Nazim Hikmet’s unflinching support of the disenfranchised, the poor, and the forgotten foreshadowed many of the issues of the Occupy movement. During Hikmet’s lifetime, he stood up to the military authorities in his native Turkey, and openly challenged Stalin’s cult of personality in the Soviet Union. Hikmet paid an enormous price for his outspoken views, spending thirteen years in jail in Turkey. His prison poetry might be the most moving ever written in that vein.

Hikmet also spent an equal number of years in exile in the Soviet Union, his amazing work banned in his own language. He was so controversial in his lifetime that his Turkish citizenship was revoked (despite the fact that he was the leading poet in the language!), and not restored till almost half a century after his death.

Writing about Nazim Hikmet was an enormous privilege and joy. His poetry is so straightforward and emotional:

Living is no laughing matter:
you must live with great seriousness
like a squirrel, for example—
I mean, without looking for something beyond and above living,
I mean living must be your whole life.

(translated by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk)

But it was also extremely unsettling to delve into Hikmet’s biography and find out that one of my greatest literary heroes was deeply troubled in his personal life. How could this stunning love poet have had such difficulties with emotional commitment? Instead of sweeping that question under the carpet, I chose to incorporate it into the play. At moments, the character of Nazim Hikmet explores with the other actors the fascinating paradoxes in his personality.

I’m so pleased that this play is being presented by Caffeine Theatre, a unique Chicago institution that focuses on plays by or about poets. Caffeine Theatre “explores the role of the artist in society, and the potential of art for social change.”

About the contributor:

Things I Didn’t Know I Loved will be given at staged reading at the 2012 AWP conference in Chicago on Saturday, March 3 from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. at the Hilton Chicago, Wiliford Room A. Playwright Zack Rogow will also be signing copies of his new book, My Mother and the Ceiling Dancers, on Friday, March 2 from noon to 1 p.m. at bookfair table 721, Kattywompus Press. His blog will focus on the AWP conference during February.

With only a couple of months left until the 2012 AWP Conference in Chicago, IL, I figured it was about time to get this humble blog looking the part. I’ve given the site a facelift, reorganized a few things (check out the new contributors page), and have tidied up a few broken links. Though this blog will have been around for 3 conferences (first started for the conference in Denver in 2010), dead links have a way of creeping by the filters. But all is good now. We are full steam ahead for 2012.

The conference is looking good. The keynote speaker is Margaret Atwood (never a disappointment), with featured presenters out the anus, so all those attending should get ready for something amazing.

As always, I am opening this blog up to anyone who wants to participate. All you have to do is follow the instructions at the Join Us page here. You’ll be granted access to write as many posts as you want, have your tweets appear in the twitter stream to the right, and have your videos added to the AWP 2012 YouTube playlist, also in the sidebar at the right.

In 2012, more so than in years past, I will probably be relying on contributors, minus myself, to keep this blog alive. I will be in Chicago during the conference, but actually I won’t be attending the conference proper. I’ll be all over the off-site events, and may even try to hit the bookfair on Saturday, but in general I will be meeting up with writer friends outside the conference for beers and book talk. So, jump on board now. Sign up to contribute to this blog. As far as I know, it’s the longest continuously running AWP blog ever. Be part of the legacy.

Do you know of one that I don’t have listed? Send it to caleb {at} calebjross {dot} com

The Blur of AWP DC via The Outlet (The Electric Literature blog), courtesy of Jesus Angel Garcia 7 Steps to Writing Success via Artists Road, courtesy of Patrick Ross The Many Faces of the AWP Attendee via Guernica, courtesy of Rebecca Bates AWP Highlights (and lowlights) via A Supposedly Fun Thing, courtesy of Jessica Langloi Through the Rearview Drunkenly Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV courtesy of Nik Korpon AWP 2011 – Washington D.C, courtesy of Brandon Tietz A Weekend of Poets (AWP), courtesy of Joshua Gray Fond Memories in the Belly of the AWP Whale via 12th Street, courtesy of Liz Axelrod Tips for Writers: How To Use Social Media and More courtesy of Christina Katz Letting it Happen, More from AWP, Other Things of Note from AWP courtesy of Clark Knowles One Week Post-AWP Reflections courtesy of Erika Dreifus AWP 2011: Oye Como Va, via Every Poet Needs a Patio courtesy of Robin Kemp

• Meeting Kevin Morgan Watson from Press 53 in person. I am so thrilled to be working with him and the press.
• Catching up with old friends like Kevin Rabas, Ann E. Michaels, and Anthony, no matter how brief the visits were.
• Seeing Jhumpa Lahiri in person and hearing how she became a writer.
• Junot Diaz asking for questions shouted out between his readings.
• Attending informative panels by incredible writers, editors, and publishers.
• Having new authors sign books for me and being sincerely happy to do so.
• Meeting people genuinely happy for others to get published.
• A break from the bleak snow and cold wind of Cleveland.
• Coming home with so many great books that I’m dizzy trying to choose what to read first.

I wasn’t inspired to write at AWP like I am when I attend Clockhouse Writers’ Conference. I was VERY inspired to do more on the business side of being a writer. I am committed to sending out work, engaging with writers and presses online, blogging, etc. but I don’t read many book review sites or other writers’ blogs, so those are things I will add to the business of writing.

But I WAS inspired to write on the drive home from upstate New York to Cleveland. I had to pull to the side of road near Erie, PA, get coffee, and write out eight pages long-hand in my journal. Junot Diaz inspired me to write in second person, something I have never tried. My traveling companion Chris inspired the story. Next is to get it onto the electronic page without my inner editor polishing off too much of the story’s rawness.

I have many more ideas for stories, other stories to finish, people to connect with, and more blog posts to write. Oh, and a family, job and a dog to attend to also.

Having never before participated in an AWP panel (though I have attended many), I was initiated only from the perspective of an audience member. Knowing that an uninteresting topic coupled with boring presenters may drive the audience to mutiny, I came prepared to be as concise and witty (hopefully) as possible. Overall, I consider my effort a success. Of course, having panelists like Tanya Egan Gibson, Dan Blank, Bethanne Patrick, Christina Katz, and moderator Jane Friedman at the dais made failure near-impossible.

I’ve argued before that and author should openly embrace Social Media; the goal of both online social engagement and book-bound literary endeavors are the same: communicating on a human level. While naysayers abound, the consistent monologue about the form (such as this very AWP panel) seems to slowly be cultivating a more accepting and even more eager mindset.

Listen to the full panel using the player above. Or you can subscribe to The Velvet Podcast via Feedburner, Podcast Alley, RSS, or iTunes.

Here’s the official description:

The Art and Authenticity of Social Media: Using Online Tools to Grow a Community. (Jane Friedman, Tanya Egan Gibson, Dan Blank, Bethanne Patrick, Christina Katz, Caleb J. Ross)

Social media is easy to disparage as meaningless socializing, undignified shilling, or time better spent writing. Yet sharing information online and having conversations with readers is critical to spreading the word about what you (or your organization) does. Online community building can help develop a long-term readership, plus open up new opportunities.

1. Caleb Ross
2. A girl named Jen over the moon for Jhumpa
3. My graduate school’s esprit de corps — both Goddard & Mizzou
4. Learning stuff even after all these years
5. Writing while at AWP (probably my favorite thing of all)
6. This blog
7. Running with this most interesting herd marked by the carriage of bulging tote bags and a little wildness in the eyes
8. Coming to the complete understanding that while this is no living, it’s the life
9. Getting a cigar from internationally-renown poet Scott Cairns
10. Being bobble-headed and dizzy-dumb from lanyard spying

Safe travels my preeties. Always yours in spilt purple ink,

Dr. WAC.

Jhumpa Lahiri and Junot Diaz are rock stars of the literary world and it was incredible to see them live.

Thursday night, Jhumpa was the keynote speaker. She even had her own opening act, which was hard to listen to as I was anxious to hear her.

She spoke about how to answer the question “Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?”

Admittedly, I was hoping to hear her read fiction – thinking it was a “reading” not a “keynote speech.” But once I realized she wouldn’t be reading, I sat back and was entranced with her personal story about moving from a childhood without possessing many books to, having just won the Pulitzer Prize, listening to her father worry that this writing thing might not be able to support her.

When she was finished, the crowd applauded thunderously and with sincere appreciation. Many stood for a standing ovation but most quickly bolted to their feet to get in line for her to sign their book. I couldn’t bear to wait in line behind  two hundred people so I opted for the bar with some friends.

Last night Junot Diaz read two stories and he brought the house down.

If I can’t BE Junot, I wish I could have a speck of his talent – how he brings together riotous humor, pain, and honesty in a way that has me catch my breath between laughing and crying.

The line for his signing was even longer than for Jhumpa. At this point in the conference I could not stand in line nor hit the bar.

I will write more later about Junot’s reading but now off to another panel this morning!

A Tweet

@ joylandfiction

Day 1 of #AWP11 = much like the rest of my life: Standing by self quietly peoplewatching; stealing candy; reading; watching others drink.

This tweet pretty well summed up my first day at AWP, which so happened to be the second day of the conference; a monster storm thwarted my every attempt to get here Wednesday night.

My first foray into AWP 11 was to attend the Poetry Foundation soiree sans registration. I wore a dummy lanyard that I always carry with me to conferences because you never know. I was to hook up with three grad school classmates to have a drink, catch up and catch the Jhumpa.

