QUIP members in front of the dining hall at Canby Grove 2019

QUIP News

“WHO’S WRITING WHOSE STORIES?”
QUIP Annual Meeting Online
7 October 2023 – 11am EDT /4pm UK

(Please note time change to one hour later from previously posted.)

We invite all Friends involved with the ministry of the word (publishers, editors, writers, distributors) to address this question in a discussion/discernment using the following queries:

  • As Quaker writers, editors, publishers, and reviewers, can we/should we/how do we tell someone else’s story with integrity?
  • How do we avoid cultural appropriation, insensitivity, and racist stereotyping and be respectful of others experiences, culture, etc.?
  • How do we recognize when our words might be harmful to a person of a culture, race, or religion different than our own?

Please come share from your experience.

No registration necessary.
CLICK HERE to join the 2023 Annual Conference.
CLICK HERE to view the annual business meeting agenda.


Quaker Quicks Selling Well

Jennifer Kavanagh writes about the success of the Quaker Quicks Series, small books, of about 20,000 words about different aspects of the Quaker way, mostly for those who might not know much but were interested in hearing more. Read all about it here.


2022 Mid-year Meeting

2022 Mid-Year Meeting was held Saturday 22nd October 2022

It commenced with a talk from Quaker author, teacher, and pastoral theologian, Zachary Moon, speaking about his recent book, Goatwalking: A Quaker Pastoral Theology (Brill, 2021). The talk together with the following Q&A are now available to view here.

The minutes of the meeting are now available to download.


2022 QUIP Annual Meeting

Our Annual Conference was held online in three sessions from 7-21 May 2022. The videos of the plenaries and workshops from this conference are available to view below

Session 1 – Panel: Approaches to Book Reviews

Harvey Gillman, Pamela Haines & Joe Jones share their perspectives on the place and purpose of book reviews in the world of writing and publishing. Harvey Gilman explores ‘The ministry of the Review’, Pamela Haines invites us to look through ‘Windows on the World’, while Joe Jones offers a pragmatic context in the ‘Truth about Reviews’

Session 2 – Workshop: Quaker Writer or Writing

A Quaker writer, or a Quaker, writing? Is there a difference? What difference does the distinction make? Philip Gross frames the session and seeds a discussion with questions exploring the complications and discoveries that can come from the relationship between our Quakerism and creative work.

Session 3 – Workshop: Writing for Children with respect

John Lampen hosts a workshop for everyone who enjoys good writing for children and teenagers and likes to share it with them—especially those who hope to write or publish it. How can we engage young people’s interest? How do we share our values and insights without being patronising or didactic?

Session 4 – Marketing our Writing: A Humble Quaker Way of Promotion & Publicity

J. Brent Bill & Iris Graville in dialogue about their own experiences of what’s worked (and what hasn’t) in the challenging world of book marketing. Many of us think of our writing as public ministry. While Fox and early Friends weren’t shy about touting their writing, the modern publishing industry pushes us to treat it as a product. How do we publicize the ministry we’ve been given? How does promoting our work fit with Quaker humility?

Session 5 – Workshop: Putting Pen to Paper

A session for new or aspiring writers, in which to think a little and practise a little, with space for the beginnings of creativity! Jennifer Kavanagh sharse her own experience in publishing and as a writer and provides some exercises to stir the creative juices.

Session 6 – Panel: Friendly Blogging

Co-clerk, Natasha Zhuravenkova, in conversation with three Quaker bloggers:

Nancy Thomas lives in Oregon and is part of the North Valley and Newberg Friends meetings. She is poetry editor of Friends Journal. Nancy was an intermittent blogger on the Barclay Press site from 2003 to 2008 and began her own blog – Mil Gracias –  in 2009. In 2022 she has added a new blog – Life in an Old Growth Forest: Reflections on Aging – to her site.

Robin Mohr has served as Executive Secretary of the FWCC Section of the Americas since 2011. Over the last 30 years, Robin has worked for non-profit organizations in Washington, D.C, New York, and San Francisco. She and her husband, Christopher, are members of Green Street Monthly Meeting in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and have two young adult children. Robin Mohr blogs at What Canst Thou Say?

Johan Maurer has been blogging since 2003, after participating in Quaker e-mail discussion lists since about 1990. He served on the staff of FWCC for ten years and FUM for seven. He is a member of Camas Friends Church in Washington state, USA, and Moscow Meeting in Russia. He blogs currently at Can you believe?

Session 7 – Authors Reading from New Work

Quaker writing in five very different writers’ voices from J. Brent Bill, Stephen Cox, Iris Graville Stephen Sayers and Ashley Wilcox.

Session 8 – Editing a Manuscript

Charles Mrtin (publisher and developmental editor) and Kathy McKay (copy editor) discuss their collaboration in bringing a manuscript into print, from the initial submission through the final draft and briefly give an overview of the several Inner Light Books projects they have worked on together.

Show and Tell Sessions: QUIP friends talk about their latest books and projects
Epilogue for the last day of the conference with Charles Martin.

30 years of QUIP: 1983-2013 – a timeline

Visit the new Spirit Rising: Young Quaker Voices


Why Join QUIP?

Read what Friends Vanessa Julye, Phildadelphia, PA, USA and Harriet Hart, London, UK say about attending QUIP Annual Meetings in The Ministry of Words in The Friend.

QUIP Clerks

  • Co-Clerk: Iris Graville, 139 Heffalump Lane, Lopez Island, WA 98261 USA
  • Co-Clerk: Natasha Zhuravenkova, Bartenevskaya street 9-161, Moscow, Russia 117042
  • Recording Clerk: Zélie Gross
  • Treasurer: Nancy Haines, 214 Pleasant Green Rd, Hillsborough, NC 27278 USA
  • Assistant Treasurer: Chris Skidmore, 46 Princes Dr, Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23 1HL UK