NFPW 2021 Communications Contest opens for entries
NFPW Communications Contest opens for entries The National Federation of Press Women’s 2021 communications contest is open and accepting entries. The year 2020 has been a year of constant changes, surprises and the unexpected. Many of our members have been documenting this year via methods including the written word, photographs, books, campaigns and presentations. Now is the time to recognize some of those efforts by entering the NFPW communications contest. Entries for the 2021 contest must be published or broadcast in some format between Jan. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2020. The NFPW professional contest is a two-tiered contest. Entrants first enter a state level contest in the state they live in or are a member of, People living in a state without a state contest, are encouraged to enter the at-large contest. When entries warrant in the at-large contest, the contest may be split into regions to create a more level playing field. First-place winners in the state-level contest and the at-large contests are eligible to move to the national level of judging. To be eligible for compete in the national level, the entrant must be a member in good standing with the National Federation of Press Women. Unless the affiliate contest requires membership to participate, the entrants can join NFPW once they learn of their winning status. The deadline to join to compete in the national contest is March 15, 2021.
APW members submit their entries in the at-large contest. You do not need to be a member to participate though you must join NFPW if your entry can advance to the national level.
The 2021 contest is available here.
The professional contest deadlines are:
- Early entry deadline — January 27, 2021 at noon in the entrant’s time zone (the first entry submitted by an entrant after this deadline will be charged a $25 fee)
- Final book deadline — Feb. 3, 2021 at noon in the entrant’s time zone
- Final contest deadline — Feb. 10, 2021 at noon in the entrant’s time zone
- Winners must be NFPW members — March 15
- National winners announced and honored at NFPW conference — June 11, 2021
There is also a high school contest.
President’s message – August, 2019
The Arizona Professional Writers Group is reawakening and moving on. We have new members who are excited to be a part of this eclectic group of writers. While there are many writers groups in Arizona, each with their own genre and interest, our group welcomes all writers, both professional and those trying out their craft. Members can attend monthly chapter meetings as well as our annual state conference.
Monthly Chapter Meetings
In Payson, and now again in Phoenix, we have monthly chapter meetings with invited guests to share their specialty. At chapter meetings we also share our current writing projects and learn from each other. We reach out into the community to share our love of the writing process to work with children in various literacy projects. Contact Barbara Lacy in Phoenix at lacyarts@gmail.com or, in Payson, contact Connie Cockrell at connie.cockrell@gmail.com. Announcements of meetings are posted on our blog at https://arizonaprofessionalwriters.org/ and you can “follow” and receive alerts when something is posted; or follow us on Facebook and receive updates and meeting announcements that way. https://www.facebook.com/groups/ArizonaPressWomen/
Fall State Conference
For our fall conference, we have a variety of workshop speakers. As an affiliate of the National Federation of Press Women, NFPW, we are thrilled that the President of this prestigious organization, Gwen Larson, has agreed to come to Arizona to meet our members. We want you to step up and be present for the conference on Saturday, September 28 at the Wild horse Pass Casino in Chandler. Registration is open on our website at arizonaprofessionalwriters.org.
We will first have a membership meeting; you’ll be sent an agenda prior to that. Let me know if there is any topic that you want to bring up at the meeting. One order of business is to vote on the revised and updated Bylaws that have been completed. You’ll receive a copy to review before the conference, so you have time to read it.
For our program, we’ll be offering several topics of importance to writers. A critical topic is “First Amendment Rights.” First Amendment Rights are everything to a writer. We have the perfect workshop for you with experts in their fields. Gregg Leslie is the executive director of the First Amendment Clinic at ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Gwen Larson represents the First Amendment Network at the NFPW.
I want to remind you of the NFPW Code of Ethics to review and think about. It is one of the reasons I chose to have speakers on the First Amendment at the conference.
NFPW Code of Ethics
As a professional communicator, I recognize my responsibility to the public which has placed its trust and confidence in my work, and will endeavor to do nothing to abuse this obligation.
With truth as my ultimate goal, I will adhere to the highest standards of professional communication, never consciously misleading reader, viewer, or listener; and will avoid any compromise of my objectivity or fairness.
Because I believe that professional communicators must be obligated only to the people’s right to know, I affirm that freedom of the press is to be guarded as an inalienable right of the citizens of a free society.
I pledge to use this freedom wisely and to uphold the right of communicators to express unpopular opinions as well as the right to agree with the majority.
Do you want to bring in more money writing? Mark Athitakis, who has been a freelance writer for more than 20 years and contributed to publications including the Washington Post, New York Times and LA Times, will show you how.
Writers all need comic relief now and then so we have invited Jodi Weisberg, stand-up comic and former Bureau Chief and legal reporter for the Arizona Journal, and retired lawyer, to help us include humor in our writing.
Kristin Gilger, senior associate dean in charge of professional programs for the ASU Cronkite School and co-author of There’s No Crying in Newsrooms: What Women Have Learned about What It Takes to Lead, will share her insights.
I’m looking forward to filling our venue with members, friends and students. Students of English and journalism are invited to attend at a reduced rate. Register at arizonaprofessionalwriters.org. Click on the tab that says “Fall Conference.”
Keep writing,
Marie A. Fasano
Arizona Professional Writers, President
‘Skirting Traditions,’ Arizona Press Women anthology, now available
Skirting Traditions: Arizona Women Writers and Journalists 1912-2012 releases today, Feb. 1. The Arizona Press Women anthology was the culmination of almost three years of effort.
Written by 18 award-winning members of APW, the anthology is designated as an Arizona Centennial Legacy Project by the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission, and will be promoted at state events throughout the centennial period, beginning with an expo on the state capitol grounds in conjunction with Arizona’s 100th birthday on Feb. 14.
To order the 308-page paperback, which retails for $22.95, visit the Tucson-based publisher Wheatmark, Amazon or Barnes & Noble. An e-version of the book is planned for a later release. It can also be ordered through brick-and-mortar book stores, ISBN is 9781604945973.
For more information on the project, go online to Skirting Traditions; like the Facebook page, follow on Twitter or email the editors.
Skirting Traditions is a history book, presented as a collection of short stories, moving forward from the beginning of statehood in 1912 to the modern day. Each story chronicles the life of a woman writer or journalist in Arizona who made a significant contribution to the history of the state, beginning with Sharlot Hall, who campaigned to have Arizona admitted to the Union as a separate state, and ending with Jana Bommersbach and Pam Knight Stevenson. The women who appear in the book were chosen through a nomination process and are representative of many others throughout the state during the centennial period.
“We anticipate that the public, historians, journalists and devotees of the Old West will be interested in reading about the remarkable women profiled in this anthology,” says Brenda Warneka, a co-editor who conceived of the project.
Other co-editors are Carol Hughes, Lois McFarland, June P. Payne, Sheila Roe and Pam Knight Stevenson.
The stories in Skirting Traditions were researched and written by members of APW, who, in addition to the coeditors, include Gail Bornfield, Vera Marie Badertscher, Carol Osman Brown, Jan Cleere, Jane Eppinga, Marion E. Gold, Carol Jean La Valley, Barbara Bayless Lacy, Elizabeth Bruening Lewis, Patricia Myers, Marion Peddle and Arlene Uslander.
The Skirting Traditions book project is sponsored by the National Federation of Press Women Education Fund, a 501 (c)(3) organization. Proceeds from sales will fund scholarships for Arizona journalism students at Arizona institutions of higher learning.
Arizona Professional Writers 