The National Writers Union national office in New York can provide you with contract assistance and help with grievances. Our Tucson, Arizona, chapter is here to answer questions; update you on issues like copyright protection and how new technology affects writers; and help you make contact with other members at events like our Friday breakfasts and our Monday readings.

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Words and Work: a New Weekly NWU Tucson Podcast

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In addition to our monthly reading and open mic, the Tucson chapter of the National Writers Union is now presenting a weekly broadcast program and podcast on union and writer’s issues titled “Words and Work.” Hosted by NWU member Ted Prezelski, it features interviews with authors and labor leaders.

It’s broadcast at 11:30 a.m. on Sundays on Downtown Radio. It’s at 99.1 on the FM dial but it’s LPFM which means that it reaches only a few miles outside of Downtown Tucson. It can also be heard streaming at downtownradio.org.

The podcast is posted the Monday after the broadcast. It can be found on Anchor, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic and Spotify. Please see the links below.

Guests so far have been David Hill (writer and 1st Vice-President of the NWU), A. J. Flick (free-lance journalist, former crime reporter for the daily Tucson Citizen), Fred Yamashita (Executive Director, Arizona AFL-CIO), Lydia Otero (historian and author), and the organizers of the United Campus Workers of Arizona (CWA).

Links to the podcasts:

Anchor: https://anchor.fm/ted-prezelski
Breaker: https://www.breaker.audio/words-and-work
Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy81MTdiMjY5NC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==
Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/3435puy4
RadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/words-and-work-WPDb0k
Spotify: Words and Work

Check Out the National Writers Union Website

You’ll find it at www.nwu.org. You can use it to:

  • Build your talent profile on our new searchable database
  • Submit news items about your writing—or any relevant event—for publication by tagging your NWU chapter.
  • Apply for a press pass
  • Renew your membership
  • Request contract advice

Monday Readings

The National Writers Union will be hosting a reading and open mic on Monday, November 17, starting at 6:00 p.m. at 2955 E. Broadway in Tucson. 

This month, our featured reader will be Carolyn Niethammer. Carolyn will be discussing and reading from her novels, The Piano Player and Everything We Thought We Knew, the latter of which is set on a 1970s commune in Arizona and inspired by real-life experience. She will also be discussing how she left her successful nonfiction "brand" of books and took a "left turn into historical fiction.” 
 
Carolyn has a journalism degree from the University of Arizona and  worked for both the Arizona Daily Star and the Tucson Citizen. Her first book, American Indian Food and Lore, a cookbook of Native American plant foods, was published 51 years ago and is still in print. Since then her publications include five cookbooks, including Cooking the Wild Southwest: Delicious Recipes for Desert Plants from University of Arizona Press, and several books on Native American women. She has also worked in marketing communications for two universities and Canyon Ranch and was an editor for the New York Times Syndicate.

The open mic is for spoken word only, but is open to all forms of spoken word (fiction, essays, poetry, articles, polemics, etc.). So bring something to read!

The event will be held at the UFCW Union Hall at 2955 E. Broadway. This is on the north side of Broadway, immediately west of the large and fancy Chase Bank, which is on the northwest corner of Broadway and Country Club Road. Parking and entry are from the rear.

There will not, unfortunately, be a Zoom option this month. 

Hope to see you there!

Friday Morning Breakfasts

NWU Tucson Friday morning breakfasts will be on hiatus until further notice. Check back for dates. They take place at 9:00 a.m. at Laverna's Coffee Shop. The address is 220 S. Plumer, which is one block south of Broadway, on the west side of Plumer.

Steering Committee

Our elected Steering Committee members are Co-Chairs Keith Bagwell and Barbara Wright; Secretary Alice Whittenburg; and Events Coordinator Greg Evans. The Steering Committee usually meets on the second Monday of each month. Contact us at nwutucson@yahoo.com to confirm the date and location of the next meeting.