017 awp conference & Bookfair February —11, 2017 • Washington, dc

Starting Small: Grassroots Workshops and Conferences. (Shawna Ryan, Dave Housley, Donna Talarico, Mark Brazaitis, Tyler McMahon)

What are the challenges and rewards of teaching writing outside a traditional academic context? This panel will discuss conferences and workshops at the smaller end of the spectrum. The panelists include founders and organizers of events from across the country. Their programs vary greatly in size, cost, focus, duration, budget and level of institutional support. They will share strategies for developing audience, for attracting talent, and for balancing craft with career advice.

Strange Bedfellows: The Unholy Mingling of Politics and Art. (Andrew Altschul, Nick Flynn, Susan Choi, V. V. Ganeshananthan, Anthony Marra)

If the pen is mightier than the sword, why are young writers so often told that politics and literature don’t - or shouldn't - mix? Introducing real-world conflicts interferes with good storytelling, the theory goes, favoring ideas over characters and the general over the concrete. How then can writers find a space to explore the matters of life and death, wealth and poverty, war and governance, that affect us all? How should art respond to the terrors of modern life?

Submission as Action. (Desiree Zamorano, Xochit-Julisa Bermejo, Ashaki M. Jackson, Cathy Linh Che, Melissa Chadburn)

Once VIDA published statistical evidence illustrating the underrepresentation of women writers in top journals, editors were quick to say women don’t submit as often. Our panelists challenge this fallacy by relentlessly submitting work to competitive journals and awards and encouraging other writers from marginalized communities to do the same. They will share submission strategies and how to create support, programs, and publication opportunities for writers who historically have gone ignored.

Subverting Reality: Using Real People in Fictionalized Settings. (Chrys Tobey, Tyehimba Jess, Frank X Walker, tammy lynne stoner, Claudia H Long)

Writing from the voices of historical characters gives us an opportunity to subvert what has—or hasn’t—been written about them. They can also be used to strengthen a theme or to try to understand history. These diverse poets and writers have re-imagined parts of the lives of Marie Antoinette, Leadbelly, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, York, and Guy Debord. This lively panel chats about subversion, why characters were chosen, the power of persona writing, and how to create believable renderings.

Success, Failure and the Green-Eyed Monster: Thriving in a Competitive Environment. (Jean Kwok, Rebecca Makkai, Mitchell S. Jackson, Mira Jacob, Jami Attenberg)

This diverse panel of writers at different stages of their careers talks openly about issues all writers face: rejection, success and envy. They share strategies for overcoming these challenges and discuss how they manage to persevere in the extremely competitive world of publishing without losing their humanity or their sense of humor. The panelists also explore how their own ethnic identities, gender and backgrounds have helped or hindered their success.

Such Mean Stories: Women Writers Get Gritty. (Luanne Smith, Jayne Anne Phillips, Ann Pancake, Vicki Hendricks, Stephanie Powell Watts)

Violence, hungry children, booze, sex, drugs, hand-to-mouth living; the hardscrabble life has affected just as many women as white men. But the male writers get far more attention than the females. Who are the women writers of the rough south, grit lit or blue collar world? Why are their stories marginalized, their graphic details criticized? The diverse group of women writers on this panel aren’t afraid to get dirty, write close to the bone, and tear down literary walls. Time to get mean.

Surprise Us: Reading Between the Submission Guidelines. (Megan Cummins, Nick Fuller Googins, Thais Miller, Safia Jama, Robert James Russell)

Surprise us: a statement often seen in submission guidelines. But many literary magazines also have aesthetics. How do editors of magazines look for surprises, whether it’s a surprising fit to an existing aesthetic or a surprise that breaks the aesthetic? What advice can they give writers deciding whether or not their work is a fit to submit? This panel, hosted by A Public Space, will explore how editors balance the aesthetic of their magazine with the hope writers will surprise them.

