AWP highlights for Saturday, March 9, 2013

Here are my very personal and individual picks for this day at the conference of the Associated Writers and Writing Programs (AWP).

9:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.

Room 103, Plaza Level

S106. P.U.P.: Poets in Unexpected Places. (Jon Sands, Samantha Thornhill, Adam Falkner, Syreeta McFadden, Elana Bell) I like what this organization is doing, bringing poetry to unlikely venues.

Room 108, Plaza Level

S110. Fifty Years Later: Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction. (Gabriel Brownstein, Joanna Smith Rakoff, Thomas Beller, Jess Row, Elisa Albert) This book had a huge influence on me when I was a budding writer, so I’m giving this a thumb’s up.

Room 204, Level 2

S117. Translating Slippery Dreamers: French Surrealist Poetry in the Hands of American Authors. (Marilyn Kallet, Mark Polizzotti, Nancy Kline, Bill Zavatsky, Darren Jackson) Good panel. I heart French surrealism.

10:30 to 11:45 a.m.

Room 302/304, Level 3

S148. Breaking the Jaws of Silence. (Sholeh Wolpe, Kim Addonizio, Tom Sleigh, Quincy Troupe, Yusef Komunyakaa) Great panel, important topic on the freedom to write for poets.

Noon to 1:15

Room 202, Level 2

S166. Bringing Poetry to the People. (Taylor Mali, Samantha Thornhill, Jon Sands, Roger Bonair-Agard, Michael Salinger) Important discussion on creative strategies for getting poetry out to a larger audience.

1:30 to 2:45 p.m.

Room 109, Plaza Level

S188. Found in Translation: Great Nonfiction. (S.L. Wisenberg, Faith Adiele, Patrick Madden, Susan Harris, Vijay Seshadri) International nonfiction—surprising topic, good writers to discover here.

Room 201, Level 2

S192. Wild Writing Residencies. (Marybeth Holleman, Nancy Lord, Diane Weddington, Gary Lawless, Mimi White) Surprising topic. Nancy Lord always says something worth hearing.

Room 203, Level 2

S194. Finding New Freedom in Old Forms. (Danielle Jones-Pruett, Jill McDonough, Maria Hummel, Tyehimba Jess) Interesting group to discuss this topic. I’m betting this will be good.

3:00 to 4:45 p.m.

Hynes Ballroom, Level 3

S208. POEMJAZZ, A Conversation and Performance with Robert Pinsky, Laurence Hobgood, and Stan Strickland. (Robert Pinsky, Laurence Hobgood, Stan Strickland, Ben Allison) A little known fact about Robert Pinsky is that he played jazz saxophone in a band when he was younger, so this could be good.

4:30 to 5:45 p.m.

Alice Hoffman Bookfair Stage, Exhibit Hall D, Level 2

BF40. CIIS & Mission at Tenth. (Carolyn Cooke, Edie Meiday, Margaret Rhee, Brynn Saito, Pireeni Sundaralingam) Strong group of San Francisco Bay Area readers.

8:30 to 10:00 p.m.

S264. Academy of American Poets Presents Lucie Brock-Broido and Anne Carson. (Lucie Brock-Broido, Anne Carson, Jennifer Benka) A good reason to stay around Saturday night.

 AWP LINKS:

AWP Boston 2013: What's New
Suggestions on How to Network at AWP
Highlights for Thursday, March 7, 2013
Highlights for Friday, March 8, 2013

Zack Rogow will be reading at an offsite event at AWP on Wednesday, March 6 at 7:00 p.m. as part of the launch of Cornelius Eady's new chapbook/CD in the community room of Cambridge Cohousing, 175 Richdale Avenue in Cambridge MA. He'll also be speaking on two panels at AWP on Friday, March 8: Things We Know We Love: The Poems and Influence of Nazim Hikmet, from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m., room 305, Level 3; and  What Poets Learn When They Translate, from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m., room 204, level 2. He'll be signing copies of his latest book of poems, My Mother and the Ceiling Dancers, on Saturday, March 9, from noon to 1:15 at the Kattywompus Press table, booth 1111.

Other recent posts about writing topics: 

How to Get Published: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 

How Not to Become a Literary Dropout, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10
Putting Together a Book Manuscript, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Working with a Writing Mentor: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
Getting the Most from Your Writing Workshop: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
Does the Muse Have a Cell Phone?: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
Why Write Poetry? Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Using Poetic Forms, Part 1: Introduction; Part 2: The Sonnet; Part 3, The Sestina;
Part 4, The Ghazal; Part 5, The Tanka
How to Deliver Your Message: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4