Friday- March 2, 2007

Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Lobby Level F100. Conference Registration. Attendees who have registered in advance may pick up their registration materials throughout the day at AWP's registration desk. On-site registration passes are available for purchase. 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Exhibit Hall Lower Level F101. Bookfair. 9:00 a.m.-10:15 a.m. Ballroom A 2nd Floor F102. Keys to the Puzzle Box: What Creative Writers from the Working and Underclass Need to Know to Pursue a Life in Academe. (C. Vincent Samarco, Daniel Crocker, Craig Bernier, Dan Nowak) Working and underclass writers who pursue graduate study or become academics do so unprepared about what to expect. This panel seeks to inform working and underclass students about the world of graduate study in creative writing and to prepare those students for a possible career in academe. Topics to be addressed will include how to pick a class, how to prepare application packets on a budget, how to build a vita in order to land an academic job, and what to expect from a life in academe once a student has accepted his/her first job. Ballroom B 2nd Floor F103. Emerging Voices: Arab-American Writers in the 21st Century. (Leila Abu- Saba, Steven Salaita) Arab-American writers have been producing poetry and fiction in the US for over a hundred years, but with the exception of Khalil Gibran, their voices have been marginalized. With the attacks of 9/11/2001 and subsequent war in Iraq, interest in this community has grown, yet its diversity and strength remain hidden from mainstream literary discourse. This panel discusses past and contemporary Arab-American writers, journals, anthologies and cultural festivals, with a special focus on teaching issues in the college classroom. Ballroom C 2nd Floor F104. In the Tongue of Our Elders: The Ancestral Voice in the Poetry of African Diaspora. (Matthew Shenoda, Quraysh Ali Lansana, Camille Dungy, Kwame Dawes, Maria E. Hamilton Abegunde) What role does ancestral lineage have in contemporary poetics? In this panel we will explore the use of persona, historical texts, cultural memory, oral tradition and voice in contemporary poetics written by poets of the African diaspora. Participants will speak about their engagement with African historical narratives and experiences ranging from narratives of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade to the experiences of contemporary African immigration. Ballroom D 2nd Floor F105. Post-Avant: Strategies of Excess. (Jed Rasula, Johannes Goransson, Anne Boyer, K. Silem Mohammad, Joshua Corey, Lara Glenum) Certain contemporary poetry flies in the face on the well-worn strategies of elegance and eloquence. Such poetry is invested in strategies of excess, violence, and aberrance. Opposed to the New Critical "no noise in art" dictum, these poets oppose the functional and the tasteful and revel in extravagance. Six writers inquire into the nature of these post-avant modes, from the grotesque to flarf to the postmodern baroque. Cherokee 2nd Floor F106. Brevity's Lure: A Poetics of The Small. (Rae Armantrout, Elizabeth Robinson, Devin Johnston, David Pavelich, Laura Sims) The poets on this panel, practitioners of the "small poem," will read from their work and discuss predecessors such as Dickinson, Oppen, Niedecker, and Creeley. They will consider how the small poem, surrounded by white space, constructed of fragments, gaps, and significant pauses, acts as a particularly "open text," which, in Lyn Hejinian's words, "invites participation, rejects the authority of the writer over the reader." Henry 2nd Floor F107. Con Tinta: A Coalition of Chicano/Latino Writer-Activists. (Kathleen Alcalá, Brenda Cárdenas, Richard Yañez, Rigaberto Gonzalez) Panelists include Advisory Circle members of Con Tinta, who believes in affirming a pro-active presence in American literature. These panelists come together in the spirit of intellectual/artistic dialogue and of recognizing our literary/social histories. Their mission is to create awareness through cultivating emerging talent, through promoting creative expression, and through establishing alliances with other cultural/political organizations. North Court East 2nd Floor F108. Caucus of FUSE (Forum for Undergraduate Student Editors). (Anielle Daczka, Sara Basher, Gary Fincke) The fifth annual Forum for Undergraduate Student Editors (FUSE) caucus provides a meeting ground for undergraduate editors and their faculty advisors. FUSE will provide and update on its membership, demonstrate the changes and improvements to its new website, which include browsable databases for graduate school, internships, employment, as well as discussion boards, and will solicit ideas for new features. Participants are encouraged to bring copies of their magazines to display and swap. North Court West 2nd Floor F109. AWP Townhall Meeting: Getting the Job and Keeping It: The Creative Writing Tenure Track. (Pablo Medina, Katherine Coles, Joel Brouwer) Open to all AWP members, this presentation and open discussion will focus on the challenges of seeking a tenure-track position in a difficult job market and acquiring tenure. The session will address topics such as effective cover letters, interview strategies, publications, and nontraditional approaches to finding a full-time position. The panelists will suggest ways to improve your chances of success and will also respond to your questions. Salon A 2nd Floor F110. Brevity and Echo: a Short Short Fiction Reading from Rose Metal Press. (Kathleen Rooney, Abigail Beckel, Jennifer Pieroni, Rusty Barnes, Cam Terwilliger, Chip Cheek) Rose Metal Press, an independent organization dedicated to the publication of works in hybrid and often-overlooked genres, presents a reading from Brevity and Echo, their first book, an anthology of previously published short short stories by Emerson College alums. Salon B 2nd Floor F111. The Writer's World. (Barbara Ras, Edward Hirsch, Eavan Boland, Adam Zagajewski, Margaret Sayers Peden) This international panel will draw from three new anthologies, Polish Writers on Writing, Irish Writers on Writing, and Mexican Writers on Writing, and brings together their volume editors. Panelists introduce work previously unknown to American audiences and consider how writers from Poland, Ireland, and Mexico define what it means to write in their respective countries. Salon C 2nd Floor F112. Using Fiction to Seek One's Ethnic and Cultural Roots. (Adria Bernardi, Anthony Bukoski, Miriam Levine, Iqbal Pittalwala, Gerda Saunders, Kathryn Lang) Five Southern Methodist University Press authors will discuss how they use their fiction to explore their own bicultural backgrounds and the issues of acculturation and assimilation. They'll read snippets from their work and discuss as a panel how their fiction has helped them discover their roots. Salon D 2nd Floor F113. Making History: Writing Fiction about the Civil Rights Movement. (William Heath, Anthony Grooms, Denise Nicholas, Deborah Wiles) Four novelists will discuss the challenge of creating fiction around historic events from the Civil Rights Movement, including the complexities inherent when writing about race relations. How do you create a fresh scene when the subject has received mediasaturation, such as