Surviving the End Times: Finishing a First, Second, or Fifth Book. (Michele Morano, Philip Graham, Kathleen Rooney, James Canon, Sarah Dohrmann)

Most writers understand the warp of space/time by the way distance grows the

closer we get to the end of a book manuscript. These five panelists, who have authored novels, memoirs, volumes of poetry, and essay and story collections, will offer a variety of perspectives and practical tips for crossing the finish line. Panelists will also draw on their experience with trade publishers, university presses, foreign rights, and movie options to discuss where and how to publish.
Susan Sontag and the Authority of Authorship. (Sven Birkerts, Eula Biss, Mara Naselli)

Susan Sontag was a celebrity intellectual, a writer of essays and fiction. Her searing mind and irrepressible appetite to understand the world shaped Sontag’s authorial persona in ways that drew both admirers and critics. As an essayist she feared neither aphorism nor provocation, and freely argued with herself over the course of her career. The panelists will discuss Sontag’s authorial strategies in the context of her time and her legacy for contemporary writers and essayists.

Switching It Up: Writers Cross Arts Boundaries. (Tony Eprile, Rachel Kadish, Aliki Barnstone, Cornelius Eady)

For Georgia O’Keeffe color and shapes allowed her to say “things I had no words for.” Turning from words to other art forms can lead us to embrace mystery, make discoveries, and develop as writers and teachers in unexpected ways. Two fiction writers and two poets address their relationship with a predominantly non-verbal practice such as music or the visual arts and show how such practices nourish, generate, and inform their writing. Multimedia.

Sympathy for All Devils. (Lina Maria Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas, Sarah Viren, Kerry Howley, Patricia Foster, Kristen Radtke)

Though unsympathetic narrators are common in fiction, there’s still an expectation that the essayist, and in particular the woman essayist, tread lightly and not only be sympathetic, but also avoid the unsympathetic. Panelist will discuss the genre history and gender bias underlining these expectation, our experiences being unsympathetic essayist and empathizing with unsympathetic characters—from combatants to murderers—and what we stand to gain from sympathizing with the devil.

Take Me To The Water: How Poets of Color Migrated South and Built an Inclusive and Growing Community. (L. Lamar Wilson, John S. Blake, DaMaris Hill, Monifa Lemons, Grace Shuyi Liew)

In the tradition of Jean Toomer, poets of color migrate south to the mossy backwoods of Santee, SC on the lake each winter to study, generate, and refine poetics of the body, mind, stage and page in a safe, inclusive space; led by an award-winning faculty. Hear stories about the evolution from its grassroots beginnings into a vibrant non-profit and social media-based community that offers affordable retreats, online workshops and other events—physical and virtual, including its work with STEAM.

Tell Me About It: On Giving, Getting, and Placing Good Author Interviews. (Swati Khurana, Jennifer Baker, Sari Botton, Neelanjana Banerjee, Zoe Zolbrod)

Giving interviews is one of the best ways for authors to promote their work. Interviewing authors is one of the best ways to learn from them and build-up bylines. In this panel, writers, editors, and podcast producers who know all sides of the process discuss how to identify interview subjects, devise interesting questions, give satisfying answers, and approach intimate material while respecting boundaries—as well as how to find homes in various media for the conversations that result.

The América Invertida Project: A Poet to Poet Model for Opening New Literatures to U.S. Readers. (Jesse Lee Kercheval, Ron Salutsky, Javier Etchevarren, Paula Simonetti, Karen Wild Díaz)

In 2014, a project was born at ALTA matching U.S. translators with Uruguayan poets to produce América invertida: An Anthology of Emerging Uruguayan Poets (UNM Press, 2016). The project continues with nearly 100 poems in magazines and 8 books by Uruguayan poets translated, including the 3 featured here: Anti-Ferule, Karen Wild Díaz (tr. Ron Salutsky), What the Sad Say, Paula Simonetti (tr. Catherine Jagoe) and Fable of an Inconsolable Man, Javier Etchevarren (tr. Jesse Lee Kercheval).

The Animal That Therefore I Am: “I”-ing and Eyeing the Animal. (Elena Passarello, Steven Church, Matthew Gavin Frank, Clinton Crockett Peters, Lisa Couturier)

Derrida once lectured for 8 hours about standing naked in front of his staring cat. Essayists are known for standing “naked” in front of their audiences, looking at the world while also looking in. How do these 2 acts of gazing converge when essayists turn to animals? What are the problems of anthropomorphism? In this panel, 5 authors of recent CNF on the animal kingdom will discuss their approaches to essaying animals, combining their “I” with the eye of the house cat (or of the tiger).

