Category: Annual Conference

News about our annual conference – check back for updates!

Mary C. Curtis on Column-Writing in a Polarized Time

Mary C. Curtis

By Dave Astor NSNC Archivist When Mary C. Curtis speaks at our Buffalo conference on June 22, she plans to discuss how opinion writers can approach sensitive issues – and deal with the reader reaction that follows. Ms. Curtis is the perfect person to talk about that, because her Roll Call column and other media…

He Understands That Writing Should Be Understandable

By Dave Astor NSNC Archivist When David Cay Johnston speaks June 22 at our conference in Buffalo, NY, he’ll discuss how to present complicated information to readers in an understandable way. The 2001 Pulitzer Prize winner said the importance of that can’t be overemphasized – whether the person doing the writing is a columnist, blogger,…

John Avlon Has Been a Columnist in Various Media

By Dave Astor NSNC Archivist   CNN’s John Avlon will be one of the NSNC’s main speakers during our June 20-23 conference in Buffalo, NY. Avlon – who’ll keynote the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award evening on June 21 – is a senior political analyst and fill-in anchor at CNN, former Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Beast, author…

NSNC Members Write about Cincinnati

After an inspiring weekend in Cincinnati, may conference-goers returned to home to write about their experience. Below are excerpts and links to articles that have been shared with us. If yours is not listed and you’d like to add yours please email the link to Bonnie and media@columnists.com and we’ll include yours in the listing…

A Front-Row Seat to “The Oscars of Column Writing”

you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist A good awards banquet is not only about award winners but also about the spirit of the organization. Our 2018 awards banquet captured the strong playful spirit of our group along with many surprises. From a potential presidential candidate in the audience (Ohio Sen. Sherrod…

Learning in OKC That a Columnist Group Was Much More Than OK

By Joy Steele NSNC Member I believe the most profound gift I’ve received as a writer—other than a John Steinbeck Paddywax candle—is the gift of time and undivided attention by my mentor in the NSNC. In the Spring of 2007, I traveled to Oklahoma City to attend the Will Rogers Writers Workshop. Sponsored by the…

My Exceptionally Warm Welcome From the NSNC

Donate Now By Chandra Bozelko NSNC Vice President I found NSNC’s website when I was searching for information about syndication, back in early 2016. I noticed they had a contest going on and I was interested to see how I would do. I joined and entered without expectation. Then I received an email from Cathy…

‘The Day I Became a Columnist Was One of the Happiest of My Life’: a Q&A With 2019 Pyle Recipient Kathleen Parker

By Dave Astor NSNC Archivist Our 2019 Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award winner is…Kathleen Parker! She’ll receive the National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ highest honor at the June 20-23 NSNC conference in Buffalo, New York. Ms. Parker is a widely syndicated columnist who previously won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, among other awards. She’s…

Compelled and Propelled by the NSNC

By Curtis Honeycutt NSNC Member Earlier this year I was looking for some column advice when I stumbled into Suzette’s path. I didn’t realize she literally wrote the book on it. Not only that, I wasn’t aware of the existence of the NSNC. Suzette encouraged me to join the Columnist Clubhouse group on Facebook and…

Glorious Past, Prosperous Future

By Chris Carosa NSNC President Close your eyes for a moment and think back to that time when you first decided to become a columnist, to become a writer. Imagine the dreams you had right then. They started without clarity, a fuzzy mist of hope, angst, and maybe, if we were lucky, a touch of…

Time for Social Media?

At the NSNC conference in Cincinnati, I taught the “Facebook for Writers” session. At the end of it, someone asked, “How much time do you spend on social media?” I had to think about that for a minute. I spend a lot of time on social media but only because it’s a big part of…

Nick Clooney: Things I Thought I Knew, and Other Reflections

On June 9, 2018, as people applauded Nick Clooney’s wonderful speech, NSNC member Rick Horowitz sprang into action. Rick asked me, “Any way we can ask Nick for his speech notes?” It hadn’t occurred to me that Nick Clooney had his entire speech written down on the yellow notepad in front of him. Bullet points, sure. But…

Tulsa Writer Accepts Humanitarian Award Quoting Will Rogers

By Bob Haught NSNC Member Ginnie Graham, columnist and editorial writer for the Tulsa World, accepted the 2018 Will Rogers Humanitarian Award with a Rogers quote that expressed her main goal as a writer. Rogers said in 1931: “These people that you are asked to aid, why they are not asking for charity, they are…

Rochelle Riley’s NSNC Ties Span Two Decades

By Dave Astor NSNC Archivist Detroit Free Press columnist Rochelle Riley has a long and varied history with the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. When Riley worked for the Louisville (Ky.) Courier Journal two decades ago, she was asked by fellow CJ writer and NSNC co-founder Bob Hill to help Hill plan our organization’s 1999…

2018 Will Rogers Humanitarian Award Recipient Named

By Robert L. Haught An Oklahoma writer who turned the spotlight on charitable activities in her community has been selected to receive this year’s Will Rogers Humanitarian Award. Ginnie Graham of the Tulsa World will be presented the award on Friday, June 8, at the annual conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists in…

A Sense of Solidarity

By Lisa Smith Molinari NSNC President As my time as NSNC’s President grows short, I’m looking back at the eight years since I joined this unique group of journalists and realizing how NSNC has enriched my life not only professionally but personally . Of course, I learned the tricks of the trade by taking copious…