the "I Have a Dream" speech? Panelists will present strategies for incorporating real-life figures into fiction and discuss their motivations and methods-field research, interviews, autobiography, and invention they wove into fiction. Salon E 2nd Floor F114. "Can You Clarify That?": Experimental Poetry and the Workshop System. (Bruce Beasley, Julie Wade, Timothy Liu, Suzanne Paola, Joshua Marie Wilkinson) Can experimental or nonlinear poems be workshopped? Should they be? This panel will explore the workshop's relevance to generation and revision of nonlinear, linguistically disruptive, experimental poems. Does the workshop inherently promote poetic values (narrative coherence, thematic clarity, mimetic description) that might be alien-or even hostile-to avant-garde poetics? How can workshop discussions accommodate poetic forms that resist closure and referentiality? South Court West 2nd Floor F115. Shalom, Y'all: Jews Writing South. (S.L. Wisenberg, Roy Hoffman, Rosellen Brown, Jessica Handler) Jews and Southerners are both "stepchildren of an anguished history," Eli Evans wrote in his classic study, "The Provincials: A Personal History of Jews in the South." Join us as we explore this history by discussing and reading our work on identity, race, politics and family in the South, Old and New. Panelists are natives, sojourners and transplants who write about early immigrants, civil rights workers, the contemporary bourgeoisie- and even religion. Walton 2nd Floor F116. Creative Writing in the Community. (Terry Ann Thaxton, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Keren Taylor, Michael Cirelli, Joann Gardner, Ben Moorad) Many people in our communities don't have the resources to attend costly writing workshops. This panel of founders and directors of community-based writing programs from around the country, some within a university and some without university affiliation, will discuss the challenges and rewards of starting and operating creative writing programs for vulnerable children, youth, and adults in both large and small cities, all with the goal of enhancing the lives of the under-served through the arts. Jackson 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) F117. Pedagogy Forum Session: Poetry. This session is designed to give contributors to the 2007 Pedagogy Papers an opportunity to discuss their work, though all are welcome. The papers themselves will provide a framework to begin in-depth discussion in creative writing pedagogy and theory. J. Eric Smith will contextualize with some brief remarks before attendees break out into small discussion groups. Madison 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) F118. Pedagogy Forum Session: Nonfiction. This session is designed to give contributors to the 2007 Pedagogy Papers an opportunity to discuss their work, though all are welcome. The papers themselves will provide a framework to begin in-depth discussion in creative writing pedagogy and theory. A speaker will contextualize the discussion with some brief remarks before attendees break out into small discussion groups. Monroe 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) F119. The Power of the Pen in Underserved School Communities. (Eitan Kadosh, Qevin Oji, Adam Somers, Leslie Schwartz, Christine Lanoie Newman, Ellen Slezak) As part of its mission to secure the freedom of all people to write and express themselves, PEN USA places professional writers in public school classrooms to enhance creative writing skills and examine culturally diverse literature. Hear about the rewards and challenges that educators face teaching writing to urban school students and demonstrating to them that reading and writing can be vital and empowering. Roosevelt 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) F120. Low Residency Program Directors' Meeting. (Kathleen Driskell) This is an opportunity for all program directors of low-residency MFA Programs to convene and discuss the challenges and opportunities that are specific to the low-residency model of graduate creative writing programs. 9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Carter 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) F121. $$ Workshop: Individual Fundraising. (Jeffrey Lependorf) Learn how to identify funding sources, set attainable targets, and establish an infrastructure for individual giving. (Note: CLMP Workshops cost $30 for CLMP members and $60 for nonmembers. To register, please stop by the CLMP booth.) 10:30 a.m.-11:45 a.m. Crystal Ballroom Lobby Level F122. Narrative Poetry: Past, Present, Future. (B. H. Fairchild, David Mason, Kate Daniels, David J. Rothman) In many times and places it has been assumed that one role of poetry is to tell stories, and before the twentieth century this was also taken for granted in the English-speaking world. Over the last century, however, the debate over whether poets can and should tell stories has become passionate and perennial, with arguments ranging from the position that it is impossible, to that it is necessary, to that it is inevitable. This panel presents three leading and diverse practitioners of narrative poetry in English in discussions. Ballroom A 2nd Floor F123. The Agent Advantage. (Catherine Wald, Allen Gee, Christina Ward, Amy Holman, Jeff Kleinman, Renee Dodd) Not every author needs an agent, especially those who publish exclusively with university and small presses. But what about those who want to reach a wider audience? This panel would answer questions such as: How can you tell when or if you need a literary agent? What is the best way to select and approach potential agents? What should you expect from your agent, and how can you foster a collaborative relationship that benefits both of you? Ballroom B 2nd Floor F124. Poets, Scholars, Women. (Ann Fisher-Wirth, Elisabeth Frost, Cynthia Hogue, Sarah Kennedy, Janet McAdams, Deborah Miranda) How do the activities of poetry and scholarship nourish one another? How do they intersect or compete? Which literary communities support or thwart these endeavors? What complications does gender introduce? This panel brings together six poet-scholars with diverse histories and approaches to poetry in order to discuss the "problem" of their divided labors. Ballroom C 2nd Floor F125. Toward a Theory of Slippery Nonfiction. (Phillip Lopate, Abigail Thomas, Bonnie J. Rough, Robin Hemley, David Shields, Brian Goedde) A given: nonfiction-Augustine to Carson-is literature. What does this mean, though, amidst contemporary squabbling about what the form "can" and "can't" do? We put forward theoretical frameworks-from psychoanalysis to forensics, epistomology to reader response-that, grasping the genre's complexities and possibilities, position (re-position) the genre on the slippery terrain it has always been on and always will be on and always must be on. Ballroom D 2nd Floor F126. American Alphabets: A Celebration. (Bruce Beasley, Lee Upton, Beckian Fritz Goldberg, Linda Gregerson, David Walker, Bob Hicok) Ameri an Alphabets: 25 Contemporary Poets (Oberlin College Press, 2006) is the first major anthology to concentrate on the generation of poets born immediately after World War II. Join us for a reading by five of the anthologized poets, introduced by the editor. Cherokee 2nd Floor F127. Translation as Collaboration (With the Living and the Dead). (Bill Zavatsky, Zack Rogow, C.M. Mayo, Mark Statman) Four writers who are experienced translators of poetry and fiction frame this art as one of collaboration, each with different and overlapping approaches. These approaches include working with other poets to translate poets, working with living writers writing in other languages to translate their works into English, working with living poets to help them complete translations from their native languages into English, and working with jazz musicians at translating their music into poetry. Henry 2nd Floor F128. Birmingham Poetry Review 20th Anniversary Reading. (Carolyn Elkins, Joanne Lowery, Al Maginnes, R. T. Smith, Michael Sowder) Frequent contributors to Birmingham Poetry Review over the past two decades with ties to the Southeast Region read from their work to celebrate the journal's twentieth anniversary. North Court East 2nd Floor F129. Fairy Tales and Contemporary Fiction. (Judy Budnitz, Kathryn Davis, Rikki Ducornet, Kelly Link, Kate Bernheimer, Stacey Levine) Distinguished writers discuss the influence of fairy tales in their work, and read from selected writings. This gathering seeks to reveal how the traditional form of fairy tales inspires innovative contemporary writing. North Court West 2nd Floor F130. The Game is Afoot: Blogging, Video Games, and Technology in Fiction and Creative Non-fiction. (Janet Bland, Laura Little, Bev Hogue) Panelists will discuss the marriage of technology and creativity relating to the teaching of fiction and nonfiction writing. Points of focus include the nature of and connections between good games and good learning, the use of a simulation game in the fiction workshop, and the relationship between blogging and creative nonfiction. Salon A 2nd Floor F131. Looking for Ms. Goodbar: Why Is Your Writing So Violent? (Kim Barnes, Claire Davis, Beverly Lowry, Lisa Norris) While male authors are allowed, even expected, to include violence in their stories, women who choose to depict violence are often met with resistance, anger, and rejection on the part of their readers. What's a nice girl to do when the story she is writing is one of graphic, and sometimes irredeemable, violence? Four published authors will hold a roundtable discussion on the role of-and response to-violence in their work. Salon B 2nd Floor F132. Literature for Young Readers: Voice as Arbiter of the Fictive Dream. (Deborah Wiles, Sharon Darrow, Mary Ann Rodman) Voice propels today's literature for young readers, defining place as well as character. Three Southern writers explore what it means to grow up hearing Southern voices and to write for young readers today in voices that cannot deny issues of race, religion, and social class. Salon C 2nd Floor F133. In Conclusion: A Few Opening Thoughts About Endings in Fiction. (Amber Dermont, Mark Jude Poirier, Holiday Reinhorn, Michelle Wildgen, Andrew Porter, Jonathan Blum) In fiction the emotional impact of a story is often determined by when and how a writer chooses to end the narrative-with a final arresting image, a revelation, a lyric meditation, a twist. The panelists will examine how authors arrive at their endings. They will discuss innovative strategies for writing and revising endings that resist easy closure, defy expectations and transport the reader beyond the finish line of the story. Salon D 2nd Floor F134. The Book-Length Sonnet Sequence: A Roundtable. (Tony Barnstone, Marilyn Nelson, William Baer, Willis Barnstone, Marilyn Hacker) Five distinguished sonneteers talk about their work with extended sonnet sequences. Questions to be addressed include: How does one structure a book-length sequence? What pressure does the form put on the narrative and the narrative on the form? In what ways has the sonnet form been reinvented and experimented with in the work of the panelists and others? How to play with the question of the expectation of rhyme on the one hand and the injection of a random element into a poem. How does the sonnet form relate to questions of politics and history in the work of the panelists? Salon E 2nd Floor F135. The Singing School: Lesbian Poet Foremothers. (Eloise Klein Healy, Robin Becker, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Lisa Freeman, Lyrae Van-Clief Stefanon) Panelists describe the influence on their craft, aesthetics, and their sense of place in a literary tradition by examining the impact of a lesbian "foremother" poet on their poetry. South Court West 2nd Floor F136. True Blue: Writing & Teaching from a Working Class Perspective. (Richard Hoffman, Joe Mackall, Linda McCarriston, Afaa Weaver, Vershawn Ashanti Young, Mary Childers) According to James Baldwin, the writer's job is to tell the story of the people who raised him. This panel will explore what it means to write from one's blue-collar origins, to refuse the cartoon version and portray that life honestly. What does it cost to "pass" in the academy? How do we encourage "first generation" students to embrace their histories and use that power? How do we teach and write in the country with the widest gulf between rich and poor of any industrialized democracy? Walton 2nd Floor F137. Who's Really Reading This Stuff? Making Literary Work Relevant in a Post "Reading at Risk" World. (Marc Fitten, Mark Bauerlein, Steve Wallace, Brigid Hughes, Thom Didato) Much was made of the NEA's "Reading at Risk" survey which documented the significant decline in literary readership (an estimated loss of twenty-million potential readers). And yet, every year more and more literary publishers, journals, and magazines are present at AWP. This paradox beckons the question: Who's really reading this stuff? A panel of independent and mainstream publishers, as well as the former NEA representative who headed the survey, address the issues of literary relevance and readership in the modern world. Roosevelt 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) F138. Exploring the "Value" of Undergraduate Creative Writing Programs. (Martha Serpas, Claire Lawrence, Lawrence Coates, Josip Novakovich, Yvonne Murphy, Jerry Wemple) Teachers in five diverse undergraduate creative writing programs will discuss the "value" of their programs, in light of a recent trend in academia to measure success via "outcomes assessment." The panelists represent a range of institutions and programs: public and private, large and small, "traditional" and "adult." Through discussion, the panelists hope to bring into focus the "worth" of their work and its benefits to their students. 12:00 p.m.-1:15 p.m. Crystal Ballroom Lobby Level F139. Reading by Vanderbilt Writers. (Mark Jarman, Kate Daniel, Tony Early, Lorraine Lopez, Nancy Reisman, Rick Hilles) The writers on the creative writing faculty of Vanderbilt University read from their work. Ballroom A 2nd Floor F140. MFAs For The Real World. (Judith Baumel, Askold Melnyczuk, David Muschell, Melanie Moore, Brian Bouldrey, Wendy Brenner) In answer to the lament "what can you do with an MFA in creative writing?" a group of program directors will discuss the internships, teaching opportunities and practical work experiences we have incorporated into our programs. Panelists will talk about how to make connections with organizations, get grants, and build soft and hard money lines. Discussion will also address ways to make learning the practical aspects of living a writer's life as important as the critical and creative components of our pedagogy. Ballroom B 2nd Floor F141. Antioch University Los Angeles MFA Program's 10th Anniversary Reading. (Eloise Klein Healy, Gayle Brandeis, Joel Barraquiel Tan, Richard Beban, Kimberly Berwick, Sefi Kuti) This reading by a diverse group of faculty, students, and alumni will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Antioch University Los Angeles, the nation's only MFA Program with a mission specifically devoted to the pursuit of social justice. Ballroom C 2nd Floor F142. 