At this All-Member meeting, long-time Boston activists will share their varied perspectives on the "state of the union" and offer their views on how we can proceed at the local and national levels to strengthen the union. We're seeking members' views and suggestions as well. In addition, UAW deputy administrator Scott Sommer will be at the meeting to share his perspective and to answer our questions. Please join us for this important discussion of our union's future.

Readings by A.C. Kemp

A. C. Kemp will be reading from her book, The Perfect Insult for Every Occasion: Lady Snark's Guide to Common Discourtesy. Book signing to follow.

Thursday March 27, 2008, 7:00 pm
Harvard Coop
1400 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel (617) 499-2000

Novelist Alice Hoffman will deliver the keynote address at the PEN/Hemingway Awards on Sunday, March 30, 3-4 p.m., at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Columbia Point, Boston. It's free and open to the public, but reservations are strongly recommended. 617-514-1643 or online at www.jfklibrary.org, where the full schedule of programs is listed.

Judah Leblang and Barbara Beckwith are co-teaching a 4-part workshop, "Getting Your Essays Out Into the World," at the Cambridge Center for Adult Ed. The workshop meets on four Thursdays, 4/3,10,17 and 24, from 5:45-7:45 and culminates in a group reading. The cost is $109; you can email the center at www.ccae.org to sign up − course code ESWO...or call 617-547-6789 to register.

All Boston Chapter National Writers Union members are invited to unglue themselves from their computers and dance the night away with a FREE admission to Dance Friday on April 11, starting at 8 PM.

Dance Friday is an on-going participatory dance held every Friday at 30 Common St. in Watertown where people of all ages and abilities dance barefoot, any way they like, with or without a partner, in a smoke and alcohol free environment. The evening starts with a warm-up at 8 and continues with dancing until midnight with lively rocking dance music played by rotating DJs.

Steering Committee member Maria Termini is hosting the dance that night and NWU members will have an opportunity to introduce themselves at the middle of the dance. There are plenty of tables for you to display and hopefully sell your books in a lobby area that allows for good interaction with the usual seventy people who come to the dance. NWU members will be admitted free; others will pay the normal sliding fee admission fee between $8 and $12.

Dance Friday can be reached via the trackless trolley bus that runs between Watertown and Harvard Squares, and is a half a mile from the #70 and #57 Watertown bus lines. Free parking is available at 31 Marshall St. on the other side of the school. For more information, please contact Maria Termini at 617 928 1544 or leafdancer@verizon.net, or go to www.dancefriday.org.

Read about NHWP and this great April 19 program at www.nhwritersproject.org. Note that our co-chair Barbara Beckwith and NWU activist Charlotte Dennett are presenting a workshop on communicating with editors.

Multi-cultural and heritage tourism major focus at 6th annual TPOC Conference

Members of the TPOC National Association (travel professionals of color) will open its 6th annual Conference and Trade Show in New Orleans on Monday, April 28, 2008. The Conference will begin at the New Orleans Marriott Hotel with breakfast and the multi-cultural and heritage tourism trade show. Following the trade show, attendees will continue the Conference on Carnival Cruise Lines fun ship "Fantasy" while cruising 5 days, returning on May 3rd.

The TPOC Conference At Sea 2008 theme is "It's All About Business." Major focus will be directed on how travel professionals can discover success promoting multi-cultural and heritage tourism. General assemblies, panel discussions and workshops will be presented by some of the industries top speakers and workshop presenters. Keynote speakers will be announced later.

Registration is now open and all who have an interest in this travel market are encouraged to attend. TPOC anticipates a minimum of 300 - 400 minority travel professionals to be in attendance, including travel agents, tour operators, CVB personnel, hospitality and tourism representatives, Heritage Tourism Specialists and others.

Sponsorship and trade show opportunities, as well as membership information is available on the TPOC website, or feel free to call the TPOC office at 1-866-901-1259.

The writing workshop will take place June 16-26, 2008, at the William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. This past summer the workshop celebrated 20 years of existence. Held the last two weeks of June, the workshop reflected yet again the values and vision of the Center, which was founded in the wake of the American War in Vietnam.

The workshop faculty have produced some of the most significant literature to emerge from the Vietnam experience as well as other areas afflicted by war. These include poets/ veterans Bruce Weigl and novelist Larry Heinemann; non-fiction writer Lady Borton (who has lived for 35 years in Vietnam); poet Fred Marchant was discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps as an conscientious objector; poet/translator Martha Collins, who has been teaching a translation class, which has focused on works in Vietnamese. Novelist Demetria Martinez once faced a potential 25 years in prison for writing about Americans aiding Central American refugees. Poet MacDara Woods brings a perspective to teaching shaped by his experiences of living through "the troubles" in Ireland.

One of the high points of the writing workshop is always a visit by Vietnamese writers--their participation in Martha's class, and in panels. Bruce Weigl, Lady Borton and myself also work on translations as part of the Center's commitment to build bridges with our former "enemies." This year we had a first-ever panel of veterans of the Gulf War and the Iraq War--moderated by Vietnam veteran Larry Heinemann. As for the 2008 workshop, we very much anticipate participation by poet Afaa Michael Weaver.

This letter is an invitation for you to consider being part of the workshop community in 2008. Students write about a variety of topics. The Joiner Center does do not in any way wish to limit what anyone writes: We are open to the surprises that writing produces, and how that helps us to grow as individuals who, as Grace Paley always said, can be "useful" in a troubled world.

To apply, send a letter of interest (the sooner the better) with a writing sample. Include an indication of what genre you wish to work in. Address applications and inquiries about the workshop to T. Michael Sullivan, William Joiner Center, University of Massachusetts. Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd. Boston, MA 02125-3393. You can contact him at Michael.Sullivan@umb.edu or at 617-287-5850.