Sarah, Author at Sarah Hammond

Holiday Jolly

When? Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 7:00 PM,

Where? Dandelion Bookshop, 139 South Oak Park Avenue, Oak Park, IL

No matter which holiday you celebrate, join our SCBWI Illinois Near West Suburban Network to toast the festive season, the milestones and achievements of our respective creative journeys, and connect with our kidlit community in our new network home, Dandelion Bookshop. All are welcome! Please bring along a beverage of your choice plus a dessert or appetizer to share. RSVP to attend.

Click here for parking and transport links.

Creating an Ancient Egyptian Inspired Fantasy Trilogy

** NEW DATE! Thursday, November 6th, 7:00 PM, on Zoom **

For the last event in our Fantasy Fall Series, Michelle Jabes Corpora will be in conversation with us about her writer’s journey to creating her current, Ancient Egyptian inspired trilogy. Michelle is an author of middle grade and YA books. Her latest book HIS FACE IS THE SUN was released last May and spent five weeks on the NY Times best seller list. Learn more about Michelle here.

Click here to join the online event.

Fantasy Crash Course: Design Your World and Populate It!

Thursday, October 9 at 7pm, at Dandelion Bookshop , 139 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL

Join us for the second part in our Fantasy Fall Series as we explore how to discover, design and develop your story world. We will cover topics like rules, geography, culture and timelines. Then we will dive deep into creating your main character, be it a hero or villain. We’ll end our discussion on how to create your hook. Come prepared to write! Free and open to the public.

Fantasy in Kidlit: A Conversation with Librarian Jen Clemons

Thursday, September 11th, 7:00 PM, On Zoom

Set the tone for the Fantasy Fall program of the SCBWI Near West Suburban Network with an exploration of the current state of fantasy in youth literature, including themes, trends, and current titles with Jen Clemons, Curator of the Butler Children’s Literature Center at Dominican University and Sarah Hammond, author and SCBWI Near West Suburban Network Rep. Click here to join the online event.

Jennifer Clemons is the curator of the Butler Children’s Literature Center and adjunct faculty in youth services at Dominican University. Jen joined the Dominican community in 2010 when she earned her MLIS from the School of Information Studies. Her professional experience includes LIS work in public, special, and academic library settings.

Subsequent events in the Fantasy Fall series: Fantasy Crash Course: Design Your World and Populate It! (October), and Creating a Fantasy Trilogy – Egyptian Based with Michelle Jabes Corpora (November). For more information, click here.

How To Make Your Prose And Poetry Pop With Poetic Devices

Join our in-person Near West Suburban Network event on Thursday June 5th 2025, 7 p.m.– Dole Branch Meeting Room, Dole Library, 255 Augusta Street, Oak Park.

Have you ever wondered why some phrases from favorite books, snippets of famous speeches, or even lyrics from popular songs linger in your mind? What exactly is it about the wording that makes them so memorable? Author and poet Eileen Rajala Meyer will review nineteen different poetic devices that add audible effects, intensify emotion, heighten relationships between words, and help capture mood through sound in your writing. A program for prose and poetry writers alike, Eileen will provide examples from a dozen children’s picture books as she highlights these poetic devices. Handout (book list and term definition sheet) included for attendees. Q & A at the end of the program.

Visit to Dandelion Books, Thursday May 8th, 7 p.m.

Join us as we celebrate and support the new independent bookstore in Oak Park, Dandelion Books. As well as exploring the store, we’ll try out some writing exercises using books from the collection, and there will be plenty of time to browse.

Where? Dandelion Books, 139 South Oak Park Ave, Oak Park, IL 60302. Information about location and parking here.

Storycraft and Chat – Thursday, April 10 at 7 p.m.

Get to know the local kidlit creatives in your area and join us for a bookish gathering. We’ll do some gentle and playful creative writing exercises, designed to kickstart new ideas and develop storycraft techniques so bring along a pen and paper. Where? La Grange Public Library, Board, Room, 10 W Cossitt Avenue, La Grange, IL 60525

Welcome to the Classroom! Thoughts on Writing for the Educational Market

Join our Near West Suburban Network together with the Chicago Southland Network for a discussion with special guest Sara Latta on writing for the educational market. We meet on Thursday, March 27, 2025, 7:00 PM via Zoom

Crushes and Chemistry – Writing Romance for Young Readers

On Valentine’s Eve, in our SCBWI Illinois network we’ll be thinking about kidlit romance. How do you create believable romance in YA? How is romance used as a subplot in different genres? And what about middle grade? We’ll look at excerpts and talk about technique. Join us and share your kidlit romance thoughts and recommendations, too. We meet online at 7 p.m. on Thursday February 13th. Click this link and scroll down to the Near West Suburban Network section to access the Zoom meeting details.

Launch Your Middle Grade Novel

I am hosting this free online event for SCBWI Illinois networks. Join us to hear about the Middle Grade Escapaders’ journeys to publication and tips on navigating life as a debut author.