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.

The Vinnie Ream competition challenges us to follow her sterling example of elevating our work to the highest level. Bring your A-game to this exciting competition.

The first two writing retreats at Pen Arts were so successful and well-received by participants from around the country that this program will now be ongoing. A new retreat is being planned for spring 2025, with applications to be accepted soon.

The new limerick competition is now open to members, with the deadline set for March 17, 2025. A panel of three judges will select the winners in April.

Active NLAPW members in good standing are invited to submit entries to the 2024-25 Vinnie Ream competition, beginning September 30. Entries will be accepted in the art, letters, and music categories through March 30, 2025.

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.

Three judges from the Santa Clara County Branch, in a blind reading, unanimously chose three winners and two honorable mentions for the 2023-24 Limerick Contest, which took place in March.

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

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.

A group of Pen Women writers got together recently at the Pen Arts Building in Washington, D.C., for a writing retreat. Led by fellow Pen Woman Nancy Dafoe, a talented writer and former NLAPW letters chair, the women worked on their projects, received coaching, and shared their work.