National Writers Union,
Tucson Chapter

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

Recent Resolutions Passed by NWU Tucson Chapter

Venezuela Resolution 1 passed on January 12 by the Steering Committee

venezuela_resolution1Download

Venezuela Resolution 2 passed on January 12 by the Steering Committee

venezuela_resolution2Download

Monday Readings

The National Writers Union will be hosting a reading and open mic on Monday, June 15, starting at 6:00 p.m. at 2955 E. Broadway in Tucson. 

This month our featured reader will be Peter Bourque, who will be reading from and discussing his recently published book, A Path Wide and Narrow, A Memoir (2025). Peter, who grew up in an intensely Catholic working-class family in Flint, Michigan and graduated from the University of Michigan (English), has lived in Tucson since 1978. After graduating from college, he spent 27 months in the Peace Corps in Ivory Coast, where he met his wife Suzy, and then directed the Tucson Hunger Action Center from 1981 to 1986 before returning to West Africa (Mali). He finally settled in as a high school English and French teacher, participating in the Fulbright Teacher Exchange to the French island of Guadeloupe in 2001-02. Since 2009, he has taught English as a volunteer through Literacy Connects.
Path is his second book, having published Tarnished Ivory, Reflections on Peace Corps and Beyond in 2011. A Path Wide and Narrow offers a blend of autobiographical details and thoughtful insights on subjects including religion, parenting, guns, and the author's experience of sustaining a spinal cord injury in 2019 that resulted in paraplegia. In his presentation, he additionally hopes to address the issues of “voice”; the inclusion and exclusion of information; deadlines; distribution; and the joys and disappointments of reactions to the book. 

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. 

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.