美国中文作家协会章程
总则
宗旨：
第一条： 美国中文作家协会是美国加州政府正式批准注册、拥有美国联邦政府批准的501(c)(3)免税资格的公益团体。是由生活在美国并热爱用汉语写作的华人及其他族裔的人，自愿组成的非政治、非宗教、非营利的组织。是世界华文文学联盟成员。我们英文为：CHINESE WRITERS ASSOCIATION of AMERICA。简称CWAA。本协会的宗旨是要通过网络媒体和平面媒体的互动，跨越国界和地域，为热爱汉语并用汉语进行文学创作的人们搭建起一个相互交流和相互切磋以及相互反馈的平台。同时，协会将通过学术交流，促进东西方文化的融合与汉语的传播。协会将在本会网站www.chinesewritersusa.org上发表会员作品。
第二条：尊重美国宪法，提倡民主，倡导创新，多渠道地推动美中及世界其他国家文学界的合作，为本协会会员扩展出更大的发展空间。
第三条：利用互联网功能以及协会网站，将会员的创作成果推向世界。不定期地举办不同形式的活动，奖励和鼓励会员创作更多的优秀作品。同时，为了更广泛地传承中华文化和吸纳用中文写作的海外留学生和华人后代，以及非华裔的文学爱好者，作协网站为非会员建立了专栏，借此平台达到“培养人才和发现人才”的目的。
组织：
第四条：作协以理事会为核心。理事会的职能是根据组织章程制定和规划协会不同时期的工作方针，带领会员落实相关事宜。理事会设主席一人，副主席一人，秘书长和财务长各一人，执行理事数人（理事会原则上不超过九人）。理事会每三个月例会一次（除聚会形式外，根据需要可以通过电子邮件、电话或网络视频会议的形式开会），由秘书长整理会议纪要并存档。理事会每三年一届，选举产生。主席统筹协会工作，副主席、秘书长、财务长和理事分别负责协会的会员管理、网络建设、对外宣传及财务管理等工作。重大决定需超过半数以上理事会成员通过才能生效。理事会成员必须做满一届，如提前退出，不论何种理由，都将通报全体会员，由理事会甄选替补成员。并不再算作本届理事会成员体现在作协网站及作协文集等宣传平台上。
第五条：首届协会设荣誉主席一人。历任主席卸任后即自动成为协会的荣誉主席。创会主席卸任后为永久名誉主席。
第六条：顾问团，由美国、中国及其他国家的著名作家和学者组成，每届三年，由新一届理事会任命。艺术委员会，根据需要确定人员和人数，总召集人和委员由理事会在会员中选拔，任期一年，可以连任；换届监事会，由荣誉主席、法律顾问及其他一至两名顾问团成员组成（特殊情况可以调整）。
会员：
第七条：鉴于网络时代“新媒体”的崛起，会员标准不局限於纸质专著成就，如果有一部或多部出版专著发表在平面媒体或网络媒体，或在报纸杂志的平面媒体(含美中作协网站“文友园地”)上发表十篇以上的文章，并长期居住在美国本土的华裔和非华裔人士，在尊重美国中文作家协会章程的前提下，均可申请入会。
1. 普通会员：理事会定期审理入会申请表，获得批准后即发放会员证书，有效期为三年。入会一年后有资格向理事会提交永久会员申请。条件如下：
（1）入会后积极参与协会活动，一年至少出席一次论坛或年会。
（2）如果当年没有出版专著，至少在作协网站“作家作品”个人专栏里发表三篇文章。如果第一年不符合标准，第二年可再次提出申请，顺延至六篇文章和参加两次协会学术活动。以此类推，第三年底还不符合要求，自动终止普通会员资格。
2.永久会员：理事会在每年年底根据普通会员转永久会员的规定，对申请人是否符合永久会员资格进行讨论，通过后通知本人缴纳永久会员费。
（1）协会收到永久会员费之后，申请人从第二年一月一日起正式成为永久会员并在年会上颁发证书。
（2）如果没有专著出版，每年至少在作协网站“作家作品”个人专栏里发表一篇文章、参加一次学术论坛或年会。
（3）如果连续五年不参加协会的任何活动，不提交任何作品，理事会将善意提醒；但入会十年都没有在作协网站上发表过任何作品，也不参加作协活动，第十年理事会有权通知本人改进或取消永久会员资格。会费不退。
第八条：申请方式：申报者需先向协会提交《入会申请表》。经理事会审核批准后，即发给“入会通知书”。从入会通知书发出即日起，如果申请人两周之内没有交纳会费，其入会资格自动取消。
第九条：会员费一年五十美元，一次交满三年会费（共一百五十美元）。永久会员会费为五百美元，不再有后续年费。新会员入会前三年是普通会员，转为永久会员后，一次性缴纳永久会员费，享受永久会员的相关待遇。
会员待遇有：
1. 在作协网站“作家作品”栏目中设立个人作品专栏。
2. 作协文集出版均从作协网站“个人作品专栏”中甄选优秀作品。
