Forum / This AWP Conference Thingy

  • Linda.thumb
    Linda Simoni-Wastila
    Oct 22, 08:30pm

    In February in DC.

    I've never been. It's in my neighborhood. I don't have an MFA (though I'm thinking hard about getting one).

    I am a member, though. (I'm a joiner type).

    So. What's the conference like? Is it a good place to find out about programs? Will non-MFA writers like me feel odd? Is it really awesome?

    And... are you going? Can there/will there be a fictionaut presence?

    Peace, Linda

  • Author_wide.thumb
    Jürgen Fauth
    Oct 23, 12:00am

    I'll be on a panel with some great people:

    http://jurgenfauth.com/2010/08/13/awp-2011-building-the-literary-robot/

    We were thinking about getting a Fn table but it may be too late now.

  • Tux.thumb
    Gary Percesepe
    Oct 23, 02:00am

    if we get a fn table i can help "person" it--or man it. man up to that--is what i am saying.

  • B9498678870c4959.thumb
    Brian Mihok
    Oct 23, 03:21am

    Hey Linda,

    I went to the one in Chicago a couple years ago. There are some great readings to go to, some neat panels, some not neat panels, and tons of drinking/having fun. There's a massive book fair in which to get goodies. It can be a little overwhelming just because of the sheer volume, but I liked it.

    You should not feel like you shouldn't go because you don't have an MFA. There is a diverse group of people that attend for various reasons. I say go for it. I'd like to go, but haven't made up my mind yet (read: depends on money).

  • Linda.thumb
    Linda Simoni-Wastila
    Oct 23, 10:15am

    Drinking? having fun? free goodies (I presume litish stuff)? I'm in!

    Seriously, thanks so far for the enlightenment. Brian, if you go let me know.

    And if there is an fn table I am happy to help, too.

    Guess I have a week to figure it out (registration costs go up all Hallows or so). Peace...

  • Image.bedroom.009.expose.thumb
    Ann Bogle
    Oct 25, 08:43pm

    Linda, for the first time in four years, I will not be attending the AWP in D.C. My regret is that I will miss seeing two friends in particular that I only see at the conference. My relief is that I will save $1,500 that I plan to spend on some sort of ideal short holiday I have yet to devise. My complaint (I do have an M.F.A.) is that the AWP does too little to represent independent writers, writers who work outside academe and academic publishing. It is a drinking fest for the bureaucracy. Thousands of people attend and their states' state-sponsored schools pay high rates for conference hotels and the airlines profit. Economically, it's troubling. Thousands of writers, yet it's possible to eat alone in a restaurant there while people you know eat at neighboring tables. That's the kind of scene it is. The language is not of writing but of teaching writing to students many of the teachers do not respect. I'm hoping to return to the AWP in a few years, after a rest from it, when I have gathered a new interest in and perspective on it. I attest that my first trip to AWP in Atlanta in 2007 was FUN and like a reunion of MFA peers-turned-bureaucrats. Fresh, it *can* be a great experience. Especially if you attend off-site events and readings.

  • Linda.thumb
    Linda Simoni-Wastila
    Oct 26, 01:48am

    Thanks Ann -- I respect and value your perspective, and feel similarly about many of my 'professional' conferences (I play a health services researcher by day). You spoke to several of my concerns about AWP, mostly not 'fitting in'; there's no reunion component for me. The upside for me is I have little to lose; just the cost of registration, commuting, meals.

    I, for one, would love to share a lunch table with you! Peace...

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