Caitlin Scarano’s Best Bets for AWP 2016
The annual AWP Conference includes over 550 readings, lectures, and panels from more than 2,000 presenters; a bookfair with over 800 presses, journals, and other organizations; and several of off-site events and shindigs each night. The gigantic scale of the AWP Conference can be a bit overwhelming. Thankfully, Caitlin Scarano has some suggestions that can get your itinerary offer to a good start. She highlights a few of her top choices for panels, off-site events, and bookfair tables/booths.
Panels
Thursday 10:30-11:45AM: There and Back Again: Writing from the Road (R150) – Room 410, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level. (Erika Krouse, Kai Carlson-Wee, Kim Barnes, Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum, Maggie Shipstead).
Thursday 1:30-2:45PM: The Violence of the Page (R210) – Room 403 B, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level. (Lucy Corin, Maggie Nelson, Brian Evenson, Ben Weissman, Fred D’Aguiar).
Friday 10:30-11:45AM: Black Bodies Matter (F162) – Room 515 A, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level. (Patricia Smith, Justin Phillip Reed, Susan Somers-Willett, Adriana Ramirez, Jonah Mixon-Webster).
Friday at 12-1:15PM: Beyond Confession: Women’s Writing and a Radical Poetics of the Personal (F171) – AWP Bookfair Stage, Exhibit Hall Level One. (Dorothea Lasky, Amber Rose Tamblyn, Rachel McKibbens, Deborah Landau, Ada Limón).
Saturday at 1:30-2:45PM: The Unbearable Too-Whiteness of Workshop (S231) – Room 515 B, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level. (Joshua Robbins, V.V. (Sugi) Ganeshananthan, F. Douglas Brown, Laura McCullough).
Off-site events
ELJ and OMP Literary Showcase: Thursday, March 31st 5 PM – 7 PM at Ham & Eggs Tavern. Join us for a night of poetry and prose by authors from ELJ Publications and Orange Monkey Publishing. Readers include: Steve Westbrook, S. Marie Clay, Aaron Reeder, Ruben Rodriguez, Cindy Rinne, Michael Cooper, Zack Bean, Katie Cortese, E. Kristin Anderson, Allie Marini, Lawrence Eby and Jessica Walsh. This one is free and open to the public!
Breakfast Club: AWP off-site Reading w/ ccr, Devils Lake, and Meridian: Thursday, March 31st 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM at Ham and Eggs Tavern. Right after the ELJ and OMP Literary Showcase, so just stick around! Presented by Writ Large Press. Readings include, for cream city review: Matthew Olzmann, Sueyeun Juliette Lee; for Devils Lake: Vievee Francis, Tahnee Salkey; and for Meridian: Michael Schmeltzer, Aimee Mepham. No door charge/cover. Rumor has it there might be free drinks, so get there early!
Button Poetry + YesYes Books Reading: Saturday, April 2nd 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM at Art Share-LA. YesYes Bøøks & Button Poetry are teaming up at AWP 2016 in Los Angeles to showcase some of our amazing authors! The show will feature performances by: Danez Smith Aziza, Barnes, Ocean Vuong, Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib, Tanya Olson, J. Scott Brownlee, Jamie Mortara, Cam Awkward-Rich, andJonterri Gadson. Doors 6:30. Show 7:00. $5 at the door (50% of proceeds go to the Los Angeles Youth Network (LAYN)). The venue will have beer & wine available for purchase. Two of my favorite presses — not to be missed!
Tables and Booths
Artsmith – Table # 1610
Bellingham Review – Table # 1606
The Conium Review – Table # 1238. Stop by on Thursday from 3:00 PM – 4:00PM to pick up a free copy of my flash fiction micro-chap and have it signed!
Indiana Review – Table # 1625
University of Alaska Press and Permafrost Magazine – # 1221