Of course my worst fear, as an introvert, was to arrive and find a room full of boisterous strangers. I circled the room and I had to admit it had been years since I’d seen the faces of my grad school friends — Jen. C., Chris M. and Kevin R. And I have what you might call reverse face-blindness. Unlike the malady where one cannot recognize even their close family and friends’ faces, I recognize faces of strangers I met on a train in 1991 in the Netherlands. Oliver Sacks is no so lucky; he suffers from this face blindness as does my favorite Heidegger expert Dr Dreyfus. I recognize people I’ve met once a decade ago through their face; their name to me utterly unreachable. I liked my odds of finding my grad school friends.

They weren’t there.

I grabbed a soda and lime circled the room again and parked myself against the wall at the front of the hall to survey the entire menagerie. Here I could do what I do when alone and unable to engage. I could find no way into any of the conversations around without sounding like a crazy person. “Hi, I really like your teeth.” I fingered my cell phone’s reptilian keys and brought it out to look at its tiny and simple face only to think, oh sure, this is what people do now when alone in a crowd, check the device to confirm you are loved or at the very least “liked” in that Facebook kind of way. The gesture: Oh, I’m justing waiting to hook up with the 24-hour party people. And following this meagre attempt, I dissect the cocktail crowd seeing the Jonathan Franzen-look-a-like; seriously; the roaming gang of ethnically beautiful and drunk Gap models mugging for, wait for it, the digital camera; all of these, none of the we of me, as Frankie says in Carson McCullers’ A Member of the Wedding.

I dialed up Jen and got her dining with my grad school friends at local India restaurant. “Our food is late, I’m sorry,” she said genuinely. “I thought I couldn’t see you here,” I said into the phone indicating my reverse face-blindness. They, the trio of grad students, had been my monster storm focal point, the point in the future I would enjoy should I make it through flight delays and precipitation of biblical proportions. Pregnant women breathing through contractions hold focal points. This future thing was mine, my way of breathing through this interminable now. Jen said something several times. I — what? I couldn’t hear her at all, it sounded like she was saying “Sunday tickets.”

I exited the hall and finally came to understand what she was saying, “Can you get text messages at this number?” I looked at my orange phone as if it had a rotary dial. She could have texted me. Right, seriously why didn’t I think of that.

Fifteen minutes later, sitting alone in one of those lobby chairs that tended to swallow, envelope, you upon sitting down like a snapping dragon chomping down on a bug, my phone chimes.

“In the lobby…where r u?” A text.

“A Poe Party,” I texted back… at pity party? I rose and met them at the Jhumpa Lahiri address and instantly all that had proceeded evaporate the fizz of a soda and lime. I sat with Allison, a dear friend I have known for years, and Jen, and Chris and Kevin and we all faced forward to hear from Jhumpa why she became a writer.

She began to write, Jhumpa says, to reach out to others.

Indeed.

We are the we of me and you the community of writers.

For the perplexed, for the introverts, there are always these monster storms to endure, flights to nervously await perhaps unnecessarily so, until arriving finally at the gate to be received.

By now you’ve noticed a few reoccurring things about AWP panels:

• There’s never enough water or coffee or candy nearby
• There are never enough handouts
• The presenters mostly seemed surprised to be speaking
• Someone on the panel is missing
• Someone on the panel is a “late addition”
• You sit in rows like a student
• The chairs are almost unbearably close
• At some point you say to yourself, “I could be up there.”
• There are more women than men
• Someone is always sniffling behind you
• Words like “gesture” or “discombobulation” are used a smidgin too often

Why not:

• Place chairs in a circle — facing each other is so much more civil and less physically straining
• Have a web site where presentation handouts could be placed prior to the conference, and attendees could go there and pick up what they need
• Roaming coffee carts are a must
• At AWP at the very least it would be better if presenters did not read their presentations, like they do at MLA, but rather held a conversation.
• We all know you can write well, there’s no need to read it to us
• Vet presentation hype
• Have back channel Twitter stream with comments and questions projected — this would require access to free WiFi, which remains — apparently — an apparatus of some socialist future
• Mark presentations like ski-runs: bunny hill pink runs, beginner brown, intermediate red, and black diamond runs for experts.
• AWP needs more diamond runs
• And a more relaxed dress code never hurt anybody

Spoken during a panel on the Nitty Gritty of Publishing. One of the panelists was talking about how many writers think that their audience is just other writers.

To paraphrase: “Don’t think that. All the writers in the country are in this building. I hope your audience is bigger than that!”

That comment sent a roar up from the crowd and for me, a few shivers. Obviously there are more writers in the country and the world than in here. It was a metaphor, but it is exciting to be surrounded by so much talent, and passion, and love for the written word.

Other good advice:

• Everything you can do to promote your book is great – social media, events, etc. Marketing/Publicity departments can only do so much, especially so at the smallest presses.
• Don’t lead with the book. Read other people’s blogs, join in the conversation, but don’t just Facebook and tweet and comment about your book. It’s boring and annoying.
• Be nice to your editor. Stand up for what you believe in but trust that it’s not a battlefield. The editor, publisher, and marketing/publicity people are all in it to sell your book. They aren’t trying to make you a sell-out for suggesting a change in title, cover art, order of stories, etc. Give them a listen and work WITH them, not against them, to get what is best for the book.

Heading now back to the conference and the bookfair. Going to a 3 pm panel on the Future of Fiction. Should be more excellent food for thought.

But: For introverts and malcontents, like myself, competitive and conspiratorial introverts, conferences are a test of wills. I find the entire enterprise to be exhausting on so many levels I often chide a higher-ranking myself in mid-conference stream for having fooled a lower-ranking myself once again in attending. You’re never alone when you’re schizophrenic, I might say jokingly to myself while humming Ian Hunter. And then there are the people. I love people, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve come to adopt Dostoevsky’s stance “demands of the particular,” which states — “the more I love humanity in general, the less I love man in particular.” Heartstrings trill until someone plucks with me. I see an arch nemesis; a hectoring former professor trailing neck-scarf, their own tomes artfully arm-pitted; the jilting agent latte whore or the plainly insane publisher borderline plushie who inched your manuscript across the glass desk with the tips of her manicured fingertips as if the leaves were a dead carcass – and I lose my mind. The hoards don’t help either. All sweaty and ernest swinging their bulging, hemp book-bags. All the theorists in fancy eyewear, all the writers in torn cardigans.

I go.

Because I’m a writer. And there is nothing lonelier save perhaps a svelte long-distance runner than a writer sans his or her community of ink-stained neophytes and blithering zealots. I go because writing is the most important thing in the world and it is an art that is maddeningly elusive and achingly beautiful. I go to commiserate, to conspire with dead poets and novelists, to sing, to mingle in some circumscribed manner; and learn, learn, learn. I am not done yet, and even so acknowledge: the only way to grow and know is to rub up against that which produces friction. I go for this heat.

I have attended writing conferences for many years now and yes there are many instances where I find myself in a stuffy banquet hall nodding over my cooling styro of coffee glancing at the dais and thinking: I could have given this presentation. But I go. And I go now, unlike in the past, knowing a lot more about myself, and why conferences are a test for me. This year I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder II, a disorder of hypomania and depression on the spectrum of autism, Asperger’s and other bipolar disturbances; some days a little ebullient, on others, bluer than blue. Couple this with my Jungian personality type — INFJ — of the introvert (where energy is reaped through solitude, a good book) who feels his way through the world by way of intuition, feelings and judgment and conference-dread makes sense.

Well this makes sense to me anyways.

So I go.

Storms and airports is the big enchilada of prompts. You can’t go anywhere, so you might as well do something. Sadly, I began my book The Eight Leaves a memoir about my brother’s death while awaiting a delayed flight in London, Ontario, Canada.  I heard The Proclaimers sing, “I’m on my way from misery to happiness today, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh.” It made it into the book. But also gladly the nexus of Mother Nature and Virgin, Southwest, Continental angst at flying through the maelstrom has yielded me a night in a Vermont HoJo smoking dope out of a core Granny Smith apple and an empty Bic pen barrel with a Jesus Christ-look-a-like, a former nun who worked with Mother Teresa and a National Book Award nominee. We watched soft porn.

There was a time I used to love to travel and so I tended to glide through airports without much of a glance. Nowadays, however, I love to go places, but detest travel for myriad reasons. So I tend to go through airports as if treading through tapioca. It enables me to pause and take in what’s around me. Of course the cynic in me has a ball, as does the misanthrope; but then mostly my untarnished soul takes over and sees that love is actually all around us (fairly sneaky movie nod).

I take notes in a journal, primarily, about what my perceptions allow, and then permit my imagination to go the rest of the way. I take down private conversations. I write character sketches. But mostly, I write philosophy, sort of the bane of my existential existence. I listen to music as I do this, so often I find in my notes belles-lettres to Einstein and KISS or Florence + The Machine and Sartre.

Always rich, the airport gives me enough fodder for a thousand or more flights of fancy once home again safe ensconced in front of my keyboard.

“We shape our tools and afterwards our tools shape us,” Marshall McLuhan

Wi-Fi on a plane is the greatest thing since sliced bread…bread that communicates to other loaves of sliced bread via a wireless internet connection.

So, after worrying the night away watching newscasts spike ratings with tales of snow-mageddon, the ride to the airport this morning (and the current flight) has been beautifully uneventful. So far, I’m on target for all I’ve promised, including keeping this blog, the @awptweets feed, and the awpchannel YouTube accounts active with my own tales of word-mageddon (ratings, right?). Dear God, words are coming to DC. Quick, purchase ridiculous amounts of milk and bread (the wireless variety) at crowded grocery stores and then call for a pizza delivery because “well, it’s just too dangerous out there to drive somewhere to eat.” (re: the pizza delivery guy’s life is worth less than mine). Seriously, as a friend of a pizza driver, please don’t make that a-hole call for food delivery in bad weather.

