Awp conference & Bookfair 2018 Tentative Accepted Events

A 25th Anniversary Reading by Kate Tufts Discovery Award Winners (Lori Anne Ferrell, Adrian Blevins, Janice Harrington, Phillip B. Williams, Catherine Bowman)

Claremont Graduate University’s Kate Tufts Discovery Award, presented annually for “a first book of genuine promise,” was created in 1994 to honor poets in the initial stages of their careers and encourage their future writing. These past recipients of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award demonstrate how early-career prizes have a positive creative impact. Too, their readings will showcase the breadth, depth, and diversity, of the poetry that CGU’s Tufts Awards supports and celebrates.

A Foot in Two Cultures: First Generation American Poets (John Hoppenthaler, Lauren Camp, Timothy Liu, Adrienne Su)

The contemporary influence of poets who were born in the US and whose parents are immigrants has been substantial and important. For these poets, there is an ongoing calibration of the distance between the culture of their parents and their negotiation with the reality and myth of an American Dream. The inherent tensions of this push and pull create a space that can be fruitful for poetry, a space from which the poets who comprise this panel continue to write.

Against Forgetting AGAINST FORGETTING: 25 Years Later (John Poch, Jill Bialosky, Peter Balakian, Carolyn Forche, Jacob Shores-Arguello)

25 years ago, Carolyn Forche’s groundbreaking anthology, The Poetry of Witness, was published. This gathering of poems helped to galvanize an entire generation of poets who came to believe that poems could do more than articulate a poet’s confessional hankerings and could bear witness to history itself. The poets on this panel will read a few of their favorite poems from the anthology and discuss what this book meant and means to their own work and the world.

A Reading & Conversation with Cathy Park Hong, Tyehimba Jess and Morgan Parker, Sponsored by Cave Canem (Cathy Park Hong, Tyehimba Jess, Morgan Parker, Nicole Sealey, Clint Smith)

Three award-winning poets give brief readings of their original work, followed by a moderated conversation on a range of topics, from race and poetic forms to the poet's evolving role and responsibility in and to a literary landscape at once predominantly white and rapidly diversifying.

A Reading and Conversation with Rita Mae Brown, Cherríe Moraga, and Chloe Schwenke (Amber Flora Thomas, Chloe Schwenke, Rita Mae Brown, Cherríe Moraga)

From prolific to emerging, these impactful authors will read from novels, poetry, and memoir, and discuss the effects of their literary influences as well as the pressures of inevitably carrying on the power of literary influence. The authors will address how they navigate the responsibilities of representation and the intersections of multiple marginalized identities, including lesbian, queer, trans, female, and POC.

A Reading by Mark Doty, Khaled Mattawa, and Layli Long Soldier, Sponsored by the Academy of American Poets (Jen Benka, Mark Doty, Khaled Mattawa, Layli Long Soldier)

Join the Academy of American Poets for an evening reading by three award-winning poets. Executive Director Jennifer Benka will introduce the event. Founded in 1934, the Academy of American Poets is the nation’s largest membership-based organization promoting contemporary poets and poetry.

A Reading from Flash Nonfiction Funny (Tom Hazuka, Kim Addonizio, Wendy Brenner, Sarah Einstein, Michael Martone)

Flash Nonfiction Funny, edited by Tom Hazuka and Dinty W. Moore and published in 2018, provides a unique perspective on the flash genre: working within a 750-word limit, each of these nonfiction pieces is designed to make readers laugh. Satire, burlesque, farce, slapstick--all of it true, told in just 1-3 pages. Kim Addonizio, Wendy Brenner, Sarah Einstein, Tom Hazuka and Michael Martone will read their own stories from the book, as well as favorite pieces by other authors from the anthology.

A WITS Alumni Reading: The Unfiltered Imagination (Jack McBride, Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, Nicky Beer, Wayne Miller, Karyna McGlynn)

For over 20 years, writers have taught creative writing in K-12 classrooms through the WITS Alliance, building on skills while in graduate school, freelance writing, or working on a novel or a collection of poetry. 4 seasoned writers who started with WITS will read from their own work and discuss how teaching young children can serve as a reminder of how powerful the unfiltered imagination can be.