20 over 40. (David Leavitt, Alice Mattison, Phyllis Nobles, David Galef, Beth Weinhouse) 20 over 40 is a fiction anthology that celebrates those of us over 40 with our over-40 concerns, from mid-life crises to second marriages, from caring for children to taking care of aged parents. We're no longer in the bloom of youth, but we're also not geriatric. Ballroom D 2nd Floor F143. A Celebration of Marie Ponsot. (David Groff, Marilyn Hacker, Marie Ponsot, Alice Quinn, Jean Gallagher) Marie Ponsot's five collections of poetry (one the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award), her two books on the teaching of writing (co-authored with Rosemary Deen), and her forty-odd years of undergraduate and graduate writing workshops have taught a generation of poets and teachers about the elemental linguistic energies and pleasures available to an attentive, observant writer, whether of freshman essays or of sonnet cycles. The panel will include editors, fellow writers, and former students, and end with a reading by Marie Ponsot. Cherokee 2nd Floor F144. Found in Translation: Poetry that Stems from Multilingual Homes. (Sandra Simonds, Eileen Tabios, Johannes Goransson, David Lau, Addie Tsai, Dominika Wrozynski) This panel explores the advantages and difficulties of being raised in a multilingual home and the aesthetic, outcome(s) of such an upbringing on the craft of poetry. Can a poet be caught between two or even three languages in an attempt to convey meaning? If we leave one language behind, can we ever feel at home writing in the one that we have found? Is poetic silence different from language to language? Finally, we will broaden out to look at the interconnection between multilingualism and the current sociopolitical environment in the United States. North Court East 2nd Floor F145. Virtually Infinite: The Broad Reach and Vast Potential of the Online Literary Journal. (Danielle Pafunda, Bruce Covey, Thom Didato, Amy King, Joyelle McSweeney, Zachary Schomburg) No longer quirky outsiders, online literary journals publish wellknown writers, foster careers, and garner recognition from "best of " publications. Employing Pod casting, e-books, and print-ondemand, online journals become media moguls. With virtually unlimited audiences, gorgeous design, and techie perks, will online journals replace print? Are online journal editors better positioned to launch presses and print projects? And how can writers become more involved? North Court West 2nd Floor F146. Graywolf Press Reading. (Ander Monson, Albert Goldbarth, Alyson Hagy, Leslie Adrienne Miller, Mark Doty) Graywolf Press is one of the country's premier literary publishers of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. This reading will showcase Graywolf writers from each of those genres. Salon A 2nd Floor F147. Mirror Neurons, Mathematics, Metaphor, and Mind: Where Science and Poetic Craft Meet. (Bin Ramke, Emily Grosholz, Kurt Brown, Laura McCullough, Janaka Stucky) We will investigate the confluence of science and poetics, empathy, mind, and poetry with a focus on practical use for poets. How can poets use mathematical concepts of number and rationality? What are the ways we map and mirror the infinite in poetry? We will also explore brain-wave patterns observed during writing and how theories of matter/energy apply to this as well as how the discovery of a new brain cell called Mirror Neuron may prove Shelley and Eliot were both right after all. Salon B 2nd Floor F148. Here is Where We Meet. (Rob Davidson, Dimitri Keriotis, Chad Lawson, Fred Arroyo) This panel, composed of fiction writers and literature scholars, will focus on where stories are found, especially when the writer has a desire to explore, enter into, represent, and write the lives of cultures, ethnicities, and languages quite different from his or her own. This panel will articulate how the writer needs to consider carefully "whether you're lying or whether you're trying to tell the truth," and why "you can't afford to make a mistake about that distinction any loner" (Berger). Salon C 2nd Floor F149. Sex, Race, & Religion: an Examination of Humor in Poetry & Prose. (Andrew Hudgins, Nick Carbo, Peter Johnson, Lee Newton) "Humor is not a mood but a way of looking at the world."-Wittgenstein. The panelists will examine humor in their work and the work of other contemporary American authors. While explaining their motives for using humor, they will explore its various aspects as they relate to social and cultural constructs, such as race and religion. The panel will discuss craft, as well as humor's role and value in examining social issues. Salon D 2nd Floor F150. On Moral Fiction: Writing, Publishing, and Promoting Socially and Politically Engaged Literature. (Charles Baxter, Fenton Johnson, Martha Southgate) American publishers, editors, and critics often dismiss social and political literature as merely didactic, even as other nations and cultures assume political and social engagement as central to the literary endeavor. Americans read socially engaged books only then to downplay or neutralize their powerful social and political messages. Why do Americans so strongly resist politically and socially engaged fiction? What challenges face writers seeking to publish such work? Panelists will discuss the roots of the American unease with socially engaged literature as well as its persistence, its successes, and its future. Salon E 2nd Floor F151. Developing Your Creative Writing Program: What Should Your Program Do to Achieve Stature and Support? (Mark Cox, Susan Hertz, Martin Lammon, Philip Gerard) Four writer-panelists with wide and varied administrative experience as founders, directors, and chairs will address the challenge of enlisting support for a new program from colleagues in other disciplines at a chronically underfunded university in which everyone scrambles for the last penny, and in addition how to make other faculty members see that this new program is a win for them, too, by creating a curriculum that benefits rather than harms them. South Court West 2nd Floor F152. Establishing Normalcy When Writing the Extraordinary. (Daniel Mueller, Bernard Balizet, Michelle Brooks, Brian Castleberry) How do writers encourage readers to abandon disbelief and embrace the extraordinary, even the magical? How do they establish normalcy when treating the bizarre? Five writers, to whom the fabulous is a critical source of inspiration and material, will discuss how they incite readers to believe in the unbelievable. Walton 2nd Floor F153. Teaching Innovation: Experiments in the Poetry Workshop. (Rachel Zucker, Steve Gehrke, Brian Teare, Brian Clements, Jena Osman, Elisabeth Frost) How do we "teach" experimentation and/or cross-genre writing? What techniques are useful in evaluating-and encouraging students to evaluate-innovative writing, as opposed to work in more traditional forms? What methods are useful for teachers seeking to encourage formal diversity in the workshop setting? This panel presents techniques to promote formal risk-taking in student work, while at the same time providing evaluative criteria for the resulting "experimental" works in progress. 1:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Carter 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) F154. $$ Workshop: Developing a Business Model. (Johnny Temple, Brenda Keen) Two of America's leading literary editors will discuss how to develop a manageable, sustainable business model. (Note: CLMP Workshops cost $30 for CLMP members and $60 for nonmembers. To register, please stop by the CLMP table at the Bookfair.) 1:30 p.m.-2:45 p.m. Crystal Ballroom Lobby Level F155. From the Boundary Waters to the Tropic of Capricorn: Forgotten and Neglected Essayists. (Karen Babine, Kim Barnes, Peter Chilson, Dawn Marano, Debra Marquart) It's impossible to read everything, so as a result, we read what we like and remain blissfully ignorant of the brilliance beyond our periphery. Five nonfiction writers will discuss the merits of their favorite neglected essayists. Each panelist will provide a discussion of the essayist's work and share a bibliography of other works they consider neglected. Ballroom A 2nd Floor F156. Selected and New: A Copper Canyon Press Reading. (Chase Twichell, Richard Jones, Gregory Orr, John Balaban, David Bottoms) The publication of a "New and Selected" marks a significant milestone in a poet's career. This reading features five poets who have published-or will soon publish-such a volume with Copper Canyon Press. Each poet will speak briefly about their process of choosing poems for inclusion, as well as their movement towards and preparations for the next new book. Moderated by Georgia's Poet Laureate, David Bottoms. Ballroom B 2nd Floor F157. No Trousers Rolled Here: Poets on Aging. (Sandra Gilbert, Peter Meinke, Diane Wakoski, Al Zolynas, Andrea Hollander Budy, Meg Files) Poets have always written about aging, but now that the first of the baby boomers have turned sixty, the subject is on many other minds. How does poetry help us face what happens to the body and the mind? What can poetry teach us about living while we're alive? How do poets come to terms with mortality (or not)? The 158 poems in the anthology Lasting: Poems on Aging form an intimate discussion on the subject. This reading/panel continues the conversation with five of the poets in the book. Ballroom C 2nd Floor F158. Prize Stories: Reading of the Year's Best. (Kevin Moffett, Jim Tomlinson, Greg Downs, Todd James Pierce, Randy Nelson) This reading features a celebration of short fiction-readings by the winners of the 2006 Flannery O'Connor Prize, the 2006 Iowa Short Fiction Prize, and the 2006 Drue Heinz Literature Prize. In the world of short stories, these three prizes are among the most prestigious given to original collections of short fiction each year. Winners of all three prizes will read from their work and discuss the impact the award has made on their writing career and professional life. Ballroom D 2nd Floor F159. A Tribute to the Poetics of James Dickey. (Robert Wrigley, Betty Adcock, T. R. Hummer, Derick Burleson, Claudia Emerson, Scott Hightower) This panel of poets will asess the legacy of James Dickey, native son of Atlanta, in the contemporary landscape, and in their reading of his work and its influence on other authors. Cherokee 2nd Floor F160. Literary Magazine as bridge to the community. (Julie Wakeman-Linn, Gregory Robison, Leslye Friedberg, Julie Odell, Katherine Smith) College literary magazine editors, a literary conference program chair, and an urban writing center director will discuss serving the community and sustaining their journals through internships, advisory and editorial boards, local writing and literary conferences, area reading series, and open mike events which engage the writers at all levels. Henry 2nd Floor F161. The Legacy of August Wilson. (Gus Edwards, Kermit Frazier, Cassandra Medley, Richard Wesley) This panel explores some of the major influences of the work of the late August Wilson on contemporary theater, especially American theater, and particularly African American theater and its writers and other artists. North Court East 2nd Floor F162. Poetry Out Loud: the California Case Study. (Dan Stone, Al Young, Ray Tater, Jacqueline Diaz, Ken Huffman, Brad Buchanan) A panel of poets and administrators discuss attributes and challenges of the new National Recitation Project, Poetry Out Loud. The National Endowment for the Arts and Poetry Foundation partnered with the California Arts Council in a pilot, which encouraged high school students to memorize and perform classic poems at competitive readings. The program encouraged close reading and developed confidence in public speaking. Unlike many other state pilots, California involved writer residencies with California Poets in the Schools to prepare students. North Court West 2nd Floor F163. Literary Journalism about Poetry: Telling the Story Without Sounding Academic. (Meghan O'Rourke, David Orr, Mark Doty, Emily White) Your hunch is right-poetry is being covered more frequently in mainstream media outlets, places such as Slate, O Magazine, the New York Times, and PBS. Is this because the audience for poetry is growing, or because editors and journalists have figured out how to write intelligently about poetry and poets for a broad audience? Find out how editors and journalists from some of these publications craft their stories about poets' lives and work without dumbing them down. Salon A 2nd Floor F164. AWP Award Series Reading. (John Hodgen, Nona Caspers, J.D. Scrimgeour) A reading featuring AWP's 2005 Award Series winners. Salon B 2nd Floor F165. Writing Faith for the Faithless (and the Faithful). (Jason Schneiderman, Laurel Snyder, Kazim Ali, Danielle Alexander, Lauren Rooker Cardwell) As our society polarizes further and further into the believers and the non-believers, how do we manage questions of faith in our writing and our teaching. What happens when we teach religious poetry as secular teachers to fundamentalist students? What happens when we begin writing about a faith that is not our own? What happens when a religious writer brings religious work to a secular workshop or journal? What happens when we begin to address faiths we were raised in, but from a position of exclusion? What happens when we try to write in the space between two faiths? Salon C 2nd Floor F166. Bread Loaf Writers Conference Reading of Faculty and Fellows. (Charles Baxter, Stuart Dischell, Martha Southgate, David Baker, Antonya Nelson, Ann Townsend) The Bread Loaf Writers Conference presents a reading of fiction and poetry by three popular faculty members. South Court West 2nd Floor F167. Voices from the New South. (Jim Grimsley, Joseph Skibell, Natasha Trethewey, Lynna Williams, Kevin Young) From poems about popular culture, the blues, lost or forgotten histories of African Americans in the South, to stories, novel excerpts, and essays exploring the lives of working class whites, Kurdish immigrants, the cultural and spiritual lives of American Jews, to issues of sexuality and mixed-race identity, we will present a reading against the backdrop of the questions: What is southern? Whose "south" are we talking about? And how does the diversity of writers in the New South transform the ways we think about what is southern? Walton 2nd Floor F168. Craft of the Unsayable: Paul Celan, Hiromu Morishita, Sadako Kurihara, and Art Spiegelman. (Scott Minar, Edward Dougherty, Michael Kobre) The "management" of artistic responses to the Holocaust and the bombing of Hiroshima is a rare moment in the observation of a writer's craft or art. How does the "unsayable" strain of a world-sized grief come out through a writer's efforts? How does that strain color the art it produces? What does the act of writing in and through such memories and conditions tell us about the writer's craft and the evolution of the art? 3:00 p.m.