I digress.

I’ve got to keep the tangents under control though, as I am officially part of the Social Media panel to take place on Thursday at 3:00pm. Other panelists include Christina Katz, Dan Blank, Bethanne Patrick, Tanya Egan Gibson, and moderator Jane Friedman. I’m a last minute addition and should I not suppress the verbal diarrhea, I may never be invited back. “Oh yeah,” I’ll say, “Well, in the future all social media has gone the way of yellow pages and MySpace, so I don’t want to be invited back to your stupid conference, anyway.”

I hope all others made it safely as well.

Yes, that’s the actual departure screen from my flight to Atlanta this morning. Proof that the literary gods love me (or at least tolerate me).

One look out the window and it’s difficult to imagine spring will ever arrive, despite what the Groundhog predicts.

I am in upstate New York and will leave soon with a fellow writer to drive south to DC. The weather here isn’t nearly as bad as predicted – we are some of the lucky ones. Many other AWP attendees have already had flights delayed or cancelled, or decided not to drive in the icy mix.  But we will forge ahead.

Is it geeky to bring along my books by Junot Diaz and Jhumpa Lahiri in the hopes that they will sign them? I’m not usually a starfucker autographer seeker – I simply want to tell them how much their writing has meant to me and my writing. And to tell Mr. Diaz that his essay on how excrutiating writing can be to one’s psyche was a revelation.

Besides meeting new people and reuniting with friends, I have settled on a few presentations to attend, including “From Short Story to Novel” and “Women Writers and Rejection.” Maybe I should be on that second panel, as I have many years of experience with rejection.

Just the other day I received a rejection email from a top tier publication (which will be represented at AWP). This one stung a little harder than most. I want to go up to the editor and ask in person, why exactly was my story rejected?

Isn’t that what we all want to know?

But asking that, like going to panels that purport to tell you “what editors want,” is a crap shoot. Just like all publishing is.

Editors don’t all want the same thing – except great writing. The same editor may like something one day but hate it the next. Maybe the story “just wasn’t a good fit” even though you read back issues to make sure your work fit in their oeuvre.

I strongly believe that the cream rises to the top. And that some people are published, whether or not they have talent, because of the current zeitgeist (I’m looking at you Snooki). But writing is about the art of creating something. That is where 90% of effort should be. The other 10% should be laser-focused on the challenge of getting published, if that is what you want.

For a long time, I didn’t care if I was ever published. Now, with seven stories published and more on the horizon, I am starting to care much more.

And for that, nothing can keep me from AWP this year.

1. Hometown?

Well, now, I live in Norman, Oklahoma, but that’s not really home. My hometowns are Durham, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia.

2.    How many AWP conferences have you attended?

My first AWP was in 1997, a year after I finished graduate school. I didn’t have any publications then, although three poems were forthcoming. So, I was just there to hang out. I attended maybe three panels, and one of those was a reading. The next time I came to AWP was after the publication of my first book, in 2001, and I was on a panel then. Then, I attended 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009.

So, it’s been seven AWPs so far. I try not to attend every single year, because it takes me at least two years to recover from all the fun and excitement, but next year is in Chicago, so I don’t want to miss that.

3.    Tell me a little about your session. Who should attend?

My panel is at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. It’s called “Changing Chords: The African American Poet as Critic,” and it features Herman Beavers as panel chair, and Tim Seibles, Anthony Walton, Carolyn Beard Whitlow, and me as respondents. We will be talking about the role of the African American poet as critic, which is actually pretty interesting to me because I’ve noticed this sort of divide between scholars and poets when it comes to criticism. Many scholars I’ve encountered don’t believe that poets can write anything except poetry, and the occasional nonfiction or fiction prose piece. But what fascinates me is that without the primary text that poets have created, scholars wouldn’t have anything to create literary criticism from. I’ve started dipping my toe into scholarly writing, and so this panel gives me a great chance to talk about some of these issues.

4.    What do you enjoy most about attending the conference?

I should say the intellectual stimulation, but really the best thing for me is seeing everyone. It’s like a big old family reunion, even though AWP is much bigger now than when I first attended back in 1997. I try to take my vitamin C ahead of time, because I know I’m going to be kissing and hugging at least a hundred people, and germs will be transferred!

But of course, I just love a conference with nothing but creative writers. It’s our place. It’s our time to talk about what matters to us, and for those of us who have worked hard for years and years, it’s nice to meet more than five people who have read our books. I love the readings, surely, but I really enjoy the scholarly panels at AWP just as much as the readings, too, because I like to know what writers are thinking of, critically. It’s just the best time, ever. I love AWP, even if Sunday morning, I am going to be so tired it will feel like someone beat me over every inch of my body. I just try to squeeze as much as I can out of AWP with the readings, the scholarly panels, the dances, fellowshipping with friends—but this year, I’m hoping not to gain any weight like I did last time, from all the overeating.

5.    What’s the question I should have asked you?

I wished you had asked me if I love to dance, because I do! (Everyone who knows me, knows that.) I am a dancing fool and I hope to “shut the party down” on Saturday night of the conference. There’s nothing like dancing with a bunch of wordsmiths; I’ve never missed a Saturday night party at AWP whenever I’ve attended, and I don’t mean to start now.

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers is the author of The Gospel of Barbecue (Kent State, 2000), Outlandish Blues (Wesleyan, 2003), and Red Clay Suite (Southern Illinois University, 2007). She received a 2011 Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She is Associate Professor of English at the University of Oklahoma.

1.    Hometown?

I grew up between Stone Mountain, GA and Baltimore, MD. I’m no stranger to Washington D.C.—we were neighbors during my college years; I used to drive down to dance and see shows now and then.

2.    How many AWP conferences have you attended?

I believe I’ve attended four or five now.

3.    Tell me a little about your session. Who should attend?

My session is the Women’s Caucus, organized by Lois Roma-Deeley. I hope attendees don’t fall into the usual trap of assuming a “Women’s Caucus” is for women only. Anyone interested in how these conferences are put together, how they function and change over time—which includes considerations of who the organizers court and how they do so—should come.  

Moreover, this is a first meeting of the women’s caucus, and we have a lot of ground to cover, as outlined below. For that very reason, we welcome participants who will help us shape the debate and understand what we must focus on first.

Description:

Where is the place for the women writers within AWP and within the greater literary community? The women’s caucus discusses this as well as continuing inequities in creative writing publication and literature. In addition, issues centering on cultural obstacles in the form of active oppression, stereotypes, lack of access to literary power structures, historical marginalization of women’s writing, issues and perspectives and the diverse voices of women will be explored.

4.    I know you’re heavily involved with VIDA: Women in the Literary Arts. How is VIDA having an effect on the literary community?

Because we’re still so young, it’s difficult to gauge exactly what impact we’ve had so far.  We’ve certainly been hearing from many, ranging from educators to lay readers to publishers and editors alike; people are voicing concerns aloud now, suspicions easier dismissed in the past, and are anxious to join the discussion. The disparities in the literary world, based on gender alone (only one facet we’ve begun to examine), are no longer something we’ve imagined; they’re publicly recognized now. This recognition is a good point from which the conversation must progress if any changes are to take place.  We no longer have to insist that we “feel” something’s off; we can point to the numbers and interrogate how the literary landscape has come to reflect what many feel are unintentional-yet-problematic biases.

Conversations are also picking up steam in more major media outlets as well as in smaller online venues, editorial offices and, soon enough, this AWP conference. Publishers are sitting up and noticing their own historical publishing practices. It’s my hope that educators will also think about how they came to choose the texts they teach and try to broaden their curriculum palettes, so to speak.

5.    What do you enjoy most about attending the conference?

I love meeting people I’ve only known online. I enjoy catching up with others, and the poet-me likes to hit some of the more tasty panels and readings.  The energy is palpable when you find that really good panel / presentation and makes the trip memorable.

I find the book fair problematic for the obvious reasons—it’s like passing through a really tasty restaurant; you can only consume so much and your doggy bag can’t hold more than you can afford. So I pass through, loving and hating the feast that’s offered. Like it or not, the book fair forces one to become quite selective with one’s wallet and suitcase.

6.    Last, but not least, what’s the question I should have asked you?

Where am I reading! Unfortunately, I’ll be missing the reading with my new publisher, Litmus Press. I was originally going to be there but am unable. Sorry, Litmus! But I will be reading on Saturday afternoon for Poets for Living Waters—

Gulf Tolls – A Poetry Reading in Tribute to the Gulf of Mexico and Surrounding Regions

5-7 pm, Busboys & Poets 14th and V Streets NW. $5 suggested donation. None turned away.

Split This Rock and Poets for Living Waters are partnering to offer a poetry tribute to the Gulf of Mexico and the surrounding regions. Readers will include: Naomi Ayala, Ana Bozicevic, Nicole Cooley, Peter Cooley, Amy King, Brenda Hillman, Katherine Howell, Brenda Iijima, Jan Heller Levi, Gregory Pardlo, Lisa Pegram, Martha Serpas, Kevin Simmonds, Sandra Simmonds, Jonathan Skinner, Patricia Smith, Heidi Lynn Staples, Melissa Tuckey, Anne Waldman, and more. Please join us for a night of provocation and witness.

