Erzsi Deak is an author, editor, and founder of Hen&ink Literary. Her picture book Pumpkin Time! (illustrated by Doug Cushman; Sourcebooks/Scholastic Clubs) celebrates mindfulness, a gardening year—and pumpkin pie.
Erzsi co-edited Period Pieces: Stories for Girls (HarperCollins), which was a Bank Street pick. She is thrilled that girls and their families can read this collection of terrific stories by award-winning authors in the forthcoming MAB Media edition, Between You & Me: Tales & Truth About Your First Period.
Erzsi’s articles on the world of children’s publishing have appeared in Children’s Writers & Illustrators’ Market. She works with La Martinière Groupe in France acquiring approximately 40 titles for their Le Seuil and La Martinière Jeunesse imprints and edits the SCBWI Bulletin international page, “Here, There & Everywhere.” She is a two-time SCBWI Member of the Year and serves on the Kids Gardening Educator Advisory Panel. She splits her time between the South of France and California.
Erzsi is available for workshops, keynotes, writing and illustrating programs for anyone who can read and wants to write or illustrate books, ages 8 through adult.
PRESENTATIONS
Erzsi has prepared a number of presentations for children that teach about writing, stories, gardening, and more. These include:
Growing Words: A reading and sharing of PUMPKIN TIME as well as exploring growing children’s own stories like we grow carrots, beans, and pumpkins and staying focused on their writing journey and in every aspect of their lives. Age-appropriate activities around gardens and gardening; writing and reading; and mindfulness.
Around the World and a Year in Seasons: A reading of PUMPKIN TIME plus… Turkey takes kids around the world and looks at the seasons, the weather, and what grows where when. Kids can either draw their favorite vegetable and write a short poem or plant their own chosen vegetable and watch it grow and document its growth in a plant journal throughout the year with their teacher and class.
Erzsi also works with teachers and their curriculum to develop a class-specific program, and is available for storytime and activity presentations at preschools, schools, libraries – and gardening centers.
WORKSHOPS
Erzsi presents workshops, keynotes, writing and illustrating programs for writers and illustrators of all ages, including:
“Can You Hear Me Now?” Dialogue That Speaks Volumes About Your Characters and Pushes Your Plot Forward: An interactive workshop exploring how character is in the story to do a job – tell a great story in an exciting and accessible way. In this workshop, we’ll work at making sure that he or she is the type of person who is interested and able to do the job brilliantly, pushing the plot forward through dialogue. This fast-paced workshop designed to get authors – and characters – moving across the page (and the floor). Depending on the number of attendees 1-3 hours.
Professional Presentation: Dress for Success: Your Illustration Portfolio: Hands-on constructive guidance in what makes a portfolio work and doesn’t and one-on-one critique and guidance to improve your portfolio.
If there’s a gun in the first scene… An Editing and Revision Workshop: Through choice and fine-tuning, get to the core of the story. Sometimes known as Chekhov’s Gun: “Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.” And William Faulkner said, “In writing, you must kill all your darlings.” This is a chance for writers to workshop a short story or chapters from their novels in a safe environment and receive constructive feedback so that they can return to their stories renewed to create tighter and richer stories and prose. Bring a red pencil and a sense of humor.
Website
Availability and Honorariums
Gallery