3. 有权参加作协举办的所有学术交流活动。
4. 有选举权和被选举权。所有会员都有资格竞选下一届理事会成员，也拥有退会自由。
5. 普通会员会费每三年交一次（以年计算，三年后的一月份交下一个三年的会员费），逾期不交会费，视为自动退会，作协有权删除网站上的“作家作品“个人专栏内容。永久会员无需续费。
6. 永久会员在作协网站“作家作品“个人专栏里的作品将永久保留在作协网站上。只要网站存在，“作家作品”个人专栏里的内容就不会删除。
第十条：会员仅对自己的作品负责，享受协会为会员搭建的收藏、发表等各个宣传平台，也可以向作协理事会提出好的建议，但未经理事会授权，任何时候都不能代表作协擅自向会员安排工作、征集稿件、索要赞助费等，或拉帮结伙破坏协会的团结。如果协会理事会提出警告仍没有改善，理事会有权在讨论通过后，不论是普通会员还是永久会员，都可以终止其会籍，同时删除协会网站个人专栏；同理，不论会员因何种原因自行提出退出作协，协会也将删除此人刊登在作协网站上的图文资料（对于集体活动的报道图文，作协有权决定取消或保留，不属于个人版权）。除此之外，协会有权在网站上通报退会成员的姓名，声明此人不再是作协成员，退会后不可以继续使用美国中文作家协会会员的称号。不论会员是以何种方式退会，会员所缴纳的会费概不退还。
功能：
第十一条：会员代表大会每年一次，主要内容有专题讲座、新书发表会、奖励优秀作家和多产作家等学术交流和联谊活动。每三年出版一本作协文集。
第十二条：每三年一届的理事会在第三年的12月的最后一天结束任期。新一届理事会在新一年的1月1日正式接任。全体会员都有资格参加竞选（作协顾问只有投票权）。竞选主席一职需提交竞选报告，由换届监事会向作协全体成员通报主席提名并统计票数。票数最多者当选为主席。新当选主席依据作协章程向换届监事会提交组阁新一届理事会成员的资质要求。参加竞选理事的会员需向换届监事会提交竞选报告。新任主席将与换届监事会共同确定新一届理事会名单并通报作协全体会员。
形式：
第十三条：作协的主要交流形式和发表会员作品的平台以chinesewritersusa.org网站为主。网站的目的是为资深会员建立作品档案，为文学爱好者建造一个可以发表作品的互动平台。只要该网站存在，会员的作品就将永远在互联网上与全球的中文读者互动。
1、该网站设有“关于我们、作家作品、有声频道、即时话题、每月集锦、作协动态、文友园地、友情链接”等栏目，其中“作家作品”以会员姓名设立个人专栏，刊登已发表过或没发表过的小说、诗歌、散文、剧本、杂文等不同体裁的文学作品。“文友园地”是为非会员，特别是为留美的中国学生和在美的华人后代，以及生活在美国的非华裔人士创立的专栏。非会员不需缴纳会费，在“文友园地”中发表十篇文章以上的文友即可申请入会，通过审批后，正式成为美中作协会员，并在“作家作品”栏目中设有个人专栏。
2. 会员作品文责自负，作协网站责编仅对作协章程负责，一般情况下不对会员作品进行修改，但对有悖作协章程和要求的文字有权拒登。作协网站“作家作品”栏目中的文章可视为作者已授权美中作协以有声读物及转发其他网站的形式加以扩大宣传 （请参考网站“会员须知”及“作品三级授权”）。作协网站上的会员简介及“作家作品”个人专栏要使用真名实姓，如果有笔名也请注明。
3、网站栏目可以适当调整，但是整体风格不能改变，网址不能更改，历届理事会都要保护作协网站刊登的图文资料的完整性。
4、会员停止交付会费，即表示放弃个人专栏的使用权，作协有权自行处理。
第十四条： 不定期举办命题征文活动，并且及时将所选征文刊登到协会网站以及有互动关系的报刊杂志和文学网站上。不定期举办专题讲座或文学采风活动。
第十五条：凡是尊重美国中文作家协会章程、通过不同形式赞助协会各个学术平台的个人或单位，可以成为协会当年的荣誉会员，享有在作协网站“荣誉会员”专栏中刊登个人图文简介，并作为特邀嘉宾参加协会的重要活动。如果连续三年赞助协会网站，会在最新出版的协会文集“荣誉会员”一栏中，刊登个人的图文简介。
经费：
第十六条 本协会的经费来源：
1、会员费：普通会员会费费：$50.00x3年=$150.00。永久会员会费：$500.00。
2、大型活动可以寻求赞助。
3、网站可以设广告板块。如果有广告收益，将作为协会活动经费。
附则：
第十七条 本章程由理事会负责解释。在尊重协会章程主旨的前提下，理事会有权对个别条款进行修正，但是要经过理事会半数以上成员的通过才能生效。
第十八条 本协会如终止活动或解散，需经会员代表大会讨论通过，由执委会确定人选组成清理小组处理善后工作。章程於 2015 年9 月12 日 第一次理事会上讨论通过，美国中文作家协会正式成立。