Amy King is the author of four collections of poetry: Slaves to Do These Things, I’m the Man Who Loves You, and Antidotes for an Alibi (a Lambda Book Award finalist), all from Blazevox Books, and the forthcoming I Want to Make You Safe (Litmus Press). King moderates the Poetics List (SUNY-Buffalo/University of Pennsylvania), the Women’s Poetry Listserv (WOMPO) and the Goodreads Poetry! Group. She also teaches English and Creative Writing at SUNY Nassau Community College and is currently preparing a book of interviews with the poet, Ron Padgett. King co-edits Poets for Living Waters with Heidi Lynn Staples and Esque Magazine with Ana Bozicevic.

As of right now, 6,605 people have pre-registered for the conference. That makes me a bit nervous as I don’t like crowds. So besides scanning the bookfair layout for booths I want to visit, I will be highlighting the exits for when it gets overwhelming and I need some air and/or a drink.

I’ve read some how-to lists (such as this one by Caleb Ross). I’ve made a list of things to pack. I have a road-trip buddy (also an AWP virgin) and I have music loaded up for the drive from upstate New York. I will hang out at the Goddard College booth, my MFA alma mater, and the Press 53 booth, who have named me one of their Spotlight Authors for 2011 (yeah!).

I am as ready as I can be – though I am still working on what it is I want to gain from the AWP experience. I can’t seem to narrow it down so I will probably just take it day by day. Hopefully, chronicling my experiences on this blog will help me unite my thoughts into something coherent for myself and others.

Well, I had to cancel my plans at the last minute, and can’t attend AWP in DC this year. I’m really bummed, but sometimes life gets in the way – work, family, my MFA thesis, my next novel, time, money, you name it. Sometimes you have to take a pass. When I’m sitting with my son at his first Pinewood Derby I doubt I’ll be thinking about AWP. SO, I’m passing on to you, talented author, dreamer of vision, painter of lives, my list of panels that I was thinking of attending.

My picks have a lot to do with where I am as an author, what I’m looking to do, and who I know. So, I often drop by panels to see friends speak, or maybe it’s a panel on pedagogy or teaching, since I’m finishing up my MFA this year. There are a lot of panels on the future of writing, or publishing, those are always compelling. Sometimes I just want to hear somebody read. So, my picks may not match up with yours, but maybe it’ll give you some ideas.

Obviously you can only pick one panel per time period, so I’ll leave that up to you. I’ll asterisk (*) something if it really jumps out as a MUST SEE.

WEDNESDAY:

Not much going on, mostly people getting into town. I’m sure there are parties Wednesday night.

THURSDAY:

9:00 – 10:15

R110. Hired!: Landing the Elusive Tenure-Track Job.
This looked interesting, as I’m looking for work in 2011.

R113. Hands On: A Conversation about DIY and Craft Culture in a Digital World.
I thought this also had a lot of appeal as I’ve published in some crafty, handmade rags (such as Vain) and wanted to see what they had to say about this whole DIY culture.

10:30 – 11:45

R131. What They Didn’t Tell Us, We Will Tell You: Four First-Time Authors Discuss the Nitty Gritty of Publishing.
Siobhan Fallon is a friend of mine, so I wanted to hear her story about her first novel, and since my first novel came out last year as well (Transubstantiate) I thought it might be of value to me.

R132. Things That Go Bump When You Write: Monsters, Myths, and the Supernatural in Literary Fiction.*
This one looked really good to me, and I’m a fan of Laura van den Berg. I liked to work with fantasy, the supernatural, a bit of magical realism now and then, so this plus the literary angle appealed to me.

Noon – 1:15

R160. The Future of the Book Review: How to Break In.
I write book reviews for The Nervous Breakdown so I thought this might be interesting. And Roxane Gay is on this panel, and I like her work and attitude.

1:30 – 2:45

R174. Representing the Erotic in Literary Fiction.
Sex always gets people to show up. I put a bit of sex, and the erotic, in my work, so this looked like a fun one.

R179. CLMP Keynote—Size Matters: Big Houses, Small Presses, and the Literary Ecology of American Publishing.
I don’t hit TOO many keynotes, but this one covers a lot of things that interest me, small vs. large presses, for example.

3:00 – 4:15

R197. A 45th-Anniversary Fiction Reading by the Faculty of the MFA Writing Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Basically I just wanted to hear Holly Goddard Jones read and speak. She’s a friend of mine, taught at MSU where I’m getting my MFA, and an author I really love.

R198. Honoring Robert Coover.
Worth it to hear Coover as well as Brian Evenson.

4:30 – 5:15

R213. Understanding Comics as Creative Writing.*
This looked really good. I’m trying to break into comics, working on some samples right now, and this should be a fascinating panel.

R221. Fiction’s Future.
I try not to attend TOO many of these kinds of panels, but Lance Olsen and Roy Kesey make it worth attending, IMO. Lance is at FC2 and I’m a fan of Roy’s work. Both good guys, very giving and supportive as well.

NIGHT:

I was supposed to attend a reading at The Velvet Lounge with a bunch of friends, so go do that. It should be a great show. Caleb J. Ross, Brandon Tietz, Jesus Angel Garcia, Nik Korpon, Joe McGinniss Jr., Michael Sonbert, and Jillian Weise. 7-9 pm. 915 U St NW.

FRIDAY:

9:00 – 10:15

F114. Arktoi Books Celebrates Five Years of Lesbian Publishing!
Basically I wanted to see Nickole Brown read, she’s a friend and mentor of mine down at MSU. Very talented poet and author.

10:30 – 11:15

F132. How to start a literary center and thrive through the decades.
I’ve wanted to start a co-op for years, and this seemed like a very informative an useful panel.

F134. To Tell You the Truth: Strategies in the New Nonfiction.
I don’t write much NF, but I wanted to hear Nick Flynn and Stephen Elliott speak, those two are always entertaining and very smart, two talented authors.

F136. Jets vs. Sharks?
Richard Bausch and Jill McCorkle, nuff said.

NOON – 1:15

F146. A Reading by Joyce Carol Oates.
I’ve heard mixed things about her readings, but I’m a fan of her work, so this could be fun.

1:30 – 2:45
Nothing looked great. Have a long lunch instead.

3:00 – 4:45

F191. Hollins Graduate Program 50th Anniversary Reading.
Karen McElmurray is a friend and teacher down at MSU. Another chance to hear Jill McCorkle read too.

4:30 – 5:45

F212. A Reading by Mary Gaitskill and Sapphire, Sponsored by Wilkes University Low Residency MA/MFA Program in Association with Blue Flower Arts.*
I’m a huge fan of Mary Gaitskill, and I’m really bummed that I’ll miss this. Was going to have her sign my copy of Bad Behavior.

NIGHT:

Vermin on the Mount is the place to be. http://vermin.blogs.com/vermin_on_the_mount/2011/01/votm-awp-dc.html

WHO: Kim Chinquee, Roy Kesey, Amber Sparks, Lindsay Hunter, Nicolette Kittinger, Tom Williams, Al Heathcock & Scott McClanahan

WHEN: Friday, Feb 4 at 8pm

WHERE: Mie N Yu 3125 M Street in Georgetown

SATURDAY:

9:00 – 10:15

S111. Small Ships, Deep Ocean: Independent Presses Keep Short Story Collections Afloat.
Love short stories and this seemed cool. Laura van den Berg.

10:30 – 11:45

Nothing jumped out at me.

NOON – 1:15

S149. America Reimagined: Four Contemporary Voices, Sponsored by Blue Flower Arts.*
A great list of really talented authors: Ben Percy, Jennifer Egan, Rick Moody, Joshua Ferris. This should be a great event. It’s in a ballroom, don’t know how big it is, but this should be a really hot ticket. Get there early.

1:30 – 2:45

S171. What We Love; What Editors Are After.
These things are always a crapshoot, just write what you want, what moves you, but sometimes you get a nugget or two from some cool people. Editors from the Believer, Graywolf Press, Milkweed Editions, Orion, Soft Skull Press, and Tin House, so definitely worth it.

S177. The Road Less Traveled: How to be a Writer Without a Full-time Academic Gig.*
Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond, that’s worth it right there, but I love the focus of this panel, and am really hoping I can get some literature or a podcast of this one.

S184. Change or Die: How Established Print Journals are Adapting to Life on the Internet.
Love the title. A lot of journals are adding an online presence or moving online due to the costs and difficulties of having a print journal. Should be good.

3:00 – 4:15

S189. Linking It Up: Working with Story Cycles, Linked Collections, and Novels-in-Stories.
Big fan of Knockemstiff, so I thought this would be a really good panel to attend, fascinating, imo.

S191. Graywolf Press Reading.
Chance to see Nick Flynn and Stephen Elliott again if you missed them earlier. Big fan of Graywolf, too.

4:30 – 5:15

Nothing jumped out, so get to drinking now.

NIGHT:

There’s the Amy Hempel and Gary Shteyngart reading, that looked really good. I’m sure there are tons of parties too.

SO…that’s all I’ve got. Hit the bookfair as often as you can between panels, that’s a great way to do research, get discounted title and journals, and meet some of you favorite authors, network and pimp your wares. Bottom line, have fun.

Wish I was going. Drop me a line at wickerkat@aol.com if you have something to share or any questions.

I stumbled upon the Insider Higher Ed blog just now and was happy to read that they will be doing AWP podcasts during the entire conference, that’s Feb 2nd -5th. I’m quite excited about this.

