Affiliate Membership

AWP offers a special category of membership for small groups of writers, editors, and teachers who work at schools or at organizations with extremely limited resources.

Examples of affiliate members include technical schools, community colleges, reading series, writers' unions, writing service organizations, and small presses that provide educational programming. Qualifications for membership are listed below.

Affiliate Membership Rates

Affiliate membership in AWP is $295 per year if paid before August 1 and $345 if paid after that date. The membership runs from August 1 through July 31. The annual dues apply only to affiliate members in the United States; please contact us for information on how to sign up if your school is outside of the USA. To have AWP staff handle the online administrative functions of your membership for you, select the concierge rate checkbox when you join or renew an organizational membership.

Qualifications for Affiliate Membership

AWP recognizes that serious literary writing and teaching takes place in organizations that do not offer degree-conferring programs in the art of writing. An affiliate member may be an institution or organization that does the following:

  • Publishes contemporary poetry, fiction, plays, or nonfiction as a nonprofit business and that provides educational programming such as workshops, readings, or lectures.
  • Serves as a nonprofit independent literary arts center where creative writing is discussed, valued, and shared for the continuing education of writers.
  • Offers classes in creative writing, although the department does not offer a degree in creative writing or in English literature.

Affiliate Membership Benefits

Qualifying affiliate members receive the following benefits:

  • One year of access to The Writer’s Chronicle for up to ten individuals, including a searchable archive of past articles.
  • Access for ten individuals to the members-only content on our website, including:
    • our Directory of Members.
    • the Opportunities page which features information on literary events, publishing opportunities, grants, and awards
    • advice on how to conduct your job search.
    • documents useful to teachers and administrators of writing programs.
    • the Job List, which contains current academic and non-academic jobs and internships for writers
  • An entry in AWP's Guide to Writing Programs that indicates your program is a member of AWP. Member program listings contain an in-depth description of your program, including images. This is the most effective way to promote your program among prospective students or members.
  • Promotion of your program in:
  • Participation in the AWP Program Directors' Meeting, which convenes at the AWP Annual Conference. The meeting provides program directors with a forum to share information.
  • A 50% discount on AWP Award Series entry fees for 10 of your faculty and students.
  • Member discounts for ten of your faculty and students on registrations to AWP’s Annual Conference & Bookfair.
  • Eligibility to participate in AWP’s Writer to Writer mentorship program, a free service that pairs new and established writers.
  • A member discount on advertising rates on our website.
  • Advocacy to support professional standards and fair treatment of creative writing faculty and programs. AWP works with other organizations to support freedom of expression, public funding for the arts, high standards in education, and policies helpful to writers, publishers, teachers, and readers.
  • Technical assistance and support for the development of writing programs and curriculum.
  • A network that supports writers, the art of writing, and contemporary literature.