About Us

 The National League of American Pen Women (NLAPW), the oldest arts organization for women in the United States, is a nonprofit with 82 branches, 20 State Associations, and many Members-at-Large. Since it was founded in 1897, when women were not permitted to join all-male associations, the League’s mission has been to support and promote creative excellence and professional standards among women in the arts.   We are a community of more than 1,600 professional artists, writers, poets, composers, and arrangers who believe in the power of words, art, and music to illuminate the human experience, fire the imagination, and nourish the soul. The core values of the NLAPW are respect, knowledge, creation and preservation of the arts.