Welcome to the home of the National League of American Pen Women, Inc. (NLAPW), an organization of professional women artists, composers, and writers, founded in 1897, dedicated to our mission as a 501(c)3 organization to serve our communities through the arts.
We have branches on all three of our nation’s coasts, in Hawaii, in rural areas, in large cities, and in towns and states throughout our nation. Branches offer seminars, workshops, art exhibits, readings, concerts, and outreach programs. Educational, outreach events and concerts sponsored by the NLAPW through the historic Pen Arts Building in the heart of Washington, D.C. aim to enhance Arts experiences for diverse communities, including youth, in the District of Columbia.
Explore our website pages to link to our history, events, contest news and poetry. Click About and visit pages on our history, historic headquarters, and outreach programs. You can find out how to join under Membership. Look under Competitions for grants. Events will connect you with what’s upcoming in the Spring. Find out how (and why) to Donate to our cause of promoting Art, Music and Letters. Iphone and Android users can bookmark to your homescreen and connect with our arts scene from your mobiles. Our YouTube
channel is a click away. Receive a Poem of the Week and an Art of the Week by signing up for our blog. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.
News & Announcements
Latest News
NLAPW National Convention, Atlanta, April 2014
Main speakers will include Haywood Smith and William Fred Scott. Call for proposals for workshop, panel discussion and lecture presenters goes out. Click here to find out how to apply to become a presenter.
Proposed Amendments to the Bylaws
On the 2014 mail-in ballot, members will vote on proposed amendments to the NLAPW National Bylaws and Standing Rules. Click here to read the changes proposed and the rationale.
NLAPW Shirley Holden Helberg Grants for Mature Women
Call for submissions for Art, Letters and Music grants for non-member women age 35+. Click here for details on how to apply.
On Line Photography Contest Winners and Gallery
Click here to see the works accepted into the On Line Photography Gallery. Congratulations to our award winners!
HEADS UP! TIME TO THINK OF NOMINEES FOR EXECUTIVE BOARD NLAPW
If you are interested and qualified, or know a Pen Woman who is, consider sending names to members of the nominating committee in your geographic area. Positions and qualifications are listed in the (click here) bylaws; an application will be found on our National web site and in the next issue of Pen Woman with all pertinent information.
Nominating Committee: Co-chairs_ Dr. Myra Levick & Patricia Wilson, Boca Raton, FL Branch.
Members: Ute Buehler, Minnesota Branch; Judy Cutchins, Atlanta, GA Branch; Marge Dodge, Palm Springs, CA Branch
Webinar for Photographers: The Magic of Light
Sign up for a master class on using light in photography (good for painters, too!). April 9, 2013 live and available recorded after. Click here for more info.
Sandy Book Drive
Our Sandy Book Drive needs books donated to help libraries in the Northeast restore their collections. Children’s books, books by our NLAPW authors, multiple copies, or any new works are especially needed. You can send your books directly to the Queens Library Collections Co-ordinator who will distribute books to the neediest libraries, click here for a PDF of the address and a printable letter you can attach if you wish, or can donate directly to the NLAPW and we will make sure the donation goes directly to libraries in need. Authors, sign your books and include a bookmark as a personal touch to those in need.
We’re sending our award winning anthology of women writers on Abraham Lincoln, Happy Birthday, Mr. Lincoln to libraries and schools in the Northeast. Concerned book lovers anywhere can click on the Donate Now button to donate any amount, no matter how small, to help devastated libraries replace their collections. Please add a note to your donation specifying “Sandy Book Drive,” and all donations marked this way will go directly to this effort. Thank you to the Publications Committee and Katie Witek, Nat’l Letters Chair, and Atlanta author Renea Winchester, for their work on this!
NLAPW blog
Because so much is going on in our organization, we have a blog you can follow to keep up to date with events, contests, outreach activities, and free Poem of the Week and Art of the Week features. Click here to read the latest entry. Enter your email address in the box on the right to follow our, or go to Poem of the Week page to subscribe only to the poetry, or Art of the Week for a beautiful image every week.
Pennies for Pen Arts
Do you like competitions? An old fund raiser, “Pennies for Pen Arts”, has been revived and is called “Cash for Creativity.” Chaired by Judy Woods-Knight of Tacoma, WA, branch, a member of the newly established fund raising committee, the challenge is for each branch at each meeting to collect “cash” for a donation to the Endowment Fund, which supports the Pen Arts building and its special programs. Each month after the branch meeting, a check should be sent by the treasurer (or whoever collects the donations) to National (1300 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC). Please put CEF in notation line of check. The winning branch will be recognized at the 2014 biennial in Atlanta!
The fund raising committee was established at the June 2012 board meeting to help alleviate our deficit. Christina Laurie of the Cape Cod, MA, branch is chairman.
Webinar for Photographers: The Magic of Light
Master class on using light in photography (good for painters, too!) now available recorded. Click here for more info.
Webinar, Tuesday, January 22, 2013, available recorded
An Intimate Portrait as Seen through the Eyes of a Portrait Artist
Instructor: Bernice Reid, Ph. D.
Click here to go to our webinar page and sign up.
Our new brochure is in stock! Click here for a preview and how to order.
2012 Cape Cod Branch Haiku Contest Results! Click here to read the winning haiku and judge’s comments.
Autumn 2012 On Line Art Competition for Members, Winners announced. Click here to see our gallery of our latest juried contest. Congratulations to the women artists of the NLAPW!
Bethesda Design Web awarded Outstanding Achievement in Nonprofit Web Design and Development by the Interactive Media Awards (TM) for our website!! Click here to read more.
For the most recent information on the biennial business meeting, donation needs, kudos and ways we are partnering, see our News Page. For a photo sampling of the music, letters and art events from the 2012 Branching Out Biennial, see our Biennial Photo Gallery page.
Enter Contests
We sponsor Art, Music and Writing competitions for members and non-members. Follow our blog and Twitter feeds to find out about our contests and other opportunities.
Member Galleries
Our Art Gallery now includes beautiful new work by members from across the country. Special thanks to the Golden-Gate Marin Branch, CA for their submissions. See our Music Gallery for new profiles of music members. For information on how to submit work for our art, letters and music galleries, please see our Gallery page.