Here’s more:

Please plan to tune in here February 2nd to the 5th for a series of podcasts on literary topics by big-time poets and writers, as well as multiple chances each day to win free books and other prizes!

This year it’s being held in Washington, DC, home of Inside Higher Ed, and I’ve long planned to be there blogging, taking care of some other business, and being feted by my editor. Then I had an idea: Why not use this opportunity to connect writers and readers, wherever they are?

I definitely recommend you check out the list of things they have planned. Here’s a sweet taste:

• The staff of Ninth Letter on the collaboration between Art & Design faculty and Creative Writing faculty in producing the award-winning journal
• A dramatic reading of Anton Chekhov’s monologue “On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco,” Chekhov’s longest-revised dramatic work
• Readings from a night at Quickies, “Chicago’s favorite reading series,” dedicated to flash fiction
• A night at The Parlor, another Chicago series, with Adam Levin, whose novel was just released by McSweeneys Books
• Etgar Keret, Israeli writer and filmmaker (Jellyfish, winner of the Caméra d’Or at Cannes) reads his short story “Shoes”

For full details, go here.

 1. Hometown?

We live in Delmar, NY, just south of Albany.

 2. How many AWP conferences have you attended?

Maybe seven or so, on and off since 2001.

 3. What will you be doing this year at AWP? 

I’m not doing any panels this year. The one I proposed and one I was on were passed on, which as I think of it is kind of a relief, since I’m really busy right now. I have made a resolution to go to as many panels on creative nonfiction as I can, since that’s what I teach primarily at The College of Saint Rose. We’re also thinking of starting up an MFA program (who isn’t, right?), so I plan on tugging on a few ears regarding how to start one that works well. I’ll be manning a corner of a shared table representing myself and We Who Are About To Die, the group blog I help run. Other than that, a lot of off-site readings and events. I’m really psyched how the AWP people have integrated—or co-opted?—the whole off-site events business. I’m reading at one on Friday night, representing the supergreat 32 Poems.

 4. What do you enjoy most about attending the conference?

Where to start? Meeting up with old friends who live in different parts of the country or folks I’ve worked with only virtually and not face-to-face. Making new friends. Saying Hi to editors of journals who have published my work and thanking them. Seeing how people navigate the whole looking-at-people’s-nametags-in-the-elevator business. Meeting old students who have gone onto become quote-unquote real writers. The buzz of neuroses-band camp excitement-stargazing has never gone away, like walking down a random aisle at the book fair and oh, there’s Lucillle Clifton or Christian Bok or Ernest Hilbert. Showing off baby pictures of my daughters to strangers. Lately, it’s been nice to get out of town for awhile. 

 5. Since you’ve attended a few of these, what’s your most memorable moment from past AWP’s?

There’s been so many times I have embarrassed myself or just acted like a jackass, but whenever I am at AWP, I feel comfortable and I’m with family. A boisterous, often dysfunctional family, but that’s family. I can say that I’ll never forget speaking on a panel about “switching” from poetry to nonfiction as a writer, and when we opened it up for questions, a woman began her remarks saying that she’s “going to take a while.” Her discourse included a short bio of herself and her writing, which people do and that’s fine, but then she suggested we all start a “new genre called the po-essay.” Up until that point, I think I was fairly diplomatic and even professional. But that term, po-essay, just seemed like a terrible idea. So I said that is sounded a little too much like another word I shouldn’t repeat here. Little did I know that Marjorie Perloff had coined the term already when she provided a blurb for Susan Howe’s The Birth-Mark. (It occurs to me that maybe that’s why AWP didn’t take my panel this year!)

 6. OK, Dan—what’s the question I should have asked you?

 Geez. Probably some question about how excited I am for the upcoming Freddie Mercury/Queen biopic starring Sacha Baron Cohen?

Daniel Nester is the author of How to Be Inappropriate, The History of My World Tonight, and God Save My Queen I and II. His work has appeared in Salon, The Daily Beast, Bookslut, The Morning News, Best American Poetry, and Best Creative Nonfiction. He teaches at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY.

(Salvatore Pane, Roxane Gay, Irina Reyn, Emily Testa, Paul Morris) The rise of the book blogger has forever altered the traditional book review. But what is the state of the book review moving forward in a digital culture, and how do interested parties actually go about becoming reviewers? Panelists including the editor of PANK, the book review editors of BOMB and Hot Metal Bridge, and published writers currently working in the field will answer these questions and more.

When: Thursday, Feb 3rd Noon.-1:15 p.m

Caleb J Ross: What motivated you to deliver this panel?

Roxane Gay: I was invited to participate by the panel moderator, Salvatore Pane and I was really excited by his panel idea because I am fascinated by book reviews, what makes a good book review, and how to become a book reviewer and then improve those critical skills required to deliver a good book review.

CJR: Maybe a definition of ‘book review’ is in order. I assume you don’t equate book reviews with book bloggers? Or, is that the type of book review that matters now; the ‘review for the people’?

RG: I don’t distinguish between book reviewers and book bloggers and it is a bit dismissive to create a rift there when one is not needed. I consider it more of a matter of spectrum rather than separation. There are multiple definitions for a book review. It can be as simple as a one sentence discussion of a book, such as you might see on a site like Vouched Books and it can be a long form essay, and of course, there are lots of book review formats in between those two spectrums. I try not to stress too hard about definitions. What matters is that people care enough about books to write about them intelligently, however they see fit.

CJR: What is the role of the hi-brow critique as the book review (including book blogs) becomes more democratized? It seems to me that we once had three distinct reviews: the critique, the Sunday-times type review, and the word-of-mouth recommendation. As the word-of-mouth type becomes the book blog (and the book site, re: Goodreads and Vouched Books, for example), are the critique and the Sunday-times reviews becoming less powerful or less needed?

RG: I don’t think the critical book review is becoming less needed but I do think fewer people are developing the skills necessary to write that kind of review. As we are exposed to books in new, more democratic ways, I do believe that the critical book review might be losing some of the power it once had but I also believe there is room for a resurgence. I also don’t believe that the critical book review is not being written on book blogs. I look at sights like The Millions and HTMLGIANT and Big Other and there are some brilliant, critical essays being written about books. Blogs are not antithetical to intelligent critique.

CJR: What is the reward for ‘breaking in’ to the book review world?

RG: Are there rewards? I don’t know. I simply love talking about books I love. I’m not on some magical galley list like some reviewers, or anything, so I definitely do it because I want to, not because there’s a fancy perk. It is nice, though, to exercise that creative muscle and it certainly gets your name out there, wherever “there” might be in this virtual world.

CJR: What do you expect attendees to ask during your panel?

RG: I expect them to ask me about my amazing tattoos. If there are questions ( I always assume there will be awkward silence), I imagine people might ask about the best way to approach book reviewing, whether it’s okay to write a glowing review, if a glowing review can be critical, the minor ethical quandary of reviewing books written by friends, and on and on and on.

Roxane Gay’s writing appears or is forthcoming in Black Warrior Review, Mid-American Review, Cream City Review, Annalemma, McSweeney’s (online), and others. She is the co-editor of PANK, an assistant professor of English at Eastern Illinois University, and can be found at http://www.roxanegay.com. Her first collection, Ayiti, will be released in 2011.

1. Hometown?

Born in Edison, New Jersey. Raised in Paterson, New Jersey.

2. How many AWP conferences have you attended?

Atlanta, NYC, and Denver. This will be number four. Hopefully the food will be better.

3. Tell me a little about the session you’re moderating. Who should attend?

I’m at the Omni Shoreham’s Empire Ballroom, 4:30 p.m. on Friday the 4th, moderating a panel on inclusivity and race in publishing. This will be a conversation between poets and editors from both “mainstream” and “more community-based projects,” talking about their successes and failures in bringing diversity to their various publications. (I imagine what Raina Leon and I do at the ACENTOS REVIEW falls into the category of community-based projects.)

Who should attend?

Anyone with a vested interest in telling and listening to the full story of American literature. Anyone with a desire to be realistic, or revolutionary, about the publishing venues available to them. Writers of color especially. And maybe a few people who are interested, as I am, in hearing what makes one publication “mainstream” and another “community-based,” especially in the digital age.

4. Sounds like a great panel, Rich. What do you enjoy most about attending the conference?

Watching my various literary worlds cross. The poets especially all seem grouped up, cliqued out, separate, MFA’d or non-MFA’d, book or no. Et cetera. The AWP is the one place I can think of where all those dichotomies collide … blending together, as it were, by the time Saturday night rolls around. (Or not … sometimes they tiptoe around each other, too. That can be fun!)

5. Finally, what’s the question I should have asked you?

Hey Rich! Do you have any off-site events you’re involved with?

Why yes, I do. Acentos, the organization I direct that fosters audiences and communities of Latino/a writers, is co-sponsoring a reading in response to Arizona’s unjust SB1070 law … and some of the raging xenophobia cultivated around laws like it.