About Grief, Trauma, Loss: The Facing, the Writing, and the Healing (Wendy Barker, Patricia McConnell, Joel Peckham, Afaa Weaver, Cynthia Hogue )

A reading by poets and prose memoirists who have confronted past traumas ranging from sudden, violent deaths of family members to sexual and medical abuse. Each of these writers, who are at various stages in their careers, will also briefly discuss how the writing process itself, followed by publishing, giving readings, and speaking to a variety of audiences, has not only helped them to heal but has encouraged others to give voice to—and ultimately recover from—their own traumatic experiences.

Alice James Books 45th Anniversary Reading (Carey Salerno, Kaveh Akbar, Ellen Doré Watson, Jennifer Chang, Jill McDonough)

Alice James Books, a leading independent poetry press, celebrates 45 years of publishing. The press is dedicated to publishing books that matter and helping writers connect with readers. Frontlist poets are invited to share their AJB stories and read from their recent AJB books, showcasing the breadth, depth, and aesthetic diversity of the poetry that AJB is known for and continues to celebrate.

Arab & Muslim Writers Surviving Trump's America: A Reading and Discussion Presented by Mizna (Lana Barkawi, Glenn Shaheen, Sagirah Shaheed, Jess Rizkallah, Tariq Luthun)

Heeding Edward Said’s call for cultural resistance, to “write back” against forces seeking to marginalize and vilify Arabs and Muslims, Mizna, the only Arab American lit journal presents its issue themed “Surviving” with readings and discussion about our communities’ latest bouts with xenophobia and Islamophobia. Acclaimed and important emerging authors will discuss the maneuvers the Trump era has us making—resisting, dodging, bearing, and more—surviving.

Aster(ix) Journal: Five Years Later (Angie Cruz, Marissa Johnson-Valenzuela, Nelly Rosario, Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Patricia Engel)

Five writers of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction read from pieces published in Aster(ix) Journal, a literary arts journal dedicated to social justice, as well as giving voice to the censored and the marginalized. Co-Founder Angie Cruz will introduce and moderate a discussion on five years of running a journal founded and centering on women of color in the literary conversation.

Autumn House Press: 20th Anniversary Reading (Michael Simms, Jane Satterfield, Sam Ligon, Jo McDougall, Patricia Jabbeh Wesley )

Autumn House Press was founded in 1998. Since its launch, the press has been dedicated to serving and publishing the best works from emerging authors as well as established writers who have been overlooked by major publishers. For the press’s 20th anniversary, the founder, Michael Simms, will talk about the press’s history and mission, and four AHP authors will read from and briefly discuss their work.

AWP Open Mic and Old School Slam (Bill Schneider, Jason Carney)

AWP welcomes students to return to the roots of Slam! Open mic special guests and then undergraduate and graduate students partake in a hardcore-break-your-heart-strut-out-the-good-stuff slam competition. Students are welcome to sign up to participate on Friday, March 9, 2018 and Thursday, March 8, 2018 at the Wilkes University/Etruscan Press booth and read original pieces (three minutes or less with no props) at the Slam later that night. Sponsors: Wilkes University and Etruscan Press.

Bad Moon Rising: Writing it Weird in the South (Alexander Lumans, Laura van den Berg, Tiffany Quay Tyson, Jamie Quatro, Matthew Baker)

The practice of writing it weird in the South runs deep. Be it Flannery O’Connor’s gothic or Barry Hannah’s grotesqueries, the region breeds a Southern Comfort brand of the surreal. In this panel, five established and emerging fiction writers give voice to contemporary iterations of this regional tradition, ranging from steeplechase necromancers to bayou bestiaries. Through readings of their haunting and fantastic visions, these writers present an updated essence of the uncanny American South.

"Ballade of the Poverties": A Reading by Beloit Poetry Journal Poets (Meg Day, Nicelle Davis, Cortney Lamar Charleston , Sally Wen Mao, Carolyn Forché)

Cortney Lamar Charleston, Nicelle Davis, Meg Day, Carolyn Forché, and Sally Wen Mao will read poems inspired by Adrienne Rich’s “Ballade of the Poverties.” Addressed to the princes of predation and finance, this piece reminds us that political poetry isn’t new or newly necessary but remains a vital force for survival, resistance, and change. Audience members will submit lines for inclusion in a collaborative response to “Ballade,” to be printed as a broadside and distributed at the book fair.

Barbara Deming Fund: Celebrating 42 Year of Supporting Feminist Writers (Maureen Brady, Crystal Williams, Nicole Dennis-Benn, Joy Katz, Patricia Spears Jones)

For 42 years, the Barbara Deming/Money for Women Fund has supported feminist women writers at all stages in their careers. By consistently encouraging women writers, the Fund has profoundly impacted American letters. In this session, past grantees will carry forth Deming’s vision and legacy and, through reading their work, illuminate the importance of socially engaged feminist writing by women, which may be more relevant now than at any time in recent history.

