News & Events

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

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.

Field Trip to the Butler Children’s Literature Center

Join us and visit the Butler Children’s Literature Center in River Forest! Curator, Jen Clemons, will explain how the Butler Center’s selection of newly published books and special permanent collections can be used by kidlit authors and illustrators and also share some tidbits from her upcoming trip to Bologna Children’s Book Fair.
We’ll try out some writing exercises using books from the collection, and there will be plenty of time to browse. The Butler Center is a wonderful local resource!
When? Thursday, April 11, 2024
When? 7:00 PM
Where?  Dominican University – River Forest Campus at The Butler Children’s Literature Center is housed in Rebecca Crown Library, Rm 214, 7900 W Division St, River Forest, IL 60305.

 

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