美国中文作家协会第四届理事会七名成员名单如下(2024年——2026年）：
主席： 李岘
副主席：文昊
秘书长：崔萍
副秘书长：史德亮
财务长：谭瑞钦
理事： 苏飒
理事：许晓妮
美国中文作家协会第三届理事会五名成员名单如下(2021年——2023年）：
主席： 李岘
副主席：文昊
秘书长：崔萍
财务长：谭瑞钦
理事： 苏飒
美国中文作家协会第二届理事会七名成员名单如下(2018年——2021年）：
主席： 李岘
副主席：何绍义
秘书长：叶显林
财务长：谭瑞钦
理事： 文昊、胡沅、节冰
美国中文作家协会第一届理事会九名成员名单如下(2015年——2017年）：
主席： 李岘
副主席：何绍义、孙兴华
秘书长：赵燕冬
财务长：谭瑞钦（接任）、许晓妮（卸任）
理事： 王智、齐滨英、文昊、康鸿熹(R. Todd Cornell)
备注：
* 美中作协第四届理事会在2024年4月13日召开的第二次理事会上，及4月18日全体理事会成员通过了对协会章程第七条、第九条和第十五条相关细节的修订。
* 美中作协第三届理事会在2021年1月3日召开的理事会上，全体通过了对协会章程第四条、第六条、第九条、第十条相关细节的修订。并将章程中“终身”改为“永久”，“监委会”改为“监事会”，并取消“全体会员都将免费获赠文集一本”的规定。2021年5月29日理事会全票通过对章程的第十条以及第十三条（2）进行了修订。
* 美中作协第二届理事会在2018年1月7日和3月25日两次理事会上，对作协章程第四条、第五条、第七条、第八条、第九条、第十二条、第十三条、第十四条和十五条进行了修改并获理事会全票通过。
* 章程於 2015年9月12日 第一次理事会上讨论通过，美国中文作家协会正式成立。 美中作协理事会在2016年3月20日的理事会上，对作协章程“宗旨”第三条添加了培养非成员文友的形式及意义。“会员”第九条和“形式”第十三条进行了条款细化。参加会议的七名理事全票通过了修改后的文字 。
CHINESE WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA BYLAW
（General）
Mission:
Article I: CHINESE WRITERS ASSOCIATION of AMERICA (CWAA) is a non-political, non-religious, and non-profit organization in the United States that has been voluntarily formed by Chinese people and people of other ethnicities who love to write and create literary works in the Chinese language. CWAA is also a member of the World Chinese Literature Alliance. And CWAA has the IRS 501 (C) (3) tax-exempt status and all donation may receive full tax benefit for our donors. The mission of CWAA is to build up and maintain a cross-border and cross-region platform for people who love literary writing and creation in the Chinese language to have mutual exchange and mutual feedback, and learn from each other through the online media and the print media. Meanwhile, CWAA will promote the integration of East-West cultures and dissemination of the Chinese language through academic exchanges. CWAA publishes the works its members on the website of CWAA www.chinesewritersusa.org.