Beyond Frost's Fences: New England Poetry With Ethnic Roots (Jose B. Gonzalez Gonzalez, Cheryl Savageau, Frederick-Douglass Knowles, Bessy Reyna)

This reading will provide a diverse, post-Frost perspective of New England landscapes from the eyes of poets from various ethnic communities. Each of these poets, with Salvadoran-American, Native-American, African-American and Cuban-American backgrounds, examines New England landscapes in the context of the definition of "home," expanding the definition of New England poetry while refusing to allow their work to be fenced in.

Breaking Fast with Words: Five Years of Poetry-a-Day for Ramadan (Tanzilla Ahmed, Serena Lin, Kirin Khan, Ramy Eletraby, Faisal Mohyuddin)

For five years, a dedicated group of mostly Muslim writers has been using the holy month of Ramadan—a time of spiritual reflection through fasting—to forge a vibrant online community. The daily poems—on everything from microaggression-fueled rage to fasting "stank" breath—cultivate humanity for a people dehumanized by the current mainstream. This reading will feature regular contributors to the group, and a discussion about building writing communities that also function as sites of resistance

Brevity's 20th Anniversary Reading (Dinty W. Moore, Lee Martin, Heather Sellers, Daisy Hernandez, Beth Ann Fennelly)

The online magazine Brevity pioneered the flash nonfiction form starting in 1997, and since then has published new writers, emerging writers, mid-career writers, and distinguished writers, including three Pulitzer prize finalists, as well as voices from India, Egypt, Ireland, Spain, Malaysia, and Japan. Help celebrate Brevity's 20th anniversary with flash readings from Heather Sellers, Daisy Hernandez, Beth Ann Fennelly, and Lee Martin, and a brief backward glance by editor Dinty W. Moore

Bullets into Bells: Poets and Citizens Respond to Gun Violence in the U.S. (Alexandra Teague, Matthew Olzmann, Brenda Hillman, Dana Levin, Wayne Miller)

In this reading from the new anthology Bullets into Bells: Poets and Citizens Respond to Gun Violence in the U.S. (Beacon, December 2017)—the first to gather contemporary poets writing about gun violence, along with responses from gun-violence-prevention advocates and victims—five poets will share work from the anthology. The panelists will also show brief video clips of their poems’ accompanying responses, and answer questions about the role of poetry in this pressing social conversation.

Can Poetry Hold the Center? (Michael Wiegers, Lisa Olstein, Maurice Manning, Ha Jin)

Yeats writes “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.” In this era when objective facts become alternative and science is willfully ignored, how do writers respond effectively? These acclaimed poets have faced, in their lived experiences, destabilizing forces and rapid cultural change—the chaos of early communist China, the shifting cultural landscape of rural Kentucky, and the volatility at play on our current political stage. Together they ask: How do literary artists help hold the center?

Carrying Continents in Our Eyes: A Reading of Arab and Arab American Poetries (Peter Twal, Philip Metres, Mohja Kahf, Hayan Charara, Zeina Hashem Beck )

In “Carrying Continents in Our Eyes,” Philip Metres notes that Arab American literature showcases a “remarkably robust multiplicity of styles and themes.” This reading features poets who resist dehumanization and victim objectification, highlight transnational belongings and displacements, and depict landscapes of intimacy and estrangement. Arab and Arab American poets summon their multiple, polylingual, and intercultural visions and voices against this juncture of normalized demonization.

Cross-Border Memoir In The Age Of Isolationism (Jean Guerrero, Neda Semnani, Alfredo Corchado, Adriana E Ramirez, Lizz Huerta)

Authors of cross-border memoirs read from award-winning works that examine U.S.-Mexico, U.S.-Iran and U.S.-Colombia relations. They discuss what it has meant to tell binational truths amid a global wave of isolationism, specifically under the Trump administration in the U.S. The panelists will explore what it takes to create a singular literary world from plural nations.

Crossings and Crosses: Caribbean Women Writers on Immigration, Deportation and Identity (Jennifer McCauley, Donna Aza Weir-Soley, Fabienne Josaphat, Anjanette Delgado, Katia D. Ulysse)

Long before the Trump era, Caribbean writers have long been concerned with issues surrounding immigration. As subjects of colonial powers "crossing the sea" has long been our preoccupation whether it was to seek out opportunities for economic advancement, to pursue higher education or to fight in various wars for our colonial "Mother country." Our writing, like that of Junot Diaz or Ana Menendez, addresses immigration including assimilation, acculturation, nostalgia, identity, and deportation.

