News Release:
LONDON WRITERS GAIN NATIONAL PROMINENCE
May 22, 2005, London, Ontario:
London writer Suzanne Boles has been acclaimed national President of the
Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) for 2006-07. Prior to
attaining this post, Boles served on the national executive of PWAC for four
years, most recently as Vice-President.
Succeeding Boles as national
Vice-President is fellow London writer Carolyn Gibson, owner of Working Words
Consulting, who was also acclaimed to her position. This gives London its
strongest presence ever on the national executive of PWAC in the 30 years of the
association’s existence.
“I’m
excited about what I can do in my role as president,” Boles said. “PWAC has
been at the forefront of advocating on behalf of freelance non-fiction writers
across Canada by lobbying politicians and publishers on issues from copyright to
better standards in the industry.”
“I’m
pleased to have the opportunity to work with Suzanne and others on the national
executive over the next year to strengthen PWAC’s position locally, regionally
and nationally,” Gibson added.
As
part of her duties, Boles and London author and journalist Mark Kearney recently
met in Ottawa with London-Fanshawe MP Irene Mathyssen and Oxford MP Dave
MacKenzie in Ottawa to provide them with copies of PWAC’s recently released
Canadian Professional Writers Survey. Among the findings of the survey is that
while the cultural sector contributes some $39 billion annually to the Canadian
economy, freelance writers’ average incomes have dropped since 1996.
“This drop in income is disturbing
because freelance writers are a cornerstone of the arts and culture industry,”
Boles said. “If writers can’t make a living telling Canadian stories, then we
lose a part of what makes our country unique.”
During PWAC’s annual conference in Ottawa this month, Boles was also recognized
for her 10 years as an association member while Kearney was honoured for 20
years of membership in PWAC.
The
association, which celebrated its 30th anniversary at the conference,
is the nation’s leading organization and advocate for freelance non-fiction
writers. Formerly known as the Periodical Writers Association of Canada, the
organization changed its name to the Professional Writers Association of Canada
to better reflect the broad nature of work that its members do, including
writing and editing for the private and public sector, teaching and more.
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For
more information or to arrange an interview please contact Suzanne Boles at
(519) 680-1658,
suzanne@writeconnection.org or Carolyn Gibson at (519) 494-1733,
cagibson@sympatico.ca. For more information on PWAC please visit
www.pwac.ca and
www.pwaclondon.org.
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