Article II: CWAA respects the US Constitution, promotes democracy, and supports innovation. CWAA multi-channel pushes forward the literary cooperation among the people in the United States and other countries of the world, thus expanding greater development space for CWAA members.
Article III: Utilizing the Internet and the website of CWAA, CWAA showcases the literary works of the members to the world. CWAA will organize different events rom time to time to encourage the members to create more and more outstanding literary works.
Organizations:
Article IV: The Board of Directors is the core of CWAA. The function of the Board of Directors is to act upon the working principles developed according to the bylaw and lead the members in implement them in different periods, The Board of Directors is consisted of: a Chairman, a Vice-Chairmen, a Secretary General and a Treasurer, and several Executive Board members (in principle, there will be no more than nine people in the Board of Directors). The Board of Directors holds regular meeting once in every three months (accordingly, a meeting could be held via e-mail, telephone, or online conference call), The Secretary-General takes care of the meeting minutes and the archive of meeting minutes. The Board of Directors is re-elected every three years. The Chairman of the Board of Directors oversees the operation of CWAA in general. The Vice-Chairmen, Secretary-General, Treasurer and the Executive Board Members are responsible for the membership, networking, outreach and financial management. Major decisions need more than half of the Board members to approve in order to take effect. Board members are elected for a full term of three years. If a Council member resigns before the end of a term, regardless of the reason, he or she should inform the entire Council, then, a replacement member will be selected by the Board of Directors. The resigned member will not be listed as a board member in the website of CWAA and other publicity platforms, such as the Collected Works of CWAA.
Article V: CWAA has an Honorary Chairman in the first term. Then, the Chairman of each term becomes an Honorary Chairman after finishing the term. The founding Chairman becomes a Lifetime Honorary Chairman after finishing the term.
Article VI: The advisory Group is consisted of renowned writers and scholars from the United States, China and other countries. It is appointed by the newly elected Board of Directors for a three-year term. The Arts Committee is formed with the members and quota to meet the needs of CWAA. The general convener and members will be selected from the CWAA members by the Board of Directors, the term is one year and renewable. CWAA has designated a liaison to regularly communicate with the Advisor Group and update them with Council resolutions and related activities. The Re-election Supervising Committee is composed of the honorary chairman, the legal counsel and one or two other Advisor Group members (adjustable under special circumstances)
Membership:
Article VII: In view of the "new media" in the Internet age, CWAA membership requirement is not limited to monograph and literary publications in print. A Chinese American or non-Chinese American would meet the membership requirement if she/he has published one or more than one works in print or online, or, has published more than ten articles in print media such as newspapers and magazines, including the “Literary Friends’ Corner” on CWAA’s website. Therefore, those who respect the bylaw of CWAA and have a monograph or several articles published in print and online, whether they are Chinese or non-Chinese, may apply for CWAA membership. The Board of Directors reviews and proves applications for membership on a regular basis. When a membership is approved, a Membership Certificate will be issued to the member, valid for three years. After three years, the member can renew the three-year membership fee to continue being an ordinary member, or be eligible to submit an application to become a Lifetime member after one year of membership.
Article VIII: Membership Application: An applicant needs to first submit an Application Form, After approval by the Board of Directors, the applicant will fill out a Member Registration Form. When the membership dues are paid, the applicant is issued a Membership Certificate. From the day when the notice of membership is issued, if the applicant does not pay the membership fee within two weeks, his membership will be automatically cancelled.