-4:15 p.m. Crystal Ballroom Lobby Level F169. Exercising the Unconscious: Writing in the Moment. (Robert Olen Butler, Cassie Cross, Rebecca Soppe, Kathy Conner) Pulitzer Prize-winning Robert Olen Butler will share his alternative to technique-oriented workshops. Based on concepts from his book, From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction, Butler's coached exercises prompt writers to invent reality from sense memories, trust. Cherokee 2nd Floor F170. Graphic Lit and Indie Publishing. (Robert Arellano, Richard Nash, Jen Benka, Rob Spillman, Kris Dresden) From ancient illustrated Hindu texts and the illuminated manuscripts of William Blake to Art Spiegelman's "Maus" and Lynda Barry's "Marlys Magazine," graphic literature has been a serious narrative genre, making incisive observations into the spiritual, political, and social lives of its characters and readers. The Graphic Lit and Indie Publishing panel will use multimedia (computer projection) to illuminate the presenters' experiences in this hybrid genre. Grand Salon West 2nd Floor F171. The Georgia Review's 60th Anniversary Poetry Reading. (Albert Goldbarth, Kevin Young, Rita Dove, Paul Zimmer) A poetry reading in celebration of the 60th anniversary of The Georgia Review, featuring four of our favorite poets. Henry 2nd Floor F172. Engaging the Teacher in the Classroom: Necessary Conversations Between Writers in Residence and K-12 Teachers. (Rebecca Hoogs, Jack McBride, Ennis McCrery, Paul Shaffer, Beverly Strager, Christy Zink) The relationship between writers in residence and K-12 students has been credited with improving students' writing skills and selfconfidence. But too seldom are teachers real collaborators, when this connection can provide a powerful blend of creative and practical teaching methods. Veterans from innovative programs discuss how writers can learn to speak the language of teachers and open up the conversation, resulting in partnerships that improve writers' teaching and students' writing. North Court East 2nd Floor F173. One Program, Four Universities: The Making of the NEOMFA. (Maggie Anderson, Mary Biddinger, Neal Chandler, Carol Maier, Craig Paulenich, Robert Pope) Six faculty members from the Northeast Ohio Universities Consortium discuss the process of creating and implementing a revolutionary MFA program that incorporates faculty and students from the University of Akron, Cleveland State University, Kent State University, and Youngstown State University. Panelists address administrative concerns while also sharing insights on developing coursework in a variety of genres, including playwriting, creative nonfiction, and literary translation. North Court West 2nd Floor F174. Poets Translating Poets. (Ralph Angel, Christopher Merrill, Sholeh Wolpe, Willis Barnstone, Tony Barnstone) Should only poets translate poetry? Poems carry their own music; can that music somehow be translated from one language to another without compromising meaning? Is a poem translated by a scholar still a poem? Is the poem translated by a poet to be relied upon? When is the scholar a poet, and when is the poet a scholar? Salon A 2nd Floor F175. Trashy Women. (Lorraine M. Lopez, Heather Sellers, Joy Castro, Rosemary Daniell, Lynn Pruett) Dorothy Allison writes, "The inescapable impact of being born in a condition of poverty that this society finds shameful, contemptible, and somehow oddly deserved, has had dominion... to such an extent that I have spent my life trying to overcome or deny it." This panel explores the aftereffects of this condition- compounded by challenges imposed by family dysfunction, class, and gender-as a source of adversity and inspiration on five women propelled by writing to live beyond their beginnings. Salon B 2nd Floor F176. A Reading Celebrating over Forty Years of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. (Lee Zacharias, Michael Parker, Stuart Dischell, Craig Nova, Jennifer Grotz, Terry Kennedy) Formalized in 1965, the MFA Writing Program at Greensboro remains one of the premier programs in the South and the nation. While remaining intentionally small and intimate, the achievements of our faculty and alumni continue to grow. Come hear our current award-winning faculty read from their work. Introductions by Terry Kennedy. Salon C 2nd Floor F177. Old Flames. (Ellen Lesser, Antonya Nelson, Victoria Redel, Xu Xi) In our lives as writers and readers, we all have books that have exerted a powerfully formative influence, and to which we return again and again for enduring lessons in vision and craft. We will each talk about one of these special relationships, and how it's helped to define and inspire us as writers of fiction. The "flames" are Bowles' The Sheltering Sky, Connell's Diary of a Rapist, McCullers' Member of the Wedding, and Paley's Enormous Changes at the Last Minute. South Court West 2nd Floor F178. Fact and Mystery: The Legacy of Flannery O'Connor. (Gregory Wolfe, David Griffith, Jessica Mesman, Amy Alznauer) O'Connor's fiercely honest essays hold special resonance for a new generation of Catholic writers who have turned to nonfiction because of its commitment to fact and truth-telling, hoping to find answers to questions about their faith and themselves through spiritual autobiography. From a Pittsburgh cloister to a Louisiana abortion clinic to Abu Ghraib prison, four Catholic nonfiction writers discuss the difficulties of reconciling an ancient faith with the moral complexities of modern life. Walton 2nd Floor F179. Black Poets on Generosity, Collaboration, and the Community. (Afaa Michael Weaver, Crystal Wilkinson, Kelly Norman Ellis, Natasha Marin, Mitchell L. H. Douglas) Writing from the periphery of mainstream society is basically writing from a point of crisis. Join these panelists in discussing how the tradition of forming collectives, salons, guilds, and artists' groups has been passed along from the Harlem Renaissance through the Black Arts Movement to the Dark Room Collective, and still continues today. Roosevelt 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) F180. Creative Writing Outside the Academy: One Model for a Literary Center. (Deborah Woodard, Lyall Bush, Waverly Fitzgerald, Polly Rosenwaite, Brian McGuigan, T. Hetzel) For the past ten years, Seattle's Richard Hugo House has been creating a combination safe house and launch pad for writers of diverse ages and social and economic backgrounds, drawn to the center by a desire for productive interchange and a need for literature and the written word. Now, a decade after opening its doors, Hugo House staff, teachers, and the new Executive Director talk about the nuts and bolts of running a literary center in the evolving cultural landscape of the Pacific Northwest. 