Friday, February 4 · 6–9 p.m.
True Reformer Building
1200 U Street NW
Washington, DC

Join us as more than 20 poets lend their energy and language to a group reading in response to Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and in resistance to the atmosphere of national xenophobia under which the bill (and its emerging counterparts) were created. Confirmed readers include: Francisco X. Alarcon, Tara Betts, Sarah Browning, Regie Cabico, Carmen Calatayud, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Susan Deer Cloud, Martín Espada, Odilia Galvan Rodriguez, Carmen Gimenez Smith, Aracelis Girmay, Randall Horton, Juan Felipe Herrera, Dorianne Laux, Marilyn Nelson, Mark Nowak, Barbara Jane Reyes, Abel Salas, Sonia Sanchez, Craig Santos Perez, Hedy Trevino, Pam Uschuk, Dan Vera, Rich Villar, and Andre Yang. Co-sponsored and presented by the Acentos Foundation, Split This Rock, and the Poets Responding to SB 1070 Facebook group. Hosted by Oscar Bermeo.

Then on Saturday, I’m part of a delegation of writers that will be staging a press conference and mini-poetry reading in response to the law on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. In short, I’ll be disappointed if I don’t emerge from this conference with an FBI file!

Rich Villar is the executive director of The Acentos Foundation, an organization that fosters audiences and communities for the study, presentation, and support of literature by Latinos and Latinas. He serves as fiction editor for THE ACENTOS REVIEW, and his poems and essays have appeared in RATTAPALLAX, MIPOESIAS, LATINO POETRY REVIEW, and the acclaimed chapbook series ACHIOTE SEEDS. He is at work on his first full-length collection of poems and makes his home in New Jersey with his wife, poet Tara Betts. (Photo taken by Peter Dressel)

(Lori A. May, Kathleen Driskell, Tod Goldberg, Meg Kearney, Michael Kobre) Low-residency program directors will discuss innovative approaches to providing value-added opportunities for students at a distance—regardless of varied geographic locales. Topics include adaptability in pedagogical training, funded editorships and real-world publishing experiences, online approaches to the traditional workshop model, the inclusion of commercial projects in film and television, and how students may become involved in a reading series or literary journal.

When: Friday, Feb 4th: 9:00 a.m.-10:15 p.m.

Caleb J Ross: You said something at last year’s AWP which stuck with me. Paraphrased, of course, you said that you teach your MFA classes like an instructor of any trade program might, with the end goal of providing financial opportunities for the students. This seems like a radically different approach than most MFAs which may instead focus on non-definable, creative signposts to gauge student success. First, am I expressing your idea correctly? Second, how is this goal compromised by a low-residency program, if it even is?

Tod Goldberg: Pretty close. Essentially my philosophy is that if you’re in an MFA program, your goal isn’t to become the most well-read person on earth with a handful of literary quotes at your disposal at all times, it’s to be published. It’s to be produced. Graduate programs in creative writing are some of the few that seem entirely esoteric because they don’t seem to be training you for anything tangible, apart from maybe being a particularly enlightened barista, because, well, that’s frequently the case. But I think that has to change. Being a professional writer is a job. And if you want to write books, or write screenplays, or write poetry, simply for personal edification, you certainly don’t need an MFA program to do that. But if you want to become a professional writer, I think an MFA program can and should be a clear stepping stone in that direction. Most aren’t. Most entirely eschew the idea of life after the MFA — in fact, most programs tend to herald your acceptance into the program as the “making it” part of your writing career, which is silly. It’s school. It’s what you do afterward that makes a difference. So in that light we talk about publishing and production a great deal in the program I run at UCR, about the difference between being workshop-good and publication or production good. We have agents and editors and film producers and studio heads that come in an read our students work and give them a real world idea of where they stand. And our professors are doing it, too (no one works in the program in the professor who isn’t still publishing or producing).

I got my MFA late in the game — I’d already published 5 books, countless short stories, sold several projects to Hollywood, written hundreds of pieces of journalism and was actually directing two MFA programs at the time (before going to strictly a low residency MFA, UCR Palm Desert also had a part-time traditional MFA program, too) — when I went to get my MFA from Bennington, so I feel that I have a unique perspective on this. Clearly, I didn’t need an MFA to be successful. But my experience with one particular professor at Bennington, Lynne Sharon Schwartz, opened my eyes regarding how to become a better writer, how to build on what I did well already, and that alone was worth the price of admission, and I believe that comes from that mentor/mentee relationship that low residency programs foster.

So I don’t think this philosophy of mine is hampered in the least by low residency program; in fact, I believe it is the best avenue to pursue this line of thinking. Being in a low residency program mimics the life of the professional writer. You’re probably balancing your writing with another job, you’re probably also writing some stuff like book reviews on top of your creative work (or doing coverage if you’re a screenwriter) and you’re probably at home on the weekends, up until late in night, in your underwear, typing.

CJR: What have you observed as main differences between students full-residency programs and those of low-residency programs, in terms of being motivated and concerned with job opportunities?

TG: In low residency programs, the students are older, generally more career-oriented, and are spending their own money on their education, so the desire to have some end result that is easily within grasp is much more predominant. They are there because they don’t want the life they have, they want to become professional writers or, in some cases, they are professional writers and they want to also teach and thus need that degree to do so. The end result is that they tend to be pretty driven and you don’t need to pester them for their work.

In traditional programs, the age is a little younger, they tend to have the same literary goals but they are often matched with unrealistic end results — I want to make millions! I think this book will be a great movie! [Every time someone says that, an orphan is murdered. I truly believe that.] — and, since they often aren’t paying their own way, the attrition rate is a little higher, too. But I think the biggest difference is this: When you’re in a traditional program, you’re living in the academy, so to speak. Your whole life revolves around the university. You’re learning there. You’re probably teaching there. Your drama, your love life, your caloric intake…all of it happens somewhere near a quad, or a commons, and, well, it’s not real life. That’s not to say it’s bad — I think it’s great, actually — but it’s different than what happens to a student in a low residency, who is living a different kind of life and still is expected to turn out a great sum of work.

CJR: The description of your AWP panel (above) mentions online approaches to the workshop model. As someone who has a personal interest in the online model, I am interested to know if there are any hard-and-fast rules for making this type of environment conducive to great critique? Or, is it that the online model provides a better experience, and the in-person model has something to learn?

TG: The chief difference I’ve noticed over the course of the last decade that I’ve been teaching is that students working online seem to progress faster. I think it’s for a simple reason: When you’re getting workshopped in a classroom, you really don’t process what you’re hearing, which is to say you hear “you suck, you suck, you suck, you suck” and then maybe you hear “you’re great, you’re great, you’re great, you’re great” and you go home and the nuance of the arguments about your work are hard to piece together. But online, when you receive a written examination of your work from your professor (and it should be noted that at UCR, the students don’t critique each other during the online portion of the term; this is just the criticism between the professor and the student) you have time to process it before responding. You can then have that give in take, in writing, with your professor and the process gets drawn out over a period of time and becomes more varied and instructive — plus, the technology itself allows you to quickly, say, insert a passage from X book as an example of something. And of course what’s also happening is that the other students are reading along (we use Blackboard at UCR and the critique process is open for all the people in the workshop to see) and learning from things and then referencing critiques in responses to lectures and such. That’s another important aspect to what we do online: there’s a great sum of craft taught online, too, through lectures and reading and such, which is then followed by conversations online between the students, which fosters both a sense of community and an intellectual exchange of ideas, vs. just the professor saying, “Your dialog needs work.”

That said, I think the in-person part of workshopping is very important, too, which is why I don’t think strictly online programs work as well. By having the online portion and then 10 days of workshops in person, that sense that you’re dealing with real people, with real emotions, with difficult subjects on their plate, really coalesces into a whole. You get to know a person, you get to understand how and what they need to become better writers. This is a human business we’re in and I think the online experience removes that sometimes, or it can.

Finally, what online learning really does, for writers, is very simple: it allows them to express themselves in the way they are most comfortable and lucid — with words on a page. Plenty of writers are great on the page but then you meet them and they just can’t express themselves very well. The online classroom removes that aspect and allows the writer to be in a comfortable medium, which is part of why I think they end up progressing so rapidly.

CJR: What makes the low-residency program worthy of its panel? Why should people come to your panel, given the wide selection of available panels?

TG: Well, let’s see. I’ll probably swear a lot. I’ll probably offend someone in the audience, who will then get up in a noisy huff and storm out while I point out that they’ve made a huff and are storming out, which is always a fun thing to see. There’s a high probability I’ll tell off-color jokes about the other panelists. At some point, I’ll tell someone that they should transfer programs if they aren’t allowed to write genre fiction [This makes me crazy, too...I mean, seriously, people in academia, who the fuck cares what your students are writing as long as it's good?] which will then cause someone else to storm out. And then? Well, then I’m going to hustle out in time to see Josh Ritter on his panel.

Tod Goldberg is the author of the novels Living Dead Girl (Soho Press), a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Fake Liar Cheat (Pocket Books/MTV), and the popular Burn Notice series, as well as two collections of short stories, Simplify (Other Voices Books), a 2006 finalist for the SCIBA Award for Fiction and winner of he Other Voices Short Story Collection Prize and Other Resort Cities (Other Voices Books). His short fiction has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Black Clock, The Normal School and The Sun, twice receiving Special Mention for the Pushcart Prize as well as being named a Distinguished Story of the Year in the 2009 Best American Mystery Stories. His essays, journalism, and criticism appear regularly in many publications, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Las Vegas CityLife and have earned four Nevada Press Association Awards for excellence. Tod Goldberg holds an MFA in Creative Writing & Literature from Bennington College and directs the Low Residency MFA program in Creative Writing & Writing for the Performing Arts at the University of California, Riverside. He lives in La Quinta, CA with his wife, the writer Wendy Duren.

1.       Hometown?

Born in East St. Louis, IL, raised in Austin, TX and still loving central Texas! I’m a southern gal!

