National News Archives

Joanna S. Lee and Cherrie Amour Woods were the winning poets in the recent non-Pen Woman poetry competition hosted by the NLAPW in the greater Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland areas. The two women read their poetry at Pen Arts in Washington, D.C., this past November.

Poet Laureate Georgia Popoff, Central New York Branch vice president of programming, has been awarded the prestigious Academy of American Poets grant. Popoff was one of only 22 laureates from throughout the nation to be awarded the Poet Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets, which includes up to $15,000 to implement a community-based program.

NLAPW will have a new, cross-genre competition designed to encourage collaboration among Pen Women. Competition teams may be made up of Pen Women within one branch, multiple branches, or members-at-large.

The NLAPW recently selected three outstanding women to receive the biannual Shirley Holden Helberg Grants for the Mature Women. Congratulations to the recipients!

For the past year, the Central Ohio Branch has been extraordinarily busy. In addition to planning and hosting the NLAPW 51st Biennial with the art exhibit in the Main Gallery of the Priscilla R. Tyson Cultural Arts Center, the branch hosted a concurrent exhibition in The Loft Gallery on the third floor. To top it off, the branch had the largest percentage of growth across the League for the 2023-24.

A creative collaboration between two letters members of the Greenwich Branch has resulted in some astoundingly beautiful and meaningful work, including a collaboration among letters, art, and music members.

National Membership Chair Luanna K. Leisure explores the question of why NLAPW has branches instead of clubs — and what the means for the organization.

The Sarasota Branch shares lessons learned from its successful student awards program that has been supporting high school students in the pursuit of the arts since 1987.

In August 2021, a message was sent to all music members inviting comments and suggestions about creating a forum for them to communicate with and support each other. The response has been overwhelmingly positive and has laid the groundwork for continued networking.

Artist Christine Landis shares how she had to find new ways to jumpstart a teaching career when art classes were canceled at the beginning of the pandemic.

The Pen Woman magazine recently received a Gold MarCom Award for design in the print media, magazine category. Additionally, the NLAPW Biennial 2018 Program received honorable mention for design in the print media, program guide category.The annual MarCom Awards is an international creative competition that recognizes outstanding achievement by marketing and communication professionals.

A great outreach opportunity that was cited from the recent Branch Presidents Questionnaire involved connecting with our local libraries, benefiting both parties.