4:30 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Crystal Ballroom Lobby Level F181. What Really Happened: Research and the Novel. (Julianna Baggott, Justin Cronin, Tom Franklin, Jennifer Vanderbes, Mark Winegardner) Research manhandles plot and character while enriching setting, voice, and authenticity. Writers who have published novels set decades before their own births reveal the role of research in the creation of their fiction, sharing opinions on the perils of factcramming. They discuss what to look for and how to look for it, negotiating between historic fact and story-truth, portraying historic figures in fiction, approximating what can't be looked up, what's better made-up, and everybody's favorite: what really happened. Grand Ballroom 2nd Floor F182. A Reading by Poets Terrance Hayes & Charles Wright. Sponsored by Vanderbilt University. Poet Charles Wright, author of Chickamauga, and poet Terrance Hayes, author of Wind in a Box, will read from their work. Grand Salon West 2nd Floor F183. Leaps of Faith: A Fiction and Poetry Reading by Bret Lott and Honorée Fanonne Jeffers. Sponsored by Georgia College & State University/Arts & Letters/Flannery O'Connor Review. For a special issue on "Writing in the South," Southern Review editor Bret Lott called for works that "breathe new life into representations of all things southern," open to any "forms, genres, positions, glimpses, and shadows that might come our way, all in an effort to discover yet again who we are." Lott (author of the novel Jewel and many other books) and Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (author of the poetry collections The Gospel of Barbecue and Outlandish Blues), two southern writers whose works are shaped by place, identity, and leaps of faith, read and talk about their work. Henry 2nd Floor F184. Late Bloomers: Career Development for Non-Traditional New Writers. (Christine Gelineau, Dorianne Laux, Tom Hansen, Gray Jacobik, Nancy Mckinley) New doesn't need to mean young. Increasingly we are seeing emerging writers who have come to their career as a writer in nontraditional ways. How are the challenges different when you're already over forty (or fifty, or sixty) when that first book comes out? How does a writer who often has been outside of the traditional avenues of support and publication learn the ropes and find mentoring? This panel will look to identify the pot holes and hopefully map out some directions that will be of use to any writer at the start of their career but be of particular use to writers who began publishing after their twenties and thirties. North Court West 2nd Floor F185. Joy: The Last Taboo in Creative Nonfiction? (Karen Salyer McElmurray, Joe Mackall, Rebecca McClanahan, Dinty W. Moore, Sue William Silverman) Memoirs often come from dark territories of experience-from loss and its repercussions-yet life is more than just pain and difficulty. Why aren't there more contemporary memoirs focusing on joy and the many pleasures of being alive? Is it a question of audience, authors, or is it that happiness and contentment are actually harder to capture on the page? Five writers and editors of creative nonfiction wrestle with these issues in a roundtable discussion focused on their own writing and other memoirists working today. Salon C 2nd Floor F186. Flannery's Family: Fiction Readings by Winners of the Flannery O'Connor Award. (Molly Giles, Mary Hood, Dana Johnson) In celebration of the legacy of the famous Georgia writer, winners of the University of Georgia Press Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction read their stories. South Court West 2nd Floor F187. Writers and Politics. (Lucina Kathmann, Kelley Alexander, Heriberto Yépez, Joshua Clover, Brent Cunningham) This panel will briefly set aside the vital discussion about whether (and how) the act of writing can itself be political, to look instead at some ways in which writers are already engaging in successful political interventions. How and why do writers act politically outside of, or in tandem with, their actual writing? The five panelists will discuss the many ways they have been specifically and productively political: via institutions, via organizations, via activism, or via publishing. Carter 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) F188. CLMP Roundtable: Marketing Indie Lit. (CLMP Staff) This discussion will examine all aspects of marketing missiondriven publishing, beginning with finding and defining your target audience all the way through creating successful catalog copy. 7:00 p.m. Walton 2nd Floor F189. A Reception in Celebration of Five Points. Cash Bar. Cherokee 2nd Floor F190. Reception hosted by Purdue University. Cash bar and Hors d'Oeuvres. Roosevelt 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) F191. University of North Carolina Wilmington MFA & BFA Program Reception. Cash bar and Hors d'Oeuvres. Monroe 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) F192. Reception hosted by Emory University. Cash Bar and Hors d'Oeuvres. Madison 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) F193. A Reception Hosted by Counterpath Press & Omnidawn Publishing. Public Reception hosted by Counterpath Press & Omnidawn Publishing. Join us to celebrate the launch of Counterpath, and the latest books from Omnidawn. Readings by Counterpath's Laynie Browne & Andrew Joron; Omnidawn's Christopher Arigo & Donald Revell. Free drink tickets provided at the door, compliments of Counterpath Press & Omnidawn Publishing. Henry 2nd Floor F194. A Reception Hosted by Berry College. Cash Bar. Jackson 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) F196. A Reception Hosted by Crazy Horse. Cash Bar. North Court East 2nd Floor F197. Reception Hosted by the Georgia Review, University of Georgia Press, and & The University of Georgia Creative Writing Department. Cash bar and Hors d'Oeuvres. 8:30 p.m. Grand Ballroom 2nd Floor F198. A Reading by John Barth & Michael Martone. Sponsored by the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University. Novelist John Barth, author of The End of the Road, and Michael Martone, author of Blue Guide to Indiana, will read from their work. Grand Salon 2nd Floor F199. Poetry Extravaganza Hosted by the Academy of American Poets. (David Bottoms, Cornelius Eady, Thomas Lux, Brigit Pegeen Kelly, Tree Swenson, Dean Young) The Academy of American Poets presents a reading by five leading American poets. 10:00 p.m.-12 a.m. Crystal Ballroom Lobby Level F200. Public Reception. Music from DJ Mark Nations and Cash Bar 10:00 PM-Midnight. Cherokee 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) F201. A Party Hosted by Split This Rock Poetry FestivalSarah Browning & Regie Cabico invite you to drinks with Mark Doty, Alicia Ostriker & Patricia Smith. 10:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m. Carter 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) F202. Open-Mic Reading.