2.       How many AWP conferences have you attended?

I’ve attended four AWP conferences including this one. Austin, Atlanta, New York, and D.C.

3.       As the organizer of the Cave Canem reading, tell me a little about the event. Who will be there?

Everyone will be there! I’m thrilled to host the Cave Canem Fellows Reading. The reading will be somewhat of an inside look at a typical fellows reading at the Cave Canem Summer Retreat. As you know, January, our readings are loud and fun and far from an average poetry reading. We’ll feature 20 fellows from across the years and each poet will have four minutes. It will be a family reunion and friends and guests are more than welcome. 100 percent of the suggested $10 donation goes to Cave Canem. Join us at the Charles Sumner School, 1201 17th Street Northwest, Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, February 2, at 7 p.m. Poets include Bettina Judd, Robin Lewis, Rickey Laurentiis, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Jonterri Gadson, Linda Susan Jackson, Niki Herd, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Wendy S. Walters, Marcus Jackson, Derrick Brown, Brandon D Johnson, Nicole Sealey, Ama Codjoe, Jamaal May, Kamilah Aisha Moon, Kamau Rucker, Sharon Dennis Wyeth, Hallie Hobson, and Shelagh Patterson. Basically, we’re going to have a really good time and you don’t want to miss it!

4.       Are you participating in any other sessions?

 Yes! Saturday, February 5, at 3 p.m. – Founding Women: Publishers and Editors from across the Literary Journal Landscape. (Jennifer S. Flescher, Brigid Hughes, Rebecca Wolff, Amanda Johnston, Beth Harrison, Rebecca Morgan Frank) Katharine Graham, former publisher of the Washington Post, said to love what you do and feel that it matters—how could anything be more fun? In this panel, six female publishers from a range of media and generations will discuss their own literary matters: the process of creating and sustaining their successful literary ventures. Panelists will discuss the gender politics of publishing and explore the strides the literary landscape has made and the struggles we still grapple with. (Thurgood Marshall South Room Marriott Wardman Park, Mezzanine Level)

Immediately after the panel at 5 p.m. is the TORCH D.C. reading at the African American Civil War Museum featuring TORCH: poetry, prose, and short stories by African American Women contributors Evie Shockley, Melanie Henderson, Tara Betts, Venus Thrash, and others hosted by Randall Horton. It makes for a wonderful combination! Come to the panel where I’ll discuss founding TORCH and where the organization is heading then come to the reading and support the women writers we serve.

5.       Sounds terrific, Amanda! What are you looking forward to most about attending the conference?

I look forward to being among other writers, visiting with friends from across the country, and making new connections with attendees. The opportunity to fellowship and talk shop with other writers and publishers is exciting and I can’t wait to be with my people!

6.       Finally, what’s the question I should have asked you?

Another great question would be – what other readings are you looking forward to?

Friday, Feb. 4 / 8:30 p.m. – Affrilachian Poets 20^th Anniversary Reading at Busboys, hosted by Patricia Smith, with poets Frank X Walker, Randall Horton, Crystal Good, Makalani Bandele, Mitchell L.H. Douglas, Kelly Norman Ellis, Ellen Hagan, Ricardo Nazario y Colón, Stephanie Pruitt, Kamilah Aisha Moon, and Amanda Johnston for an evening of poetry from across the region and beyond. ( at Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th St., NW, D.C., 20009.)

Amanda Johnston is a Cave Canem fellow and Affrilachian poet. Honors include 2003 and 2004 Artist Enrichment grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women and the 2005 Austin International Poetry Festival’s Christina Sergeyevna Award.  She is the founder of Torch Literary Arts and editor of TORCH: poetry, prose, and short stories by African American Women.

AIMEE’S AWP EVENTS:

• SAT.  3 p.m.: Omni Shoreham Hotel—S205 –“How a Poem Happens” with Brian Brodeur, Bob Hicok, Dorianne Laux, Eric Pankey and Adrian Blevins *an AWP featured event.*
• SAT. 4:30 p.m.: Marriott Wardman Hotel—S213 –“Outsiders Writing the Outside” with Keetje Kuipers, GE Patterson, Paisley Rekdal, Brian Teare, and Ross Gay.
• FRI. 2–2:30 p.m.: Tupelo Press tables @ the book fair—book-signing
• FRI. 6:15–8 p.m.: Petit Plats café—Tupelo Press off-site reading w/ Tupelo Press authors

1.       Hometown?

Fredonia, NY (that’s reeeeeallly Western NY, about 40 minutes south of Buffalo, in case you are wondering).

2.       How many AWP conferences have you attended?

Wow—hard to believe when I did the counting, but I have been going since grad school, so 10 out of the last 12 years! The only two times I didn’t go those years was because I was hugely pregnant with my two boys.

3.       Your sessions look terrific. Tell us about them, and who should attend?

• The“How to Make a Poem” panel is one of the featured ones at AWP (with  Brian Brodeur, Bob Hicok, Dorianne Laux, Eric Pankey and Adrian Blevins) and I think it will be of interest to anyone who wants to see a little bit ‘behind’ the curtain. It originated from Brian Brodeur’s great blog How a Poem Happens.

• Keetje Kuipers, GE Patterson, Paisley Rekdal, Brian Teare and Ross Gay, “Outsiders Writing the Outdoors.”—It’s late in the afternoon on the last day of the conference, and everyone will most probably be on a plane or in the bar by then, but have you HEARD these poets read?? This is not your granddaddy’s nature writing.

4.       Congratulations on being a featured presenter. What are you looking forward to most about attending the conference?

My husband (who is also the creative non-fiction editor of Mid-American Review) and I live in a sleepy little town in Western NY. Especially during winter, we don’t get to see many of our writer pals very often so AWP is very much a social as well as a pedagogical outlet for us. We each have panels and readers we check out separately and I in particular love wandering the book fair to browse through old faves and new magazines—to finally feel them in my hands—I’m always impressed with the sheer variety each year. The ginormous book-fair is my very favorite part, and where you will almost certainly find me when I’m not attending or giving a reading!

5.       What’s the question I should have asked you?

What will I be wearing? (Aimee—hee hee, I can’t tell if you are serious or not.)

(January—Oh yes, I’m completely serious! Good question. I’m all about the fashion.)

This might be the first time I try to pack everything in one giant duffle bag. I just had a horrific flying experience from JFK to Buffalo and I might *still* be at JFK had I didn’t just bring a carry-on to jump to various flights to make it home, so I have learned the power of bringing one bag when I travel in winter. But it’s hard as I try to leave space for all the books and magazines and pencils and buttons I know I will bring home, but am looking forward to bringing a colorful assortment of shoes—my only indulgence.  :)

Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the author of three poetry collections: LUCKY FISH, AT THE DRIVE-IN VOLCANO, and MIRACLE FRUIT. Her writing has been published in several anthologies and was awarded an NEA Fellowship in Poetry and The Pushcart Prize. She is associate professor of English at SUNY-Fredonia.

AWP is not only the second nerdiest book fest of the year (first place is reserved for a Star Trek Cookbook Con; there’s got to be one). AWP is also an opportunity/misfortune for book writers to be book sellers. As more and more publishers are burdening authors to create their own publicity and maintain their own promotion, AWP can be a great venue for playing into this much-demanded duel personality. So why the earlier “/”? Because not everyone embraces this sales position.

I understand. I’m no sales person either. For me, AWP is about ingesting knowledge and beer. So in my case, the answer to the question posed in this blog title is a casual shrug o’ the shoulders. I don’t know. But I should learn.

AWP is full of people who are in a position to jumpstart or boost a writer’s career. Editors, agents, and big-name authors integrate into the crowds of desirous and often delirious writers. The last thing these gatekeepers want, I’m sure, is to spend their few days at AWP hounded by sales pitches and trite conversation about the weather (which have the intention of weaving into a sales pitch at any time: “speaking of rain, my completed novel manuscript is about how acid rain destroys….”) See that ellipsis? That’s the grammatical representation of monologue meeting boredom.

So, as writers, known that yes, editors and agents may be attending in hopes of finding a great client, but no, they don’t want to hear another terrible sales pitch. My advice (not from the perspective of someone who edits or agents, but from someone who also hates hearing terrible sales pitches) is to sell yourself before you try to sell your book. Talk to editors and agents as people first. Word on the street is they actually are people.

Yes. That image above is a giant stack of business cards I plan to leave on various tables in hopes of promoting this blog and its contributors. Shut up! At least you can’t be forced into small talk with a stack of business cards. But if you can,  write a memoir and pitch it to someone.

1.    Hometown?

I was raised in Ontario, Oregon. It’s in the Eastern half of Oregon, nestled alongside the Snake River which separates that part of Oregon from Idaho. Our chief industries are onions and prisons.

2.    How many AWP conferences have you attended?

I’ve attended every AWP conference since it was held in Portland, Oregon in either 1997 or 1998. I can’t remember. What I do remember is that the program for the conference was a thin, 8 page saddle stapled news rag and that the book fair was so small you could see from one end to the other.

3.    Tell me a little about your session. Who should attend?

I’m on two panels this year: Goatfoot, Duende, Fractals: Teaching Prose by Poets on Friday at 10:30 a.m., and Face-to-Face Communities in the Age of Facebook on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. In the first panel, we’ll be talking about the value of teaching poetry/poetics to students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. My particular emphasis is to talk about teaching poetics to undergraduates and why such a practice is important but often missed in the classroom. Students and teachers might be interested in the conversation that’ll take place in the first panel, but I think it’ll be a valuable panel for the general AWP audience. The second panel will be about the various ways technology is used by the poets on the panel to maintain writing communities as well as the Internet’s value as a writing and editing tool. It might be a useful panel to attend if you are a burgeoning arts administrator, thinking about forming an online writing community, or using web publication as the means toward producing some type of literary work.

