About Us

SCBWI International

The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) was formed in 1971 by a group of Los Angeles-based writers for children. It’s the only international organization to offer a variety of services to people who write, illustrate, or share a vital interest in children’s literature. The SCBWI acts as a network for the exchange of knowledge between writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, librarians, educators, booksellers, and others involved with literature for young people. There are currently more than 19,000 members worldwide, in over 70 regions, making SCBWI the largest children’s writing and illustrating organization in the world. To visit the SCBWI website, visit www.scbwi.org.

SCBWI Western Washington

SCBWI Western Washington (SCBWI WWA) is a regional chapter of SCBWI International. Our region tends to have most members clustered in the Seattle/Bellevue area, although we span from the British Columbia border up north all the way south to where Washington meets Oregon. We spread from the Cascade Mountains all the way west to the Olympic peninsula. (SCBWI Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho serves cities and towns east of the Cascades.)

Bellingham Network

Networks are extensions of regional chapters. They exist only in larger regions, such as Western Washington, where there are large numbers of members in outlying areas who can’t easily participate in regional events in metropolitan areas. SCBWI WWA has one network in Bellingham, led by Kjersten Hayes. For information about upcoming Bellingham Network events, please see Bellingham Events.