 13
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SUMMER PARTY!!
Join us for an in-person summer celebration.
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When: Wednesday, August 12
Time: 6 PM
Where: In-Person
| | Far North Suburban Network | |
Email Far North Suburban Network Representatives, Kim Oclon and Nicole Hewitt for more information:
| | Far Northwest Suburban Network | | |
OPEN CRITIQUE
Far Northwest Suburban Network will meet at 6:30 PM on the third Wednesday of the month, from January to November, at the Café in Barnes and Noble, 1470B E. Golf Road, Schaumburg, IL 60173.. If you would like to share your work and receive feedback, please prepare a picture book manuscript or no more than five double-spaced pages of a novel excerpt.
Instructions on how to submit will be sent with the meeting reminder.
Mark your calendar for 6:30 PM on:
Wednesday, June 17
Wednesday, July 15
Wednesday, August 19
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Email Dundee Area Network Rep & Co-Regional Advisor Jennifer Wagh if you are a first-time attendee.
Jennifer Wagh
| | Near West Suburban Network | | |
Network Book Club
For our second book club, we’ll be discussing The Many Misfortunes of Eugenia Wang by Stan Yan, about a girl born on a day considered unlucky in Chinese superstition who starts to wonder if she really is cursed… School Library Journal's starred review describes this debut graphic novel as "unique, amusing, and compulsively readable." Come along to share your thoughts, questions, and musings. You’ll also have the opportunity to meet the author-illustrator, Stan Yan, at our July network event!
Bonus: Purchase your copy of The Many Misfortunes of Eugenia Wang from Dandelion Bookshop for store pickup or delivery to your doorstep and receive a 10% discount.
When: Wednesday, June 10
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: Dandelion Bookshop, 139 South Oak Park Avenue, Oak Park.
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Creating Accessible Books with Sara Fujimura and Stan Yan
That's not a REAL book. Whether you write teen romance like Sara, create graphic novels like Stan, or explore storytelling through another vehicle that people routinely look down their noses at, join our conversation about how to reach reluctant readers by creating accessible books. Participants will learn how to win over the naysayers, become the gatekeepers' go-to creator, experiment with new guerrilla marketing techniques, and--most importantly--connect kids with their perfect books!
To put this theme into practice, Franklin Taylor, founder of Our Future Reads, will speak about how his organization puts books into the hands of curious readers. Attendees are invited to bring along a book to donate at the event.
About Sara Fujimura:
Sara Fujimura (Foo-gee-moo-rah) is the American half of her bicultural Japanese-American family and spends about a month each year in Japan. She started as a journalist, so it is no surprise that Sara’s young adult books contain a lot of facts to go along with the fiction. Whether you want to know about Japan (TANABATA WISH), the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 (BREATHE), what it’s like to be an Olympic-caliber skater (EVERY REASON WE SHOULDN’T), or how unscripted television works (FAKING REALITY), Sara takes readers on swoony journeys to unusual places. She is a creative writing teacher and literacy advocate who is excited to support the next generation of authors. If you go to anime cons, you may also see Sara as her alter ego, The Obento Lady. She is an active member of SCBWI and the Chicago-North Romance Writers.
EVERY REASON WE SHOULDN’T was named an NPR Best Book of 2020. BREATHE was the winner of the 2025 Soon-to-Be-Famous Illinois Author Project, judged by Illinois librarians.
About Stan Yan:
Stan is an award-winning, first generation American-born-Chinese, Denver-based writer, illustrator, caricature artist and instructor.
He was a recent co-Regional Advisor for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (RMC-SCBWI), former professor at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design and Community College of Aurora, and co-founding professor of the CuddlefishAcademy.com kidlit art school. His late middle-grade graphic novel debut, THE MANY MISFORTUNES OF EUGENIA WANG (Atheneum, Sept 2025) was a 2025 JLG Selection, PW Pick, SLJ Star Review recipient, Kirkus Best of 2025, and 2025-26 DPS Top 100 pick. His work was the grand prize recipient of the 2022 SCBWI-FL Conference Portfolio Excellence Award!
When: Wednesday, July 1
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: Dandelion Bookshop, 139 South Oak Park Avenue, Oak Park.
| | Bolingbrook-Naperville Network | | CRITIQUE TIME - GET FEEDBACK | | |
Geneva Network meets at 7 PM on the first Wednesday of the month and at 7 PM on the fourth Tuesday of the month. The Geneva Network will be over Zoom for Winter Programming. Bring up to 1,000 words of your picture book, middle grade or young adult to share for feedback and camaraderie.
Mark your calendars for 7 PM on:
Wednesday, June 3
Wednesday, July 1
Wednesday, August 5
Tuesday, June 23
Tuesday, July 28
Tuesday, August 25
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Email Geneva Network Co-Reps Janet Riehecky, Cheryl App, and Sarah Quinn for more information:
Janet Riehecky
Cheryl App
| | Galena-Freeport Area Network | | FREE CRITIQUE OR SHARE TIME | | |
Galena-Freeport Area Network meets at 7 PM on the fourth Wednesday of the month. Each participant gets fifteen minutes to share their WIP, query or synopsis and get feedback, or ask questions about the writing process.
Mark your calendar for 7:00 to 9:00 PM:
Wednesday, June 24
Wednesday, July 22
Wednesday, August 26
Please contact Jamie for the Zoom link.
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Email Galena-Freeport Network Rep Jamie Petras for more information:
Jamie Petras
| | East Central / Champaign-Urbana Network | | | | |
June Gathering!
Join us at downtown Champaign’s independent bookstore, The Literary. Featuring books, drinks, treats, and good conversation with fellow children’s book creatives. Look for us at the outdoor tables, or in the case of inclement weather, inside. RSVP if you want us to save you a seat, by Monday, June 8 to central.illinois.scbwi@gmail.com
When: Tuesday, June 9
Time: 6:30 PM
Where: The Literary, 122 North Neil, Champaign, IL
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Email Champaign-Urbana Network Rep Elaine Bearden for more information:
Elaine Bearden
| | Near Normal Kidlit Network | | Springfield Area Scribes Network | | |
Critiques
Springfield Area Scribes meets at 6 PM on the first Tuesday of the month on Zoom. Have 5 pages of Middle Grade, Young Adult or entire Picture Book ready to critique.
Mark your calendar for 6 PM on:
Tuesday, June 2
Tuesday, July 7
Tuesday, August 4
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Email Springfield Scribes Network Rep Debra Daugherty for more info.
Debra Daugherty
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The Edwardsville Network meets from 6 to 8 PM on the third Wednesday of the month at Books-A-Million, 6601 Edwardsville Crossing Drive in Edwardsville. Bring 5 pages to critique! We do in-person critiques but have traditionally asked that writers new to the group wait until their second meeting to submit work for critique. New writers welcome!
Mark your calendar for 6 PM on:
Wednesday, June 17
Wednesday, July 15
Wednesday, August 19
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Email Edwardsville Network Rep Juli Caveny for more information:
Juli Caveny
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Join Published Author Srividhya Venkat for POWER HOUR.
Working in community, quietly crafting a query, brainstorming with breakfast, or perfecting your prose.
This is an opportunity to work in silence with other creators virtually for two 30-minute periods with five-minute breaks to discuss what you accomplished. Power Hours take place on Tuesdays.
June 9 & 23 at 9 AM
July 14 & 28 at 9 AM
August 11 & 25 at 9 AM
| | | | Drop in to chat with Illinois Members! Share your Good News, celebrate others, and make connections.
Mark your calendars for 7 PM on:
Monday, June 1st
Saturday, August 1st | | SCBWI-IL NETWORK POLICIES | | | | |
