IFJ North America Region Meets

IFJ’s North American Region met on May 13, to discuss and coordinate our response to the Covid/financial crisis facing our members and our industry.  The meeting included the participation of Unifor (Canada), NWU (US), TNG-CWA (US), NUJ (UK and Ireland), and the Deputy General Secretary of IFJ. To underline the gravity of the situation, the […]

NWU Attends International Conference on Social Media in Qatar

The Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign have reportedly compiled an average of 3,000 data points on every voter in America. They have spent years experimenting with ways to tweak their messages based not just on gender and geography, but on whether you own a gun or play golf.

Not Just About Race: American Dirt has Class Issue

The novel American Dirt chronicles a middle-class Mexican woman and her son on a harrowing journey to the US as they flee cartel violence. Jeanine Cummins’ book is at the center of a train wreck in publishing for its obvious race problems and less visible class issues. The publisher, Macmillian, insisted on positioning the work […]

NWU Open Mic Ends 2019 with KA-BOOM!

The NWU Open Mic at the Manhattan-based Muhlenberg New York Public Library ended 2019 with a resounding KA-BOOM! Over 30 writers, poets, rappers, singers, and instrumentalists enjoyed hot coffee, creamy pastries, and warm camaraderie. The NWU has continuously run this monthly open mic at the NYPL since 2013. As NY Steering Committee member and national trustee, I currently […]

SoCal Chapter Chair Plays Benefit Concert

Writer, musician, activist and NWU chapter head, Ismael Parra held a concert fundraiser with the theme “The Struggle for Peace and Planet” on November 23 at an art studio in Los Angeles The concert was a fundraiser for the play Many May Not Return written by NWU member David Trujillo. The play will run January […]

Freelance Solidarity Project Organizes with NWU

In the spring of 2018, a group of volunteers began discussing how freelancers could benefit from the gains of collective bargaining. As thousands of workers have unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East and the NewsGuild-CWA, the question of how we could stand in solidarity with staff workers while advocating for our own rights […]

A Novel Discussion in D.C.

NWU members and authors Bill Fletcher Jr. and Tim Sheard enjoyed a provocative discussion July 16 about storytelling and social justice at the Busboys & Poets Takoma bookshop in the Washington D.C. area. Moderator Kurt Stand asked Fletcher, who is the author of The Man Who Fell From the Sky, and Sheard, who wrote One Foot in […]

International Solidarity: NWU at the IFJ 30th World Congress

As the sun set over the capital of Tunisia, some 300 journalists from around the world – all members of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) – marched down the Rue des Etats Unis and cried out: “Solidarite.” In their hands they held paper flags emblazoned with the faces of slain journalists – comrades who […]

A Greener Way to Write

I’d like to suggest that the NWU kick off a campaign for the membership to adopt a gentler writing lifestyle to help heal the planet. Please post in next newsletter: How can writers adopt a gentler writing lifestyle? Since the New York chapter is hosting a panel discussion in November on “Writing to Save the […]

Frederick Douglass Alternative 4th of July Celebration 

 “An ensemble that earns its exclamation point with dynamic performances that capture the soul, humor and off-the-cuff inventiveness of a cascading saxophone solo.” –Contra Costa Times                                                           […]