The Art and Importance of the Poetry Interview. (Don Share, Kaveh Akbar, Melissa Studdard, Camille Rankine, Emilia Phillips)

The intricacy of poetry calls for a unique kind of interview, one that invites wonderment as much as answers. Series hosts for Poetry, Cave Canem, VIDA, Divedapper, and 32 Poems, panelists have conducted interviews via a variety of platforms and methods. Panelists will compare platforms, discuss the relevance of poetry interviews, and highlight techniques for fostering conversation that honors the complexity of poetry and maximizes an interview's contribution to the poetry community and beyond.

The Art of Perspective: How Narrative Strategies Reflect Contemporary Culture. (Lee Hope, Christopher Castellani, Sunil Yapa, Marjan Kamali, Sarah Colwill-Brown)

How can the novel respond to a culture dominated by the microform interactions of social media? Increasingly, we experience the world as a series of information fragments, a mode of communication that seems at odds with the long form of the novel. Five novelists whose books explore multiple perspectives discuss the narrative strategies writers use to explore the composite structures of contemporary storytelling, and reflect the fractured nature of everyday narratives.

The Art of Rendering Sports into Writing, a Multi-Genre Discussion. (Roger Sedarat, Kerry Howley, Sameer Pandya, Brin-Jonathan Butler, Robert Moreira)

Writers in the American tradition often use sports as an entry point to comment upon culture or to develop individual characterization. A background as a player or even informed spectator of a given sport offers good material for one's writing, as well as a means to reach a more mainstream audience. Authors from various cultural and ethnic backgrounds discuss their approach to thematically and stylistically rendering a variety of sports into journalism, creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry.

The Art of the Novella: Publishers and Writers On Crafting the Beautifully In-Between. (Richard Hermes, Deena Drewis, Lindsey Drager, Dennis Johnson, Josh Weil)

Ian McEwan calls it the perfect form of prose fiction, but the novella is often seen as an awkward middle sibling, defined by what it isn’t. How do we know if our work isn’t merely a bloated short story or fledgling novel? What’s at stake in working in this (arguably marginalized) form? Pioneering publishers of stand-alone novellas, Melville House and Nouvella, join accomplished authors to share what they’ve learned from reading manuscripts, curating book lists, and publishing their own drafts.

The Art of War: The Power & Role of the Writer in Times of Crisis. (Pireeni Sundaralingam, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Lidia Yuknavitch, David Shields)

As an increasing percentage of the world is plunged into conflict, our panel brings together award-winning novelists, poets, and non-fiction writers to explore how creative writing can shape, distort, and challenge the way we understand war. Drawing on examples from our own work, and the work of others, we will discuss the power of the written word in relation to image and other forms of propaganda, and share our personal experiences of how our books have influenced a wider political discussion.

The Baby Penalty: The Complex Dynamics Surrounding Motherhood and a Literary Career. (Danielle Herzog, Jody Keisner, Ann Przyzycki, Vandana Khanna, Elizabeth Enslin)

Mary Ann Mason wrote, “For men, having children is a career advantage; for women, it is a career killer.” How can women who dare to pursue both avoid the Baby Penalty? This diverse, all-genre panel discusses the unforeseen ways that motherhood complicates their work as editors, writers, and college professors; they discuss how they adjusted and where they refused. Offering perspectives from varying stages of career and motherhood, panelists seek to inspire greater progress within the discipline.

The Book of Your Heart: Ignoring Market Trends and Writing the Novel Most Connected to You. (Nova Ren Suma, Brandy Colbert, Bennett Madison, Emily X.R. Pan, Amy Reed)

How would you define the Book of Your Heart? Can there be only one? What happens when you put your heart on the page for an audience of young readers? Five YA authors at various stages in their careers will read from and speak about the novels they felt most personally connected to, published or not yet published. Discussion will explore ignoring market trends, facing publishing struggles, making use of real-life inspiration, and the aftermath, including reviews and writing something new.

The Civic of Literature. (Eve Bridburg, Andrew Proctor, Marjan Kamali)

The narrative arts have a unique and powerful role to play in bringing people together, deepening empathy and creating shared experiences locally, nationally and globaIly. Leaders of GrubStreet, Literary Arts, and Narrative 4 will talk about the groundbreaking work they are doing to engage non-traditional audiences, widen participation in the literary arts, and partner with civic organizations to bring the power of narrative to unexpected places in unusual ways.

