QUIP 2004 Annual Meeting

 

As editor of Friends Bulletin, as well as of several Quaker books and pamphlets,  Anthony Manousos took part in  QUIP’s annual gathering and found it extremely helpful as well as enjoyablean opportunity to learn more about the Quaker publishing profession, make valuable contacts and deepen friendships. Here are some highlights of this gathering, as reported by Lucy Duncan, QUIP’s  recording clerk (or “clark,” as the Brits say).

 

 “How do we spread the word about Quaker publications?” was the theme of this year’s annual gathering of Quakers United in Publishing, an international network of over 50 Friends organizations and individuals concerned with the “ministry of the written word.” Our gathering took place at Quaker Hill, a conference center in Richmond, Indiana. In attendance were over thirty participants from Britain as well as from the United States, representing a broad cross section of Quaker religious thought.

 

On Friday morning Kate and Doug Bandos of KSB Promotions made a presentation entitled “Publicity: Building Awareness & Recognition Step by Step.” 

QUIP also approved grants to help support two worthwhile Quaker publishing projects—a Spanish edition of The Mediator’s Handbook produced by Centro Integrale de la Familia and a translation into Russian of A Living Faith by Wilmer Cooper.

 

We agreed that the clerk will send a letter of congratulations to Quaker author George Ellis of the University of Cape Town, who has won the Templeton Prize for Religion. He is a cosmologist who has explored the dialogue between science and religion in his works. The clerks will include an invitation to join QUIP.

 

Four interest groups met during the late morning on Saturday.  Topics discussed were researching library and academic markets (introduced by Tom Hamm); design and presentation (introduced by Trish Carn and Martin Kelley); how local meetings learn what is available (introduced by Liz Yeats); and a discussion of how integral your publishing program is within your organization (introduced by Betsy Muench). 

 

Twenty-one of us visited the Levi Coffin House in Fountain City, Indiana on Saturday afternoon. This modest home has been called the “Grand Central Station” of the Underground Railroad (which helped slaves escape to Canada). In the evening we heard a talk by Barbara Wright, a Quaker author from Kansas City, Missouri, whose latest book, Plain Language—about a Quaker woman who married a Colorado rancher during the Dust Bowl era in the 1930s—received the 2004 Western Writers of America Spur Award.

 

Young People’s Experiences

of Quakerism

 

QUIP is sponsoring a publishing venture called the Young Peoples’ Experiences of Quakerism project. Guidelines for this project can be found at www.quaker.org/quip. The clerk reported that many fine submissions have been received from Friends between 13-18 years old, but not yet enough to make a book.  The working group for this project recommends that the submission deadline be extended to September 15, 2004, and that the editorial board meet the same weekend as QUIP’s Mid-Year Meeting.  We are hopeful that more submissions will arise out of the summer’s many Quaker events, and ask that members encourage pertinent persons within their organizations to distribute the submission request and lead writing sessions with young people.   The book will be printed in the United States and QUIP members will be invited to buy into the print run.

 

Appreciations and Next Year’s Plans

 

Our meeting concluded with a minute of appreciation for our hosts at Quaker Hill and for our former QUIP clerk Graham Garner.

Next year’s gathering is scheduled to take place in Oregon in late April. For more details, check out the QUIP website at quaker.org/quip. p