National Writers Union: | Boston Chapter

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NWU Boston
Chapter 4
UAW Local 1981

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2006 IN REVIEW

VISITORS GALORE
Every NWU member loves GoCa − Grievance Officers and Contract Advisers − the volunteers across the country who make sure we're not facing the publishers alone. Boston hosted a weekend training for NWU GoCa advisers from many chapters. If you need their help, contact advice@nwu.org. Boston also hosted the National Executive Board's (national officers and chapter chairs) 3-day meeting, and many of our members pitched in to help.

WET BOOKS
We didn't just sit around bemoaning a Gulf Coast full of sodden books. We supported Katrina-affected writers by donating and sending boxes of books to the Gulf Coast, where an NWU member distributed them to writers. This project was a collaboration with the At-Large Chapter.

WRITER AS PRESENTER
We offered workshops to help you sharpen your pencil and moisten your lips, including those on essay writing, writing for public radio and reading your work to a live audience. Our Writer's Life series offered panels on writing reviews, comic novel writing, writing through pain and adversity, and publishing stories.

OH HOW WE PARTIED
No NWU chapter parties heartier than Boston, with co-chair Charles Coe setting the example by hosting scrumptious member potlucks. We also did our social networking at our Writers Seeking Writers Groups gatherings, our spring Rustic Kitchen dinner and our monthly gatherings at Bennigan's.

BRAGGIN'
Boston also gives our writers a chance to wave their pages in public. We offered on-line and in-person venues for promoting your work: the monthly kudos column in eNews, our NWU-Bos online discussion group where members post upcoming readings and classes, our member directory (a pdf file you can request from the webmaster), and our annual book party-cum-reading where in 2006 Jimmy Tingle appeared as guest commentator.

SELF-PROMOTION
We promoted the NWU and writers' issues via the Women, Action and Media Conference and the Nieman Narrative Journalism conference, and by volunteering for the WBUR phonathon.

THANKS TO 2006'S VOLUNTEERS

Barbara Beckwith provided this list of members whose generosity contributed to our chapter's success:

~~ Chris Ammer co-led the grievance/contract training. Caroline Cole was trained as a go-ca adviser and Elaine Gottlieb and Shirley Moskow attended for the most recent updates. Caroline also arranged for food for the participants.

~~ Laura Soul Brown helped us reach lapsed members to personally invite them to renew and to guide them through the renewal process. Lucy Sutherland called lapsed members as well. Barbara Beckwith invited new members to meet for an introductory coffee or tea.

~~ Sue Katz pressed the union for transparency and for attention to chapter chair concerns. New member Jeanne Williamson spotted and alerted the union to a significant glitch in the renewal process. Treasurer Jeanne Harnois uncovered financial improprieties at the national NWU office which led to embezzlement charges against two staffers. Thanks for standing up for accountability and democracy.

~~ Debbie Blicher, Elaine Gottlieb, AC Kemp and Paula Ogier organized our 2006 professional workshops and panels.

~~ Speakers Jeanette Angell, Barbara Beckwith, Leslie Brunetta, Charles Coe, Hallie Ephron, Amy Hoffman, Judah LeBlang, June Lemen, Edith Pearlman, Andrew Szanton and Jean Trounstine shared their expertise with us in a variety of workshops and panels.

~~ Lucy Sutherland and Barbara Mende compiled and updated our Boston Chapter Member Directory. Leslie Brunetta kept our all- important membership elist up to date. Jeanne Harnois handled PR for our events. Stephen Holmes designed a Boston Chapter flyer.

~~ Charles Coe and Helena Halperin opened their homes to out-of-town activists who came here for the National Executive Board meeting and the grievance/contract training. Ned Daly assisted Barbara Beckwith in working with our membership list, which arrives in a complicated Excel file.

~~ Jeanne Harnois organized the Gulf Coast Writers book project, with book donations from Anna Watson, of Free Books of Boston, and from gobs of other members.

~~ Jim Barton, Barbara Mende, Fern Reiss and Virginia Schaefer helped develop and test the NWU's national website (www.nwu.org).

~~ Sue Katz has put out a lively, informative and succinct monthly eNews. Barbara Brandt mailed print versions to members who requested hard copies. Webmaster Extraordinaire Barbara Mende has made www.nwuboston.org a valuable and up-to-date member resource.

~~ Yleana Martinez and Sheila Parks joined our Steering Committee. Gema Gray ran our steering committee election with the help of Caroline Cole and Helena Halperin. Jim Hall drafted revision proposals that could be used by all NWU chapters to insure conformity to the UAW constitution and election regulations.

~~ Tara Mantel and Leslie Wheeler organized our 2006 book party/reading. Paula Ogier and Charles Coe led our Spring Writer's Life series as series adviser and host/moderator. Mary Bonina and others took notes for later distribution.

~~ AC Kemp, Barbara Mende and Barbara Beckwith staffed information tables at the Women, Action and the Media Conference. Stephen Holmes, Shirley Moskow, Barbara Mende, Barbara Beckwith, Caroline Cole and others answered phones at WBUR in exchange for NWU on-air mentions.

We've surely left many deserving folks off of our list of contributors to the activism of the Chapter, not the least those who have been generous with advice on NWU discussion lists, those who have voted in the various NWU elections this year, and those who have promoted the NWU as the place to be for freelance writers trying to survive in a crazed publishing world. Thanks to all.

By the way, if you want to end the year with a giggle, check out co-chair Charles Coe's humor column "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here" (about the perils of mall parking lots during the holidays) in the 12/20/06 edition of "Boston Weekly Dig" or online at www.weeklydig.com.