Chair’s Report

NAWE NEWS

Chair’s Report

This is my penultimate piece in Writing in Education prior to my stepping down as Chair at our AGM in November 2021. I am going to say a few words about my last twenty five years of association with NAWE. I think I bumped into NAWE when it was the Northern Association of Writers in Education as I was working in Yorkshire in the early 1990s. I must have joined quite a few years later, not because I was working in education myself but because my work in the West Midlands brought me into contact with writers who were and I had an interest in developing this particular section of the writing industry.

And ‘industry’ it certainly became, with a flourishing of activity both in higher education and in a range of community settings. From the early 2000s onwards, NAWE has grown alongside the sector, and I would suggest has provided a really value range of support for writers who included working as teachers of creative writing within their creative portfolio. Over this period, the meetings, conferences, training sessions, get-togethers, editorial panels, publications and schemes of practical activities that NAWE has contributed to or led is truly impressive.

Our staff, past and present, working with our growing membership, have made this happen. As Chair it has been my privilege and duty simply to help facilitate our continued good work, but it is also my pleasure to look at what has been achieved and to imagine what we will do in the future and to be reminded that NAWE is an organisation of genuine and unique value.

As mentioned above, I am coming to the end of my time as Chair of NAWE. I’ll offer some words of thanks next time but I am very pleased to announce that our new Chair-elect will be Andy Melrose, a long-standing member of NAWE as well as a first-rate writer. I know Andy will start to take on my role over the next few months and his appointment will be confirmed at the NAWE AGM in November. Welcome, Andy!

Enjoy what remains of the summer! Jonathan Davidson, Chair, NAWE

It is with much pleasure that I am about to take over as Chair of NAWE. Having been involved in NAWE over the past 20 years, it is an organisation that I have come to value immensely. But first of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Jonathan for his dedication and contribution to NAWE over many years. He leaves big shoes to fill - and I will say more about the job Jonathan has done after the handover in my first report.

The role of Chair is an important one because it allows everyone who does the very good work for NAWE to have an independent ear (as it were), someone they can bounce ideas off and chat through, as well as keeping an eye on budgets etc. I am really looking forward to getting started, especially since I come in when it is in such good shape, but also at time when NAWE and its members can give a voice to the many and varied challenges we face as a global community.

Andrew Melrose, incoming Chair, NAWE