Interview with Stef Gemmill on the Sketch and Scribe Festival!
We’re delighted to welcome back the fabulous, award-winning author, Stef Gemmill to the blog; our 2018 Pitch It! Winner and 2020-2022 Judge, and now Program Director of an amazing new initiative called the Sketch and Scribe Festival! We’re super excited to hear about this new and upcoming festival for creators of kidlit; what sounds like a fantastic opportunity for emerging and established authors and illustrators, as well as publishers and editors of children’s books.
Thank you, Stef, for sharing more about your role and what’s on offer at the festival! 🙂
Stef, congratulations on your role as Program Director of the Sketch and Scribe Festival! How did this event come about?
As a kid lit creator, accessing publishers and developing your craft is one of the biggest hurdles to getting published. Kid lit festivals are the perfect way to get access to both of these – this is what the Sketch and Scribe Festival is all about. There are only a handful of festivals like this in the country so it’s the perfect time for one more to fill the much-needed gap. The Surf Coast of Victoria is a hub for kid lit creatives – emerging and published. A group of like-minded creators have talked about hosting a festival like this for some years. I’ve jumped into the role of Program Director as I have worked on program events and projects for the past 20 years. I’ve curated an all-star, quality program both in-person and online that is as much for illustrators as it is for writers of children’s literature.
Who is the festival for and what will be on offer?
The Sketch and Scribe Festival is aimed at kid lit creators wanting to develop their work further and navigate the publishing industry. It’s a mix of in-person and on-line events starting with the publisher pitching sessions in September with a huge list of publishers and agents seeking submissions. Over two weekends in October there will be panels, expert development talks, workshops, a writing competition, publisher coach camps and an illustrator gallery exhibition. This festival is for illustrators and writers of all children’s literature genres – from board books to YA.
Where and when will the event/s take place?
The Pitch Pro Sessions are held online from 1-19th September with 20+ publishers and agents. Holding it online makes sense as we’re all time poor plus you can share your artwork or storyboard on a shared ZOOM screen.
The in-person festival weekend is beachside on the Surf Coast of Victoria at the new Jan Juc Surf Lifesaving Club on 11th October. The venue is spacious and sits in the sand dunes with the ocean on one side and nature (including echidnas) on the other. There’ll be time for networking, beachcombing and nibbles and drinks at the publisher after-party. I’m so looking forward to this event! Nearby Torquay is a beautiful town to stay in, too. The following day on 12th October, the festival is holding an exclusive Coach Camp day with publishers. There are very limited spots available. You spend a whole day with a publisher from either Affirm Press, Little Book Press, Allen & Unwin, Larrikin House or for illustrator/authorstrators, the award-winning and CBCA 2025 Book Week feature artist, Jess McGeachin. I’ve attended publisher led workshops before and what you learn in one day is next level! This is a rare opportunity for creators.
The online development weekend is 18-19th October with some big names in the kid lit world.
There’s also a special event for illustrators. I am working with a Torquay art gallery to hold an Illustrator Gallery Exhibition open to the public for the whole month of October. Details will be announced in May.
What do you hope festival-goers will ultimately achieve by attending this event?
While there are many accessibility benefits of attending festivals and creative workshops online, nothing beats connecting with publishers and other creators face-to-face. This festival aims to create creator connections through the many networking events – the illustrator gallery exhibition, holding a weekend long festival by the beach, sharing social media accounts via the ‘Connect’ wall and the highlight – the after party with the publishers.
Of course, the expert talks and workshops will help creators wanting to level-up their craft and learn new ways to get their work out into the public domain. I also hope there are publisher submission requests from those taking part in the Coach Camp, Pitch Sessions, Illustrator Exhibition and First Pages Competition.
What will creators need to prepare in advance?
There are three main events to start preparing for now;
- During the first three weeks of September, the festival will open with its online Pitch Pro Sessions witha huge list of publishers and agents open for submissions. Start practising those pitches now!
- Entry into the First Pages Competition is for writers hoping to grab a publisher’s attention with their manuscript’s first three pages. Winners will be judged by publishers and the chance to jump the slush pile to submit your work. Start polishing those first pages!
- Illustrators! This one is for you. How would you like to be part of the Illustrator Exhibition at a well-known Surf Coast gallery open to the public? Not only will there be a publisher event at the gallery, your artwork will be for sale to the general public. All exhibiting illustrators will have a digital portfolio submitted to the 20+ publishers and agents taking part in the online pitch event. How cool is that? Start working on your framed hero piece to exhibit and sell as well as your A4 digital portfolio montage. Get your website up to date as publishers love viewing an online portfolio, too.
Anything else of importance we need to know before we book our tickets?
This is a super high quality and intimate event. The tickets for the in-person festival are expected to sell out quite quickly. You can check our event details and ticket pricing on the website.
Ticket sale dates are;
1 May – Coach Camp tickets on sale
1 June – Development Days in-person & online tickets on sale
1 July – Pitch Pro Sessions on sale.
Where will we be able to find out more information?
The website is being updated with more speakers, publishers and agents participating regularly.
Also follow the Instagram and Facebook pages for regular updates @sketchandscribefest
Thanks so much for pre-preparing us for this exciting festival, Stef!
Sketch and Scribe website: https://www.sketchandscribefest.com and Instagram.
About Stef Gemmill
Stef Gemmill is an author of children’s picture books and short stories. Previously a music journalist and technical writer, she swapped the mosh-pit for toys and tantrums and had her first book contract snapped up from the slush pile in a mere 20 days. Stef has two picture books out now, A Home for Luna and In My Dreams, with several middle grade novels in progress, and loves to support fellow writers in realising their publishing dreams.
You can find more information about Stef on her website www.stefgemmill.com and follow her on Instagram @stefgemmill.
#authorinterview #sketchandscribe #kidlitfestival #childrensbooks #publishers #justkidslit