The Craft of Editing Poetry: Practices and Perspectives from Literary Magazine Editors. (Anna Lena Phillips Bell, Sumita Chakraborty, George David Clark, Jessica Faust, James Smith)

Editing is as vital to poetry as to other genres, but frank discussion of this work is rare. This panel offers insights from editors of several magazines where the editing of poetry is given serious consideration. We will cover reading submissions, writing solicitations, curating issues, and, especially, sending thoughtful, well-made edits. We will explore the poet-editor relationship and the craft as we practice it at 32 Poems, The Southern Review, Southern Poetry Review, Ecotone, and Agni.

The Craft of Empathy. (Kate Hopper, Ana Maria Spagna, Adriana Paramo, Kim Stafford)

Writing with empathy in mind, especially in nonfiction, can create texture in our work and be transformative for both writer and reader. On this panel we explore various angles of perspective: scenes where narrators show empathy toward other characters—especially ones who are unlikeable—and vice versa, reflections that suggest empathy of a memoirist for a younger self, as well as techniques for showing empathy, as a writer, for the reader, and from both reader and writer for the non-human world.

The Elegy Endures: 30 Years of Community Witness to HIV/AIDS. (Terry Wolverton, David Groff, Irene Borger, Reginald Harris, Michael Broder)

In the 30th anniversary year of the first public display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt in Washington, D.C., LGBTQ writers who have continually addressed the pandemic of HIV/AIDS in their own work, on websites, in the editing of anthologies, and in conducting community workshops, reflect on the power and agency of the written word in confronting, interpreting, even transforming, the loss, the politics, and the legacy of this devastating plague that persists into our own time.

The Elusive Lyric: Approaches to Translation. (Sarah Stickney, Curtis Bauer, Mira Rosenthal, Russell Valentino, Sawako Nakayasu)

Lyric poetry demands a keen ear and great skill to translate. Lyrics often proceed by leaps and innuendos; the sense of the line lies in its music, and its power in an ability to bend time. How can a translation capture the immediacy, pulse, and energy of this ancient form? Five translators will discuss how to transport a lyric from one language into another. We will explore possibilities and solutions that range from conservative to radical in a celebration of translation's juiciest challenge.

The Fifty-First Minute: Beyond the Therapist's Office and Onto the Page. (Ainsley McWha, Camille Chidsey, Heather Kresge, Christopher P. Collins, Elissa Washuta)

Some say that to write good Creative Nonfiction the transformative therapy must come well before the writing. But, what if we write about a subject dealt with in an ongoing therapy setting? Writers whose work has addressed mental illness argue the validity of the therapy first/writing second belief, discuss challenges encountered while writing about this often stigmatized topic, and explore the difference between therapy, catharsis, and the inevitable insights brought on by the writing process.

The Four Directions: A Tribute to Francisco X. Alarcón. (Francisco Aragón, Odilia Galván Rodriguez, Maria Kelson, Eduardo C. Corral, Laurie Ann Guerrero)

“TA...hui!” “TA…hui!” The late Chicano poet and activist Francisco X. Alarcón (1954–2016) mesmerized audiences, who repeated after him, as Aztec invocation, this proclamation ("TA…hui!") to the “four directions”—at the start of his memorable performances. This panel gathers five poets who were deeply touched by his life and work and who will share their connection to him—through his trailblazing work, his person, or both. The author of the seminal Snake Poems is sure to be present, in spirit.

The Hollywood Equation: Combining Community and Mentorship to Take Control of Your Screenwriting Career. (Lisanne Sartor, Susan Cartsonis, Meg LeFauve, Joe Forte, Jennifer Weinbaum Ray)

Numerous retreats exist that enable prose writers to hone their craft and connect with established writers, publishers and agents. CineStory retreats are among the few exclusively for screenwriters. They include craft and professional development seminars, one-on-one mentorship and an active alumni community. CineStory panelists will explore how screenwriters can become working professionals through mentorship and participation in writing communities and retreats.