Dique Dominicana: A Reading by New York Based Dominican Women Writers (Peggy Robles- Alvarado, Vanessa Chica Ferreira, Yesenia Montilla, Sydney Valerio, Yubelky Rodriguez)

You don’t sound Dominican! What’s a Dominican-York? Are you Black or white? This reading will discuss what it means to be a Dominican woman in the New York literary movement and poetry performance scene from Washington Heights, The Bronx and beyond by featuring the work of six prominent, intergenerational writers at different stages of their careers. In English, Spanish and Spanglish these Dominicanas demand more from the diaspora and deconstruct notions of performing identity.

El Canto in CantoMundo: The Role of Song, Oral Traditions, and Music in Latina/o Poetry (Celeste Mendoza, Peggy Robles-Alvarado, Jennifer Tamayo, Elizabeth Acevedo, Urayoan Noel)

Fellows of CantoMundo, a national community of Latina/o poets, will present from their books and performance pieces, and discuss how they infuse the rhythms of contemporary music, the meter of oral traditions, and the enjambment of free verse to create the vibrant cadence and voice that permeates their poetry.

Embracing a Wounded Place: A Flock 15th Anniversary Reading (Mark Ari, Rilla Askew, Sohrab Homi Fracis, Catherine Carberry, Natasha Oladokun)

Florida-based journal Flock publishes writing that is soulful and unafraid. To celebrate our 15th year, four Flock writers who exemplify this mission read from recent work that engages with a vital and difficult question for our region and beyond: “What does it mean to write in and about a wounded place?” With distinct insight, Flock readers explore the complexities of places they’ve called home from historical, personal, national, and international perspectives.

Emerging Poets of Color Surviving/Resisting American Empire (Rajiv Mohabir, Derrick Austin, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, Muriel Leung, Kay Ulanday Barrett)

Poets show how joy in their poetry subverts a racist, trans/homophoic and ableist political climate that threatens their daily lives. American poets of color consider their varied and complicated connections to “empire” as they present their intersectional, multi-coastal, transnational, diasporic, queer, and anti-colonial poetics. They respond to, survive against, and thrive despite what American Empire means in this time of the Dakota Access Pipeline, climate change, and anti-Blackness.

Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium: 30 Years (Kendall Dunkelberg, Cary Holladay, Frank Walker, Lorraine Lopez, Angela Ball)

The Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium will have its 30th weekend of readings on October 18-20, 2018, at Mississippi University for Women. To celebrate the diversity of great Southern writing we have hosted over the years, we bring a group of frequent contributors to the symposium. Each year since 1989, we have hosted writers and scholars to honor the legacy of our most famous alumna, Eudora Welty, and to explore themes in Southern writing. Panelists represent a range of years, themes, and genres.

Explorations of Insidiousness: Writing Complicated Political Realities (Diana Arterian, Douglas Manuel, Todd Fredson, Dexter L. Booth, Sarah Vap)

Race, gender, genre, the border, the city, the home. Just as one category seeking to to organize human beings is dismantled, another appears. As one pillar is toppled, a more invisible one is erected in its place. Insidiousness is oil in the engines that power constructions. Panelists read new work in which they explore and expose the insidious nature of social constructions within the United States in order to contribute to a larger discourse on the writing and politics in the 21st century.

FIERCE MUSES: INSPIRATION DURING TIMES OF SOCIAL UNREST (Janice Eidus, Karen McElmurray, Ethel Morgan Smith, Carter Sickels, Paul Lisicky)

Shakespeare invokes ‘a muse of fire, to ascend the brightest heaven of invention.’ What fierce muses can inspire our own artistry and personal commitment in an increasingly fraught world? Does inspiration come from confrontation and subversion? Contemplation and turning inward? How to engage with our work when danger and despair loom? Five award winning novelists, poets and nonfiction writers will discuss their sources of inspiration in these challenging social and political times.

FL man/FL woman: The Twisted Heart of the Sunshine State from the Panhandle to Miami Beach (Laura Minor, Yolanda Franklin, David Kirby, Erin Belieu, Jaswinder Bolina)

As our national culture morphs into a shadow universe of narcissistic violence, and deep peculiarity, is Florida the anomaly or the bellwether, the odd man/woman out, or the state (literally) of things to come? Who better to discuss the literature of most infamous state in the union than a diverse group of Floridian writers. But, this panel of writers will take AWP's audience inside the subtropical land of flowers that is Florida's contemporary literary landscape.

