East Anglian Writers: About us

East Anglian Writers
		East Anglian Writers has existed, in various incarnations, since the 1960s, and since 1990, we have been affiliated to the Society of Authors. We have a growing membership, now with over 190 writers, from a wide variety of disciplines, including: Children's books Educational writing Fiction Illustration Life writing Non-fiction Poetry Technical writing Translation Academic writing For a fuller list click here We aim to bring together and help promote the work of professional writers working or living in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. We hold a number of social events throughout the year to help break the isolation of writing and to share experiences. We also organise a number of speaker events. Our current chairwoman is Victoria Manthorpe.

	Constitution of East Anglian Writers 2007 - October 10 2007 1. The name of the association shall be: East Anglian Writers 2. Aims The aims are: i) To organize social and professional networking events for members ii) To help promote members and their works 3. Powers East Anglian Writers may: i) Employ and pay any persons (other than committee members) to supervise, organize, and carry out the work of the association ii) Raise funds and invite and receive contributions from events charges and subscriptions 4. Membership i) Application for membership shall be made to, and approved by, the committee ii) Individual membership shall be open to any professional writer living and working in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex or Bedfordshire who has paid all due fees and subscriptions iii) The AGM shall be notified of new members iv) Termination of membership shall be at the discretion of the committee 5. Officers The EAW shall have a Chairperson, Treasurer and Officers as required to be elected at the AGM. The Committee can appoint additional officers as deemed necessary 6. Committee i) The committee will consist of the Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer and up to five members ii) The committee will receive quarterly financial reports and convene as necessary iii) The Minutes of meetings will be recorded 7. Annual General Meeting of the Membership i) There shall be an AGM held each year for which at least 21 days notice shall be provided to all members together with an agenda etc ii) The AGM will include: a) business in which members are entitled to vote (one vote per person for each motion)and a resolution will require a 2/3 majority b) A report from the Chairperson about the Association's activities over the year c) Election of officers d) AGM reports including finance iii) The Chairperson may at any time at his/her discretion call an Extra ordinary Meeting of the Association 8. Alteration of the Constitution Any proposal to alter the constitution must be approved at an EGM or AGM 9. Dissolution of the Association. In the event of the dissolution of the EAW members will be asked to attend an EGM having been notified at least 21 days in advance. A vote of two-thirds majority will be required to carry the motion. Any EAW funds will be deposited with the Society of Authors. (the end)

	Minutes of the AGM of East Anglian Writers held at The Ribs of Beef Oct 2nd 2007 Committee members present: Vicky Manthorpe( Chair), Tessa West, Patricia Mullin, John Worrall, Paola Trimarco. Members attending : Ann Thwaite and Hugh Aldersey-Williams. 1 Apologies : Margaret Gullan-Whur; Jean Boase Beier; Sheila Hardy; Reg Haynes; Sheila Sobell; Richard Every and Anthony Thwaite. 2 Minutes - Approved 3. Matters arising Hugh suggested Minutes could be emailed to the membership. The Chair agreed to do this. It was confirmed that EAW is still affiliated to the Society of Authors. The Chair agreed to approach the S of A with a view to establishing regional initiatives. Patricia will look for the final draft of the constitution which will be made available to members via the website. 3 Finance The Chair reported that the account balance stood at approximately £1,700. The bulk of the costs having been stamps, the spring coach outing and mail-outs (emailing will cut costs). The cost of web hosting has been modest £50-100. Jean Boase-Beier is completing the accounts. The Chair will email the committee the final figures. [Note from VM : JBB approved the accounts . There is £1765.29 in the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, plus £11.20 petty cash, and a £20.00 book token.] 4 Chairman and Committee The Chair informed the committee of the resignation of Jean Boase-Beier and David Lowe. The committee would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to the both Jean and David, who have given generously of their valuable time and expertise for many years. The Chair proposed Ann Thwaite and Hugh Aldersey-Williams as committee members. They were duly elected to the committee. 5 Need for a Treasurer It was noted that the EAW requires a Treasurer. The Chair has agreed to keep the accounts up to date until such time as an appointment can be made. The Chair extended her thanks to John Worrall for his invaluable work on behalf of EAW particularly his organisation of the outings. 6 Christmas Party Antoinette Moses has again kindly offered her home as a venue. John will organise wine and glasses. The Chair has already received about 20 payments for tickets and will email the membership again in November. There will be a raffle, suitable items gratefully received. 7 Cambridge Spring Party Rosemary Hayes has offered to host a spring party at her home near Cambridge. The committee agreed on a May weekend at lunchtime. The Chair will speak to Rosemary regarding dates. Car sharing to the venue was proposed. The map of membership will be taken and brought up to date by the members themselves. 8 Other events - suggestions In light of the Cambridge spring party it was decided to hold over the literary outing to the following year. Paola updated the committee on the proposed readings in Ely. These are now scheduled for January or February 2008. The venue has changed to the Babylon Art Gallery. Possible readers are Patricia, Anthony, and Sarah Bower. The committee will support Paola, who will organise the event. The idea of a Cambridgeshire sub-group was mooted and will be discussed further. Patricia has previously organised a one day workshop on 'reading for writers' it was held at the John Inness institute, and the facilitator was recommended by the Society of Authors. Patricia offered to re-run the event for EAW members if there was interest from the members. Hugh suggested themed meetings for members. Topics/advice/agents/overlapping interest etc for writers, which was self generated through the membership. It was agreed he would email Patricia with ideas and they would approach the membership via the website. John will contact Mslexia and The Author to publicize EAW events. Ann Thwaite offered to set a quiz for future events, Anthony being question master. 9 AOB It was suggested that we invite an occasional guest 'blogger' onto the website. The meeting concluded at 9pm Date of next meeting: Thursday 10th January 2008 7.30pm at 194 North Walsham Road, Norwich.