The NWU Delegate Assembly will convene from August 7-9 in New York City, where roughly 50 delegates, chapter and division chairs, along with national officers, will chart the course for the union going forward. The DA is the highest governing body of our union, and it’s charged with addressing the major issues we face in […]
Netroots Nation
Over nearly a decade, Netroots Nation has grown to become a powerful force in promoting the Democratic Party. It serves as a platform for community activists, labor organizations, and even presidential candidates. With a reputation for compelling content and boisterous voices, Netroots 2015 descended on the Phoenix Convention Center in Arizona’s capital city last month, […]
Building Your Author Platform
People often talk about building a platform as a writer, but what does that really mean. It’s about three things: Establishing and maintaining your authority over your subject matter Finding and growing an audience for your work Making a big enough splash that editors and agents come knocking Building awareness beyond the people you already […]
A PENNY A BOOK?
Imagine our surprise when an NWU member reported that he had received a royalty statement from CreateSpace —Amazon’s self-publishing arm—which indicated that he was being paid a penny per book. A representative sent him a detailed explanation concluding, “Rest assured, you’ve received the royalties correctly and there is no discrepancy. . . I hope this […]
NWU member book chronicles life of illustrious naturalist
In June 2015, NWU member Elizabeth J. Rosenthal‘s book, Birdwatcher: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson, is being re-released in paperback and e-book formats by the Lyons Press, now an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield. This book chronicles the life and accomplishments of Roger Tory Peterson, the foremost environmentalist and naturalist of the 20th century. Besides […]
STAND WITH CHARLESTON
The massacre of parishioners and their pastor in an historic African-American church in Charleston, SC, is just the most recent example of growing racist terror in this country. It brings to mind the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL, in 1963. Then, grown men planted a bomb that killed four young […]
A writer’s prolific residency at Virginia Center for Creative Arts
I’m re-entering civilization after a fertile six-week residency at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts. During my stay, I completed both a short-fiction collection, Gelatin Prints, and 75 percent of a series of lyrical essays called Jaywalking. I also read two poetry books and a fiction collection by Ha Jing, whose work has proved catalytic […]
NYS Lobby and Legislative Conference
The UAW Region 9 and 9A NYS Lobby and Legislative Conference took place in Albany, March 8-11, where we had our biggest delegation in recent memory. Dave Hill, Marivir Montebon, Esther Cohen and I were among those attending. During our trip, we also lobbied on behalf of such NYS UAW issues as ending tax breaks […]
Louis Reyes Rivera Tribute Event Honors Four Emerging Talents
Every year, the National Writers Union’s New York Chapter features four emerging poets who are personally selected by close associates of Louis Reyes Rivera. These four artists are given the extraordinary opportunity to read their original works to the accompaniment of professional jazz musicians in a prominent venue. This year on May 16, a standing-room-only […]
NWU Co-Sponsors World Press Freedom Event at the United Nations
“Finding Security in Unsafe Passages” was a half-day event for journalists that the National Writers Union co-sponsored at the United Nations in New York on May 7 to mark World Press Freedom Day and raise awareness of the International Federation of Journalist’s End Impunity campaign. According to IFJ, more than 700 journalists have been killed […]
NWU is the sole provider of IFJ Press Passes to freelance journalists in the U.S.