Article IX: The membership dues are $50.00 a year. Three years’ membership dues need be paid at once ($150.00 in total). Lifetime membership dues are $500.00 with no follow-up annual dues. A new member will remain as an ordinary member for first three years After becoming Lifetime member, one need pay a one-time Lifetime membership due to enjoy the relevant benefits of Lifetime member.Member benefits include:
1) Publishing works on the website of CWAA,
2) Selecting outstanding works from the individual column on the website of CWAA to be included in the Collected Works of CWAA, and get a free copy.
3) Participating in all the CWAA academic activities.
4) Every member has the right to vote and to stand for election. Every member is eligible to run for a member in the Board of Directors. Every member has the right to withdraw from CWAA, but the membership dues are non-refundable.
5) The ordinary membership dues are paid one for three years at once (each three-year dues will be paid in the first January after the three years). Overdue membership dues are resulted in an automatic withdrawal from CWAA. CWAA reserves the right to remove these withdrawn members’ works on the website of CWAA. No follow-up annual dues for the lifetime members.
6) Lifetime members will permanently have their works in their individual columns on the website of CWAA as long as the website is online.
Article X: If a member has a serious violation of the bylaw of CWAA, the membership will be stopped or cancelled after being discussed and approved by the Board of Directors. Such a member’s personal column will be removed from the website of CWAA. Similarly, regardless of the reason a member withdraws from the CWAA, the CWAA will delete the member’s personal column and the pictures published on the CWAA website (the CWAA has the right to cancel or retain the pictures or other materials for the reports of collective activities, which do not belong to personal copyright). In addition, the CWAA will state on its website that the person is no longer a member of the CWAA and that he or she may not continue to use the title of Member of the CWAA. The membership fee paid by the member shall not be refunded, regardless of why the individual is no longer a member of the CWAA.
Features:
Article XI: Members Congress is held annually, and the main contents are seminars, new book launch, rewarding outstanding writers and prolific writers and other academic exchange and networking activities. CWAA will publish an anthology of members’ works in every three years.
Article XII: The three-year term of the Council ends at the last day of the third year. The new Council’s three-year term begins at January 1 of the new year. Every member has the right to be self-nominated for the election of the new Council members (The members of the Advisory Board only have voting rights). The member who runs for the position of the President needs to submit an election declaration, the Election Audit Committee will administer the election and report the results to all the members. The member who has got the most votes will be elected as the new president. Acting upon the Bylaw, the newly elected President will submit the qualification requirements for the new Board Members to the Election Audit Committee. The Election Audit Committee will send out the call for the new Council election. The members who want to run for the Board of Directors need to submit an election declaration. The new Board members will be selected by the new President with the aid from the Election Audit Committee. And, the Election Audit Committee will announce the result of the election for the new Board of Directors.
Forms:
Article XIII: The website of CWAA at www.chinesewritersusa.org is dedicated to establishing an archive of literary works for senior members as well as publishing literary works of all the members. As long as the website is online, all the literary works will be available forever for all the readers all over the world.
1. Website features various columns which include: About Us, Writers’ Works, Instant Topics, Monthly Highlights, CWAA Activities, Non-members Contribution and Links. In Writers’ Works, members will have the column under her or his name and publish their fiction, poetry, essays, plays, and other literary works. The Non-members Contribution is dedicated to non-members of CWAA, especially students and Chinese descendants and non-Chinese writers in the United States. The non-members do not need to pay the membership dues. A non-member who has published more than five literary works will be illegible to become a CWAA member when approved, thus having a personal column in Writers’ Works
2. All members are responsible for their own works. CWAA website editors are only responsible for the CWAA Bylaws. Once a piece of work is published in the “Writer’s Column”, it would give CWAA permission to forward it to other websites or use it for audiobooks (please refer to Members Information and Works Authorization on CWAA website). Please use your legal name in your member profile and personal column in "Writers' Works" on the website of the CWAA, and indicate your pseudonym if you have one.