Complete schedule for downloading/printing (3.22MB)

2007 Sponsors

Major Sponsors

Georgia College & State University

Arts & Letters

Flannery O’Connor Review

Poetry @ Tech

Vanderbilt University

The National Endowment for the Arts

Literary Partners

The Academy of American Poets

The Poetry Foundation

Poets & Writers

The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses

Benefactors

The Georgia Review

University of North Carolina Wilmington MFA Program

The Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University

Patrons

The Chattahoochee Review, the Literary Quarterly of Georgia Perimeter College

Emory University

University of North Carolina Greensboro

University of Alabama Tuscaloosa

Virginia Tech

Wilkes University Low Residency MA Program

Sponsors

Agnes Scott College

Antioch University Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program

Columbia College Chicago, English Department, Poetry Programs

Crazyhorse / College of Charleston

Five Points

Goddard College Low Residency MFA Program

Hollins University

Kennesaw State University

Mississippi State University

Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Southern Poetry Review

Spalding University Low Residency Program

University of Florida MFA in Creative Writing

University of Illinois MFA in Writing Program / Ninth Letter

University of Tennessee Chattanooga

Virginia Commonwealth University, MFA in Creative Writing

Contributors

Alabama Writers' Forum

The Bennington Writing Seminars, The Low Residency MFA in Writing

Berry College Southern Women Writers Conference and Ninebark Press

Florida State University Creative Writing Program / The Southeast Review

Crazyhorse/College of Charleston

Longwood University

Queens University of Charlotte MFA in Creative Writing

Randolph Macon Women's College

Sewanee Writers’ Conference

The Prague Summer Program

The Southern Review

Tulane University

University of Alabama Birmingham

The University of Georgia Press

University of Minnesota Creative Writing Program

The MFA Program at the University of Central Florida

University of Minnesota Creative Writing Program

University of San Francisco

University of Tampa

Vermont College of Union Institute and University

Western Carolina University

Supporter

Association of Literary Scholars & Critics

Florida International University

Louisiana State University

Purdue University

Information on Sponsorship (PDF 8085KB)