PYI 2025 Sessions: in person ON Saturday, October 25, 2025

Speaker Jean E. Pendziwol

Don’t miss this always-popular panel! A group panel of newly-published kids book creators discuss their ups and downs finding publishers, offer specific and practical advice, and share favourite writing books, websites and other resources.

Speakers: Matteo L. Cerilli, Eddie Kawooya, Calyssa Erb

Moderator: Jane Blondie

Your setting is a way to maximize your protagonist’s agency and unstick your plot from the familiar and mundane. Using Northrop Frye’s ‘Green World’ theory, learn how to construct settings that call your heroes to adventure and enable character growth.

Speaker: Paul Coccia

This workshop explores how graphic design enhances children's book illustrations, shaping both artistic style and visual storytelling.  Participants will discover how strong conceptual thinking and bold composition work together to create striking, impactful illustrations that captivate readers and bring stories to life.

Speaker: Julien Chung

Collaboration between authors and illustrators is a delicate balance of vision, communication, and trust... with an editor and art director between them! How can you bridge different creative processes and perspectives? What makes a great picture book collaboration for everyone involved? How do you give feedback that encourages rather than discourages? What are common pitfalls in remote creative partnerships, and how can they be avoided? This session will explore how authors and illustrators can build strong, effective partnerships—while remaining complete strangers!

Speakers: Kelly Collier, Naseem Hrab

To be a writer is to be brave. We often toy with the idea of moving our story in a risky direction only to find reasons to back out. In this session we'll learn how to push ourselves out of our comfort zones. Whether it's a picture book, middle grade or young adult novel, we'll explore how, where, when, and why to pack a literary punch.

Speaker: Heather Smith

Why do you want to write about this topic? What’s the best way to share your information with young readers? How do you write honestly and sensitively about difficult topics? Drawing from her experiences as a writer and editor, Mary Beth will share tips and checklists to enrich and strengthen your non-fiction work.

Speaker: Mary Beth Leatherdale

It’s no surprise that the natural world has an abundance of stories to tell if we adopt a practice of observing. Let's explore how we can incorporate setting so that it becomes integral to every aspect of a story and play with practical ways to evoke place through description so it transports the reader.

Speaker: Jean E. Pendziwol

Compelling character voice goes far beyond dialogue. It’s what they say...and what they don’t. In this workshop, we’ll explore the power of form, body language, self talk, and point of view. We’ll learn how subtext, silence, and even setting can speak volumes. Learn some simple strategies to take characters to the next level, because as their voices become more compelling, so will ours.

Speaker: Caroline Pignat 

Whether it’s picture books, graphic novels, or illustrated middle grade, learn how to tailor your illustration portfolio to attract art directors to get hired. And once you’ve landed the job, learn tips for best practices in creating and delivering your artwork that will make an art director want to hire you all over again.

Speaker:  John Martz

This panel is consistently the most popular session at PYI. Each year a different group of publishers discuss their perspectives and experience in Canada's kidlit scene.

Speakers: Karen Boersma, Jordan Ryder, Gayna Theophilus

Moderator: Hadley Dyer

How to use action to further develop plot, create tension and reveal character traits. Action can be fast paced but at times needs to slow down to let the reader breathe. Find out how to balance the external energy with the internal thought process using literary devices, sentence structure and carefully chosen words. This session is good for any kind of action!

Speaker: Lorna Schultz Nicholson

Picture book illustrations do more than translate words into images--they provide visual clues for young readers to build their own understanding of a story and, ultimately, their own world. Join illustrator Charlene Chua in a deep dive to build rich visual worlds that support reading, comprehension and critical thinking. Learn how you too can incorporate these approaches into your illustration work.

Speaker: Charlene Chua

Speaker: Marsha Skrypuch