Who's Who on the Boston Chapter Steering Committee, 2010-2012

Campaign Statements

	Barbara Beckwith: Co-Chair. I'm a long-term journalist, essayist, and book author (Standing Up to the S.A.T.) whose work has been published in many local and national newspapers, magazines, and anthologies. Check out my blog: www.barbarabeckwith.net. My self-published booklet of essays, What Was I Thinking? Reflecting on Everyday Racism, was self-published and then picked up by a publisher (www.cddbooks.com). I'm a committed NWU activist: a long-term Boston Steering Committee member, a 3-term (currently on my 4th) National Executive Committee member, and a diversity activist (download Strength Through Diversity handbook from www.nwu.org). My goals for the Boston Chapter in 2010-2011: 1) continue organizing career-building workshops 2) connect members with each other and with resources, 3) speak out on issues affecting us as writers 4) keep it real; keep it fun. With paying markets shrinking, the NWU is even more important to writers' lives. Feel free to call or email me at 617-868-3143 or email me at beckwithb@aol.com.
	Charles Coe: Co-Chair. As a freelancer I write poetry, magazine feature articles, book and music reviews, and do various kinds of work for hire.  I work fulltime for the Massachusetts Cultural Council as grant program officer. Before coming to the council, I was an editor and writer for Northeastern University Publications. I've been a member of the NWU since the mid 80s. I served for two years on the National Executive Board (since renamed the National Executive Committee). I'm one of the original three founders of the union's National Diversity Committee. I've helped established fruitful working relationships with other Boston-area writers' organizations such as Grub Street Writers and PEN New England, and one of my goals is to expand on those collaborations. Another goal is to help develop ways for a more effective partnership between the union's national leadership and our Boston Chapter. And I would like to continue helping mentor NWU members who want to become more active in the local.
	Shelby Allen: I attended the first meeting of the NWU in Boston thirty years ago and hope to return some of what I received in advice and colleagueship. As a member of two other creative unions -- American Federation of Television & Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild, I've seen firsthand how strong unions strengthen their members financially, professionally, and personally. I write in several forms -- poems, plays, essays; published in The New York Times and The Boston Globe. My first book, Crackl Willow: Poems of Transformation, came out in April from Cherry Grove Collections. Other poems appear in literary magazines like Earth's Daughters, New Millennium Writing, Tiferet, Wild Earth.
	Christopher Kenneally: My latest book, Massachusetts 101, a short history of our state -- from Redcoats to Red Sox -- was published by Beverly-based Commonwealth Editions (see www.mass101.com). I have contributed to numerous publications including the Boston Globe, Boston Business Journal, and Mass. High Tech. As a Steering Committee member serving since 2002, I want to make more effective and more efficient the local's various activities. I believe that the National Writers Union and the Boston chapter can build for writers an important forum enabling open discussion with editors, agents and others from the media industry.  I especially want to help writers of all genres address the many professional challenges facing us, and to work toward growing the value of professional writing in the minds of readers and publishers.
	Barbara Mende: . I write about business, careers, computers, and other humorous subjects. I've been active in the Boston chapter since 1994, much of that time on the Steering Committee. I've done grievance and contract advice almost that long, and now coordinate the Grievance and Contract Division assignments. I'm a longtime delegate and am now on the NEC, where I've learned that the most exciting work in the NWU is being done at the chapter level and that Boston is one of the most active chapters. I hope to help keep it that way.
	Shirley Moskow: I am a former editor at a small daily newspaper and a full-time freelance writer with specialties in art, culture, and travel. Author of three books: Hunan Hand and Other Ailments, Letters to the New England Journal of Medicine, Emma's World: An Intimate Look at Lives Touched by The Civil War, and Boston's Freedom Trail, A Souvenir Guide. The NWU is at an important juncture and my historical memory and years of experience can be helpful in influencing the critical decisions we'll be called upon to consider. I also want to help to make the way easier for book authors and other freelancers. I've begun contacting bookstores to see how we can better work with them to sell our books. Lately, our chapter has provided conferences with successful programs. I'd like to build on that by establishing a speakers bureau to give our members greater visibility.