4.    What do you enjoy most about attending the conference?

Well, there are a number of things that I enjoy equally, but I’ll put them in order 1) Seeing old friends is always the number one reason I attend 2) I also like discovering new ideas for my classroom and my own writing practice 3) and finally, I love shopping at the book fair!

5.    Congratulations on your appointment to the AWP Board of Directors. What do you hope to bring to the board?

Thanks, Jan. AWP’s been an important part in my development as a writer and a teacher. As someone who teaches at a writing program that offers an M.A. instead of an M.F.A., I hope to advocate for similar programs across the nation. Additionally, as an ethnic minority and as a writer of a newer generation, I hope to serve the AWP’s Board of Directors as someone who can offer a fresh perspective in their programming and their outreach.

6.    What’s the question I should have asked you?

You should’ve asked me what I plan on doing off-site. I plan on seeing the Smithsonian Museum.

Oliver de la Paz is the author of three collections of poetry, Names Above Houses, Furious Lullaby (SIU Press 2001, 2007), and Requiem for the Orchard (U. of Akron Press 2010), winner of the Akron Prize for poetry chosen by Martìn Espada. He co-chairs the advisory board of Kundiman, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of Asian American Poetry. A recipient of a NYFA Fellowship Award and a GAP Grant from Artist Trust, his work has appeared in journals like The Southern Review Virginia Quarterly Review, North American Review, Tin House, Chattahoochee Review, and in anthologies such as Asian American Poetry: The Next Generation. He teaches at Western Washington University.

1. Hometown?

Kankakee, IL but I’d say Chicago too.

2. How many AWP Conferences have you attended?

I’ve been to AWP in Baltimore, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta, New York, Denver, so this would be my seventh time as a participant here in D.C.

3. Tell me a little about your sessions. Who should attend?

I’m actually participating in two sessions and three off-site readings. One session is celebrating the release of 44 on 44: Forty-Four African American Writers on the 44^th President of the United States edited by Lita Hooper, Michael Simanga, and Sonia Sanchez. For African American writers, the response to the first African American president has been overwhelming. It’s significant to take note of a “first” that many people thought might not ever occur. I’m also doing a panel with Girls Write Now, an organization that mentors young women writers. People engaged with pedagogical concerns around working with teens would be interested in that panel. The readings with Aquarius Press, Cave Canem and Floricanto: Poets Against SB1070 [Arizona SB 1070, a law that targets immigrants and legalizes racial profiling.] are the events that give writers a chance to break out of the scholarly structure and share creative responses to the world. I’d like to think these events are open to everyone.

4. What do you enjoy most about attending the conference?

The buzzing thrum of activity keeps me engaged, and I get to meet new people.

5. What is a memorable moment from prior AWP conferences?

I’d have to say attending the Lucille Clifton tribute in Baltimore in 2003. Clifton read new poems from Mercy and Toi Derricotte read a piece about persuading a customer service rep to change her flight to go to a celebration for Clifton by reading some of Clifton’s poems to the representative.

Tara Betts teaches creative writing at Rutgers University. Arc and Hue is her debut poetry collection. She is completing her second collection 7×7 and “The Greatest”—a short libretto based on the friendship between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X.

From The Velvet Podcast blog:

Authors Caleb J Ross (Stranger Will) and Brandon Tietz (Out of Touch) talk about their expectations going into the upcoming Washington DC AWP Conference in February. Caleb calls from his five-time attendance history to help first-timer, Brandon, get the most out of the four day event. And Brandon teaches Caleb a little about how to be a rockstar.

Listen below. Subscribe via Feedburner, Podcast Alley, RSS, or iTunes.

Once again, I am opening up this AWP blog to any and all attending writers who want to blog, tweet, or YouTube the event.

Does that last item in the preceding series work as both a noun and verb like the other two items?

Can I really call AWP a “season” when the event lasts only 4 days?

These questions and more will surely be addressed in ridiculously specific panels during the 2011 AWP Conference in Washington D.C. Don’t believe me? There was a panel last year called Decolonial Poetics: Womanist, Indigenous, and Queer Poets of Color on the Art of Decolonization. But like most AWP panels, I’m sure it was packed; all of the panels with variations of “how to get published,” “how to avoid the slush pile,” formatting your manuscript,” and “bring lots of knee pads and lip balm,” were already full.

If you are going, join me. If you are interested in participating, contact me.

F164. The Future of Book Publishing: How Authors Should Navigate the New Market. (Mary Gannon, Dennis Loy Johnson, Jeffrey Shots, Michael Reynolds, Lee Montgomery, Julie Barer) Editors and agents will discuss the changes that have occurred in the practices and policies of literary publishing—from acquiring books, producing them in all of their incarnations, and marketing them. They will also offer timely advice on how authors should best navigate the changing industry and the new market.

This panel was a fantastic look into the varying opinions of the direction of book publishing. Dennis Loy Johnson played the role of the electronic book sympathizer to counterpoint the general physical-paper-book consensus of the rest of the panel (as you can probably guess, the ebook v. paper book debate claimed most of the discussion…and rightfully so, I think). Mr. Johnson embraces the digital revolution. His publishing house (Melville House) was essentially birthed from a blog, so “digital,” he said, “is in his DNA.”

The moderator, Mary Gannon, asked a series of questions. The one that got the most response was: what is the biggest change in publishing over the past five years?

Lee Montgomery: Electronic books and with that, trying to figure out how to use the internet to market. Ms. Montgomery does think the physical book is safe. Though, people should not turn their nose up at the different ways people can hunt down books. She liked the potential for ebook devices (Kindle, Nook, Sony eReader, etc.) to that of the iPod, commenting about how much more music she buys now that she has a device built to allowing just that. Personally, I completely understand this point.

Dennis Joy Johnson: The conglomeration of publishing houses and distribution is one of the biggest changes and is possibly the biggest downfall. The death of independent sellers, and with that, the growth and power of Amazon.com, has made it almost impossible for independent, local bookstores to survive. Additionally, the forced discounts that Amazon.com puts on publishers makes it extremely difficult for authors and publishers to make money.

Mary Gannon: Bookscan is the biggest change. Bookscan, according to Wikipedia, is a data provider for the book publishing industry, owned by the Nielsen Company. BookScan compiles point of sale data for book sales. According to Ms. Gannon, is that the industry relies too much on Bookscan to determine purchasing quantities of an author’s subsequent books. The problem is that Bookscan doesn’t track all channels, so the numbers are often incorrect. My feeling is that the rise of POD printing, micropresses, and the fragmented distribution channels, should be incentive to have BookScan get its act together and adjust to the changing market.

Finally, which this comment doesn’t fit perfectly into the flow of this post, I still feel it important enough to cram in here at the end. Dennis Joy Johnson says that word of mouth has traditionally been a bookseller’s favorite and most successful advertising outlet, and that book blogs are the new word of mouth. So, on that note, read lots of books, so says this blog.

That being said, I’m not done yet, I have a couple panels worth of recordings I haven’t put up yet, some follow-up interviews promised, and I have even figured out what the deal is with the mannequins if you guys missed it and wondered about it.

I found I’m behind this week in school work, and don’t get started with taxes, but look for some more content from me this weekend.

Best,

Todd

The other two are of Abe Smith, (no relation) who I heard read twice: once at the Thin Man and once at the Plus Gallery. I’m going to keep posting after this to give short reviews of the books that I got at the book fair. I’ll post those as I finish them.

Enjoy the videos!

Question 1: What book have you read recently that you absolutely loved?

Yellowrocket: Poems, by Todd Boss. On the surface his poems look harmless, appealing, but they grow and change in unexpected ways, until they become something else, something almost menacing. They’re like cadbury chocolate eggs filled with glass.

Question 2: What’s one piece of advice you wish you had been given when you were just starting out?

Marry up.

Question 3: What is something that can always found in your refrigerator?

Well, not a lot really. I’m a vegan, so no meat. But there is always mustard, sri kanchi sauce, flaxseed, poblano peppers, onions. I love onions. (At this point, Jill starts listing foods faster than they can be written down…)

I will let the words of the authors speak for themselves. The panel consisted of six readers and a Q&A session. Also, I must mention here, that both cowboypoetry.com and cowboysongs.com were recommended by the panel.

I will let the words of the authors speak for themselves. The panel consisted of six readers and a Q&A session. Also, I must mention here, that both cowboypoetry.com and cowboysongs.com were recommended by the panel.

I will let the words of the authors speak for themselves. The panel consisted of six readers and a Q&A session. Also, I must mention here, that both cowboypoetry.com and cowboysongs.com were recommended by the panel.

I will let the words of the authors speak for themselves. The panel consisted of six readers and a Q&A session. Also, I must mention here, that both cowboypoetry.com and cowboysongs.com were recommended by the panel.

I will let the words of the authors speak for themselves. The panel consisted of six readers and a Q&A session. Also, I must mention here, that both cowboypoetry.com and cowboysongs.com were recommended by the panel.

I will let the words of the authors speak for themselves. The panel consisted of six readers and a Q&A session. Also, I must mention here, that both cowboypoetry.com and cowboysongs.com were recommended by the panel.