On December 13 2022, the South Jersey Writers’ Group held its 9th Annual End-of-the-Year Celebration. After two years of a virtual celebration, we finally held an in-person dinner at Tutti Toscani in Cherry Hill. It was great to reconnect, enjoy some delightful wine and delicious food, and celebrate our in-person meetings returning in January!
The SJWG also presented its annual awards, given each year to a writer who has had success in their writing career, or inspired us with their practice, and a volunteer whose contributions have been invaluable to the group.
2022 Volunteer of the Year
The Volunteer of the Year award was presented to A.J. Charles, for his work in helping coordinate the SJWG social media and the Collingswood Book Festival. His work has been invaluable in helping expand our social media reach this year.
2022 Writer of the Year
The Writer of the Year Award was presented to Jim Carpenter, who published his second novel, 19 to Go, with AM Publishing in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic (as if publishing wasn’t hard enough!) After so many delays, we celebrated right along with him at every Writers-in-Residence when things finally started moving!
The Glenn E. Walker Memorial Award
The Board of Directors voted to create a new award in 2022, the Glenn E. Walker Memorial Award, honoring a member who has take on the role of mentor, cheerleader, and all-around writer support.
Over the past year or so, Jennifer M. Eaton, another longtime SJWG member, has become the person we check with with regards to market expertise, story development, book sales and metrics. As an independent author, she’s the first to check her makes you consider your market, and as a professional editor, is ready to offer suggestions and critique to guide your story. She’s the one who asks, “what’s not working”, and tells you to try again. All in the name of telling better stories and reaching more readers. Her experience has been invaluable to all of us, from writers just starting to put words on the page, to those publishing their first books.
More about the Glenn Walker Memorial award can be found here.
And take a look at all of our past honorees here!
We had a wonderful evening in community, and are looking forward to connecting, celebrating, and writing in 2023!
