Monday, March 4, 2013

AWP highlights for Friday, March 8, 2013

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

10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

Room 108, Plaza Level
F138. Role and Impact of International Anthologies. (Kaveh Bassiri, Kevin Prufer, Nathalie Handal, Geoffrey Brock, Pierre Joris) I’m interested in international literature, and this panel features important anthologists.

Room 200, Level 2
F142. Essaying the Essay(David Lazar, Phillip Lopate, David Shields, Lia Purpura, Reda Bensmaïa) Good panel, good readers, good topic.

Room 201, Level 2
F143. Books in the Age of Reader-centric Publishing. (Buzz Poole, Lisa Pearson, Richard Nash, Matvei Yankelevich, Elizabeth Koch) This topic is the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about—what’s happening to literary publishing in the age of the ebook.

Room 302/304, Level 3
F152. Why There Are Words Literary Reading Series Showcases Boston Writers. (Peg Alford Pursell, Christopher Castellani, Tracy Winn, Pablo Medina, Joan Wickersham) This is a wonderful San Francisco Bay Area series, transported to Boston by its able curator, Peg Alford Pursell. The theme is that each reader only reads for seven minutes, which psychologists claim is the time of a listener’s maximum attention to one voice.

Room 305, Level 3
F154. Things We Know We Love: The Poems and Influence of Nâzim Hikmet. (Randy Blasing, Mutlu Konuk Blasing, David Wojahn, Dorianne Laux, Zack Rogow, Sidney Wade) Nazim Hikmet is one of the great poets of the last century, and this is an important moment to make his poetry known to the wider audience it deserves.

Room 306, Level 3
F155. Page Meets Stage. (Taylor Mali, Martín Espada, Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Reginald Gibson) More good readers from this renowned series based in Manhattan.

12:30 to 1:20 p.m.
Book signing with Eva Saulitis at the Red Hen Press booth. Eva Saulitis published both a book of poems, Many Ways to Say It; and a book of nonfiction about her work as a whale biologist, Into Great Silence, all in the last few months. She will also be signing Saturday at Red Hen from 11:30 to 12:30.

Noon to 1:15 p.m.

Room 202, Level 2
F173. How to Build a Successful Kickstarter Campaign for Your Publishing Project. (Meaghan O’Connell, Benjamin Samuel, Mat Honan, Joshua Mandelbaum, Laurie Ochoa) Useful! Useful is good.

Room 210, Level 2
F180. The Urge Toward Memoir. (Elisabeth Schmitz, Jill Kneerim, Michael Thomas, Jeanette Winterson, Lily King) Good group of panelists, interesting topic—novelists writing memoirs.

Room 303, Level 3
F182. How to Catch a Pair of Flying Hands: A Reading by Deaf Writers. (Raymond Luczak, Kristen Harmon, Allison Polk, Kristen Ringman) A worthwhile topic I’ve never seen before at AWP. Good title, too.

1:30 to 2:45 p.m.

Room 204, Level 2
F204. What Poets Learn When They Translate. (Zack Rogow, Idra Novey, Chana Bloch, Bill Zavatsky) Shameless self-promotion.

Room 302/304, Level 3
F210. A Centenary Celebration of Muriel Rukeyser, Sponsored by Paris Press. (Jan Freeman, Galway Kinnell, Sharon Olds, Olga Broumas, Michael S. Harper) Who scheduled my panel at the same time as this event? Muriel Rukeyser, well worth honoring.

Hynes Ballroom, Level 3
F220. Cave Canem Prize Winners, Then and Now. (Alison Meyers, Major Jackson, Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, Tracy K. Smith, Iain Haley Pollock) Cave Canem is such a wonderful literary institution, this has to be good.

Room 107, Plaza Level
F226. A Tribute To Remy Charlip, 1929-2012. (Joshua Kryah, Erika Bradfield, Brian Selznick, Dan Hurlin) My son spent weeks when he would not go to sleep until I read him Remy Charlip’s Mother, Mother, I Feel Sick: Send for the Doctor, Quick, Quick, Quick. Remy was a terrific children’s writer and a terrific person.

4:30 to 5:45 p.m.

Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Level 2
F250. Alison Bechdel & Jeanette Winterson: A Reading and Conversation, Sponsored by Emerson College MFA. (Alison Bechdel, Jeanette Winterson, Elisabeth Schmitz) Jeanette Winterson, live, in person!

Room 202, Level 2
F263. Blue-collar College Students and the Creative Writing Degree. (Jerry Wemple, Lawrence Coates, Claire Lawrence) Class is a topic so rarely broached in discussions of creative writing programs.

7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Offsite event: Hanging Loose Press authors reading. Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston St., across from Copley Square Park. Great group of Hanging Loose readers featuring Robert Hershon and Bill Zavatsky, among others. Hanging Loose is one of my favorites of the small presses, and has some of the funniest and most moving authors.

8:30 to 10:00 p.m.

Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Level 2
F284. Amy Bloom & Richard Russo: A Reading and Conversation. (Leah Hager Cohen, Amy Bloom, Richard Russo) I’m a fan of Amy Bloom and I’ve never heard her read in person, so this is high on my list.

AWP LINKS:

AWP Boston 2013: What's New
Suggestions on How to Network at AWP
Highlights for Thursday, March 7, 2013
Highlights for Saturday, March 9, 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 1Part 2Part 3Part 4 
How Not to Become a Literary Dropout, Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5Part 6Part 7Part 8Part 9Part 10
Putting Together a Book Manuscript, Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5Part 6Part 7
Working with a Writing Mentor: Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5
Getting the Most from Your Writing Workshop: Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5Part 6
Does the Muse Have a Cell Phone?: Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5
Why Write Poetry? Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 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 


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