Florida Book Award Winners Reading (David James Poissant, Terry Ann Thaxton, Diana Abu-Jaber, Jonathan Fink, Tana Jean Welch)

Since 2006, the Florida Book Awards have honored writers in ten categories for their distinguished contributions to Florida arts and letters. At this event, current and former recipients will read from their award-winning poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. These writers, representing five distinct regions from across the state, speak to the wide array of Florida literature in the twenty-first century.

Four Way Books 25th Anniversary Reading (Kevin (Mc) McIlvoy, Aaron Coleman, Kamilah Aisha Moon, Kevin Prufer, Valerie Wallace)

Celebrating our 25th anniversary in 2018, Four Way Books presents five writers from around the country reading from recent work. Since its founding, Four Way Books has been revered for its commitment to showcasing a wide range of poetry and short fiction by debut and established writers. From the elegant lyric to the disruptive narrative, in gritty portrayals of the interior to near-apocalyptic visions, this celebratory reading offers new writing across genres and aesthetic divides.

Graywolf Debut Poets (Jeff Shotts, Donika Kelly, Erika L. Sánchez, Mai Der Vang, Jenny Xie)

This is an unprecedented time for vital, new voices in poetry. Come and experience this vibrancy and excitement, as four award-winning poets read from their recently published first books from Graywolf Press, a publisher committed to supporting poets and writers across their careers. Introduced by Graywolf executive editor Jeff Shotts.

The Gift of the Grind: Writing Your Way Through (Jose Antonio Rodriguez, Wiley Cash, Reggie Scott Young, Sarah Jefferis)

This panel focuses on creative work that grows out of the experiences of being raised in communities that are often called such names as poor, folk, or working class that are often overlooked despite serving as rich bastions of American culture. This panel will explore the writers’ representations of their own native communities and the insights they gained from many of the different ways of learning and knowing (intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and pragmatic).

Green Writers Press Celebrates 5th Anniversary Reading (Dede Cummings, Tim Weed, Ellen Skowronski-Polito, Raquel Gilliland, Ellene Glenn Moore)

Green Writers Press, a small, Vermont-based publishing company, is dedicated to spreading environmental awareness by publishing authors who proliferate messages of hope and renewal through place-based writing and environmental activism. In just five years, Green Writers Press has expanded significantly, publishing such authors as Julia Alvarez, Chard deNiord, John Elder, and Clarence Major. This event will be a lively reading from poets, novelists, and essayists from the press and The Hopper.

Hair as Myth and Metaphor: Five Women Poets on Cultural Transgression (Nicole Santalucia, Jan Beatty, Denise Duhamel, Nin Andrews, Shara McCallum)

Whether we are speaking of myths (Medusa), fairytales (Goldilocks), religion (Samson), or culture (Donald Trump), hair is a defining metaphor for power and sexuality. Hairlessness, less obvious perhaps (think of Snow White, Barbie, and the airbrushed models of today) is an equally potent cultural and literary image. But of what? Five women poets will discuss hair as icon, metaphor, image and explore the complications of silence, complicity and invisibility.

Hometown Nocturnes: A Reading by Arab American Writers (Leila Chatti, Fady Joudah, George Abraham, Zaina Arafat, Tariq Luthun)

Five award-winning Arab-American writers will present rich, multi-layered poems and essays. This is an engaging and electric intergenerational reading from texts as varied as chapbooks, spoken word, Buzzfeed essays, and poetry collections. The writers explore topics such as the pain of diasporic existence; the political undercurrent of everyday life; and cultural taboos of sexuality and death.

How We Do in Tampa: A University of Tampa Low-Residency MFA faculty reading (Erica Dawson, Jessica Anthony, John Capouya, Alan Michael Parker, Jeff Parker)

This event highlights four faculty members from UT's Low-Residency MFA Program. Fiction writer Jessica Anthony is the author of The Convalescent and Chopsticks. John Capouya, a journalist turned professor, is the author of the forthcoming Florida Soul. Alan Michael Parker is the author of 17 books, including a new novel, Christmas in July. Jeff Parker, the program's founding director, is the author of three books, including a memoir, Where Bears Roam the Streets: A Russian Journal.