Upcoming Events
SWIRL Presentations 2026-2027
September
9/9 Marysville, CA (MS/HS)
9/27 KEYNOTE: Miami Dade (K-12)
October
10/7 Marysville, CA (MS/HS)
10/27-28 – San Antonio, TX (HS)
10/30 Marysville, CA (MS/HS)
November
11/4 Marysville, CA (MS/HS)
November 16-17 – San Antonio, TX (MS)
November 18-19 – San Antonio, TX (K-5)
January 20-21 –San Antonio, TX (HS)
January 26-27 – San Antonio, TX (K-5)
January 28-29 – San Antonio, TX (MS)
Praise for SWIRL Presentation
"Great presenter with relevant content."
"She was great in presenting how we should teach, gave us excellent strategies to use for any child and any subject, and she was knowledgeable."
"Thank you so much! This was excellent!"
"The fast pace activities were very engaging."
"The interactiveness helped keep me engaged and retain that information."
"Wonderful and informative. Great strategies for all learners!!"
"Keep up the fabulous effort!"
"Love your creative ideas!"
"Presenter had good positive energy and made me feel relaxed."
"The presentation was detailed and the presenter did an excellent job."
"Very helpful activities we can easily use with our kids."
"Very interactive and helpful with wonderful strategies."
"Everything was beneficial and meaningful."
"You were amazing! I enjoyed your presentation."
“Excellent session!”
Past Events
- May 26 — Sierra Vista, Arizona
- July 31 — Ocenee, South Carolina
- August 26 — Moses Lake, WA
- August 27 — Fife, WA
- July 16-19 - SWIRL Keynote & Workshops: Soluciones Conference in Bloomington, IL - Learn more & Sign up
- October 18 - SCBWI California SF North & East Bay Oktoberfest - Learn more.
- November 20-23 - NCTE Annual Convention; Denver, CO - Learn more.
Omega Institute, Arts Week June 29 - July 4, 2025
Adult Class: Crafting Children’s Books: From Concept + Content to Critique + Creation.
"Susan B. Katz taught an outstanding class that far exceeded my expectations! I’m so grateful for the experience!"
"Susan was AMAZING! Her knowledge, teaching style, open-minded communication, the priceless critiques she offered, along with plenty of individualized attention was remarkable! The community Susan created within our class is a bond we will all treasure for a long time to come. The resources and information she shared with us is more than I could ever have imagined! Hoping Susan returns next year!"
“I have so much more confidence in my ability to write children’s books. I was able to quiet the parasitic inner-critic.” -Justine
“Susan created a practical, hands-on experience that is so inspiring and helpful to furthering my journey in writing children’s books.” -Cara
“If you want to write and publish a children’s book, you NEED to take this class! Susan gave individualized attention and freely shared her expertise.” - Liz
“Susan is an oracle of knowledge about children’s books, publishing, and writing. She worked with every one of us to edit our manuscripts and move us forward.” -Sheryl
“After Susan’s course, I actually believe my book dream will come true.” -Christina
“Excellent, singular focus on the craft of book writing for kids! It was inspiring to hear about your devotion to this craft and leave with concrete steps to move this forward as a part of my writing life.” -Josh
“Incredible presenter! Wonderful to have so much personal attention! Using her amazing expertise, knowledge, and experience, Susan had an ability to pull the tone, voice, and dialogue out of the participants that was priceless.” - Christine
January 26, 2024 The Cove School, Corte Madera
"Her assembly was very engaging, students learned a lot and were involved throughout, and she used excellent engagement strategies to pull students who were starting to get off-task back on. I would say this was our best author assembly yet!" - Mr. Tornquist
"It was amazing! Really loved how the meditation station makes the idea of mindfulness concrete for kids. With our site's focus on kindness, I found the Share Your Love story, and the idea of sharing kindness with someone you don’t like, to be very powerful also." - Nicole Sylvester Sandoval
"I loved her management of our classes. Her kind nature, her knowledge and games that she played with the students. Best assembly we have had by an author!" - Mrs. Norenberg
"In my opinion, she has been the best one for our older students. She used call backs, which no one ever does. The books were on their level and she talked about authors that I read in class, like Alan Gratz. My class said they liked this one the best so far, and they are a tough group to please." - Mrs. Torres
“Susan B Katz brought so much energy and fun to our school assembly! We loved the different costume changes and the excitement that she brought! Everyone went away learning something new!” - Kate Kropf (PTO President)