Ten writing finalists announced for PWAC awards

The Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) has announced ten finalists for its writing awards; the winners will be announced June 18 at an awards event in Montreal in conjunction with PWAC's annual general meeting.The awards are open to PWAC members and non-members. First prize in each award category has a $750 value (increased from $500 in 2010), including a free PWAC membership for a

PWAC names three finalists for Editor of the Year Award

The Professional Writers Association of Canada today named three finalists for its Editor of the Year Award. They are:Rebecca Caldwell, Acting Managing Editor, Cottage Life
Graham F. Scott, Editor, This Magazine
Carmine Starnino, Senior Editor, Reader’s Digest
“Each year we ask freelance writers from across the country to help us recognize the best and most deserving editors working in Canadian

ED search at Writers' Union might be an opportunity to explore merger with PWAC

Unsolicited advice is worth what you pay for it, I suppose, but one has to wonder whether the current search for an executive director to fill a vacancy at The Writers' Union of Canada (TWUC) isn't a golden opportunity to consider a merger with the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC). TWUC represents about 2,000 professionally published book authors and supports them and advocates

Replacement sought for Johnston as executive director of PWAC

As reported here earlier, the position of executive director of the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC), the country's largest organization for freelance writers (including magazine writers), is vacant, with the departure of David Johnston after only 7 months on the job. The position has been posted and offers a salary in the range of $45,000 to $55,000 a year, depending on

Freelancers urged to boycott Transcon mags over refusal to budge on master contract

[This post has been updated] Transcontinental Media has apparently dug its heels in over its proposed master contract, refusing to negotiate with representatives of the freelance community, who as a result are now calling for an "unprecedented" boycott of the company.A press release has been issued that gives detailed background on the dispute and details the organizations that are supporting the

PWAC asks its members not to violate the picket lines in U.S. writers' strike

The Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) is asking its 600-odd members to eschew taking on any writing assignments that could be construed as blacklegging in the current Writers Guild of America strike. The WGA established picket lines earlier this week at all major Hollywood studios and television production companies. The writers are striking for a new collective agreement

PWAC looking to boost its membership

The Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) is on a recruiting drive. Vice-president Tanya Gulliver has sent a message to a Toronto freelancer's list making the pitch.PWAC is growing and changing. Prior to our renewal we had over 600 professional, associate and student members. We changed our name a couple years ago from "Periodical" to "Professional", and combined the work of our great

Getting the message heard; PWAC runs media release seminar

For magazine editors who receive a blizzard of incomplete, incompetent and just plain boring press releases every week, it's good to know that somebody is trying to improve the situation. The Periodical Writers Association of Canada is presenting a half-day course on media release writing in Toronto on Tuesday, October 9, taught by veteran freelancers and PWAC association member Paul Lima. "

Nice, you won't have to change the monogram

The official rebranding of the Periodical Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) to the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) comes next May, but the association is rolling it out already and urging its members to use the new name wherever and whenever.This still doesn't make PWAC a trade union with all that entails, but interestingly it has signed a letter of agreement with the the

Herding Cats

Word (from mastheadonline.com) that the Communications Workers plan to organize on behalf of freelancers. Good luck to them. Not that there have been many examples of successfully corralling such a ragtag bunch of independents.It should be recalled that the the Periodical Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) was intended to do just that, from dictating pay scales to providing a contract template