3. The website columns can be appropriately adjusted, but the overall style will remain unchanged. The URL of CWAA website will always be the same. The Board of Directors will maintain the integrity of the content published on the CWAA website.
4. CWAA members stop paying their dues will automatically give up their personal columns, CWAA reserves the right to deal with this type of issues.
Article XIV: From time to time, CWAA will call for Topic Essays which will be selectively collected and published on the websites of CWAA and other literary organization that have collaborations with CWAA. CWAA will occasionally hold regional literary collection activities.
Article XV: Any individual or organization that respects the bylaw of CWAA and sponsors various platforms of the association through different ways can become Honorary Member of CWAA for that year and enjoy the opportunity to have a personal profile with photo in the "Honorary Member" column on the CWAA website, and can participate in the important events of CWAA as Special Guest. If an Honorary Member sponsors the CWAA website for three consecutive years, her/his profile with photo will be published in the "Honorary Member" section of the latest CWAA collected works.
Funds:
Article XVI: Funding Sources of CWAA:
1. Membership Dues: annual membership dues are $50.00; 3 years’ membership dues are $150.00; lifetime membership dues are $500.00.
2, For large-scale activities, CWAA can seek sponsorship.
3, CWAA website can have an advertising sector. If the website generates ad revenue, the income will be used to finance the activities of CWAA.
Annex:
Article XVII: This bylaw shall be interpreted by the Board of Directors. Under the premise of respecting the spirit of CWAA, the Board of Directors reserves the right to amend individual terms, but the amendment in question need to be approved by more than half of the Board of Directors members to take effect.
Article XVIII: If the termination or dissolution of CWAA took place, it need be discussed and approved by the members’ congress of CWAA. A liquidation team will be appointed by the Executive Committee to deal with the aftermath.
The members of the forth term Board of Directors are as follows (2024-2026):
Chairman: Maria Lixian Gee-Schweiger
Vice-Chairman: Hao Wen
Chief Financial Officer: Daniel Tam
Secretary-General: Anita Cui
Vice-Secretary: Deliang Shi
Board Members: Sara Su
Board Members: Xiaoni Xu
The members of the third term Board of Directors are as follows (2021-2023):
Chairman: Maria Lixian Gee-Schweiger
Vice-Chairman: Hao Wen
Secretary-General: Anita Cui
Chief Financial Officer: Daniel Tam
Board Members: Sara Su
The members of the second term Board of Directors are as follows(2018-2021):
Chairman: Maria Lixian Gee-Schweiger
Vice-Chairman: Shaoyi He
Secretary-General: Xianlin Ye
Chief Financial Officer: Daniel Tam
Board Members: Hao Wen, Emily Yuan Hu, Bing Jie
The members of the first term Board of Directors are as follows(2015-2017):
Chairman: Maria Lixian Gee-Schweiger
Vice-Chairman: Shaoyi He, Xinghua Sun
Secretary-General: Yandong Zhao
Chief Financial Officer: Daniel Tam; Xiaoni Xu(Resign）
Board Members: Zhi Wang, Binying Qi, Hao Wen, R. Todd Cornell
Notes:
* The fourth board of directors of the CWAA held its second meeting on April 13, 2024, and all board members approved the revision of relevant details of Articles VII, IX and XV of the CWAA bylaw on April 18.
* The third term Board of Directors of CWAA held a meeting on January 3, 2021, and revised Article 4, Article 6, Article 9, Article 10 of the Bylaws, and cancelled the original provision for "all members will receive a free copy of the Collected Works of CWAA". The revised Bylaws was unanimously approved and adopted. The Board of Directors of CWAA revised Article 10 and Article 13 #2 on May 29, 2021.
*In the meeting of the second term Board of Directors held on January 7, 2018 and March 25, 2018, Articles IV, V, VII,VIII IX, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI were discussed and revised, and unanimously approved and adopted.
*In the meeting of the first term Board of Directors held on March 20, 2016, Membership Article IX and Forms Article XIII were discussed and revised, and unanimously approved and adopted.
*The bylaw was discussed and proved in the first meeting of the Board of Directors held on September 12, 2015, thus, the Chinese Writers Association of America (CWAA) had been formally established.