The Iceworker Still Sings: The Poetry of Andrés Montoya. (Francisco Aragón, Daniel Chacón, Maceo Montoya, David Campos, Stephanie Fetta)

Andrés Montoya knew he’d won UC Irvine’s Chicano/Latino Literary Prize for poetry, which included book publication. He didn’t know he would die before its release. He didn’t know he’d win the American Book Award and influence a generation of poets—that a national poetry book prize would be named after him. Years after his death, a second, posthumous book of poems has been released. This panel will talk about that book, his work, his life and the influence he has had on American poetry.

The Imitation Game: Adapting Classic Narratives in Contemporary Literature. (Lorraine Lopez, Kathryn Locey, Lynn Pruett, Blas Falconer, Teresa Dovalpage)

Isabel Allende claims that all stories have been told and that writers merely retell these, sometimes deliberately. For example, Jane Smiley drafted 1,000 Acres to rebut Shakespeare’s King Lear. Authors, writing in four genres—fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama, speak to the conscious process of adapting classic literature, sharing ways to eke inspiration and avoid derivation in this practice that can provide new perspectives to highlight and enrich enduring narratives.

The Immigrant as Translator. (Johannes Goransson, Lina Maria Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas, Alireza Tahari Areghi, Aron Aji)

Many different paradigms of translation are based on the idea that the translator is someone who ventures out in the world and brings back foreign texts. How is our thinking about translation changed if the translator is an immigrant (or emigrant) who comes from a foreign culture and literary tradition? Are the issues facing an immigrant translator different from a native English-speaker?

The Importance of Prizes in the Promotion of Diverse Literature. (Elizabeth Hodges, Tope Folarin, Parselelo Kantai, Mukoma wa Ngugi, Kadija Sesay)

Since 2000, the Caine Prize for African Writing ($15,000) has highlighted some of the best fiction writers from 10 of Africa’s 55 countries. Tope Folarin (2013 winner and DC resident), Parselelo Kantai (short-listed twice), and Mukoma wa Ngugi (short-listed once) read from their fiction and share what being short-listed or winning the prize has meant to their careers and the promotion of quality African literature. Veteran judge Kadija Sesay adds perspective and Elizabeth Hodges moderates.

The Independent Press Anthology: Focusing, Editing, Organizing, Designing, Publishing and Marketing. (Lucille Lang Day, Wendy Barker, Diane Lockward, Bryce Milligan, Claire Ortalda)

You have a great idea for an anthology but doubt that Penguin Random House will be interested. Will anyone publish it? How will you define and reach your audience? How will you and a publisher interact to create a book worthy of your vision? To address these questions, editors and publishers representing four independent presses—Scarlet Tanager Books, Wings Press, Terrapin Books and PEN Oakland Publications/Heyday—will share their experiences ushering a wide range of anthologies into the world.

The Infinite in the Finite: One Hundred Years of H.P. Lovecraft’s Legacy. (Alexander Lumans, Pinckney Benedict, Christopher Robinson, Victor LaValle, Kij Johnson)

In 1917, renowned horror writer H.P. Lovecraft wrote his first short story. In the century since, through his indelible mythos, his cosmic creations, and his evocative language, Lovecraft has become a writer whose life and work have the potential to inspire as much as divide. In this panel five fiction writers discuss how Lovecraft has diversely influenced their literary craft and careers, addressing the author’s resurgence in contemporary letters as well as the conflicted legacy he left behind.

The Influence of Introductory Creative Writing Textbooks. (Janet Burroway, Heather Sellers, Diane Thiel, David Starkey)

As authors or co-authors of four of the bestselling multi-genre creative writing textbooks in North America, Janet Burroway, Heather Sellers, David Starkey and Diane Thiel have a large influence on the way many undergraduates are introduced to creative writing, and, indeed, to contemporary literature. This panel will explore the decisions these influential textbook authors make when writing about genres and choosing authors to illustrate those genres.

The International Writer-Teacher. (Raphael Dagold, Jane Lewty, Patty Paine, Xu Xi, Collier Nogues)

Increasingly, U.S. writers recognize that writing and teaching exist in an international context. This panel of writers teaching in English-language universities in Hong Kong, Singapore, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, and Amsterdam will share insights about a range of issues raised by teaching abroad, including how an international setting affects creative writing pedagogy, institutional and cultural differences in teaching writing outside the U.S., and how one might seek such a job in the first place.