2009 Schedule
Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday
| Thursday- February 12, 2009 | |
|---|---|
8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. |
|
8th St. Registration |
R100. Conference Registration. Attendees who have registered in advance may pick up their registration materials at AWP's pre-registration desk on the lower level of the Hilton Chicago. On-site registration badges are available for purchase at the 8th Street side of the lobby level. |
8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. |
|
Exhibit Halls |
R101. AWP Bookfair. Sponsored by Columbia College Chicago, English Department, Poetry & Nonfiction Programs. |
9:00 a.m.-10:15 a.m. |
|
Astoria |
R102. Integrating Creative Writing into the Composition Classroom at Two-year Institutions. (Shannon Gibney, Matthew Guenette, Daniel Stanford, Annie Nguyen, Phoebe Reeves, Simone Zelitch) Panelists will explore and discuss both the possibilities and challenges of pulling from creative writing pedagogies in community college composition classrooms. Panelists work at a variety of institutions across the country, and are diverse in age, geographic location, race, culture, sexual orientation, and gender. They will therefore be able to approach the topic from a variety of perspectives, which is essential to effective teaching at community colleges. |
Boulevard Room A,B,C |
R103. AWP Program Directors Plenary Assembly. (David Fenza, Ron Tanner, Donald Morrill, newly elected represenatives from the Midwest, West, and Pacific Northwest) All AWP program directors should attend and represent their programs. The Executive Director of AWP will report on AWP's new projects and on important statistics and academic trends that pertain to creative writing programs and to writers who teach. A discussion with the AWP board's Regional Representative will follow. The plenary assembly will be followed by regional breakout sessions. |
Continental A |
R104. The Meandering River: An Exploration of the Subgenres of Nonfiction. (Sue William Silverman, Judith Kitchen, Robin Hemley, Joe Mackall, Rebecca McClanahan) The genre of nonfiction is a long river with many moods and currents, flowing from straightforward narratives into narratives subverted or fractured. This panel of five established nonfiction writers and teachers will explore this continuum, which includes such subgenres as immersion writing, personal, meditative, and lyric essays, and memoir. We will also discuss how the subgenres flow one into the other, crossing boundaries, resulting in a myriad of hybrid forms. |
Continental B |
R105. Women Writing Desire. (Lisa Solod Warren, Rosemary Daniell, Janice Eidus, Jamie Cat Callan, Ruth Knafo Setton, Katherine Oxnard) What happens when women refuse to be silent about their desires? When they refuse, too, to be punished for expressing them? You get honesty, frankness, and revelation. Women Writing Desire is born of Desire: Women Write About Wanting, a book published by Seal Press in 2007, in which twenty-three women spoke of their truest needs—to the suprise of readers everywhere who were touched, changed, and often inspired to reveal desires of their own. |
Continental C |
R106. From Publication to Promotion: Capturing the Attention of the Media. (Gina Nahai, Elizabeth Taylor, Donna Seaman, David Boul) While the MPW Program continues to aspire to fulfill the highest literary standards, we recognize also the need for teaching writers not only how to write great books, but how to ensure that those books will succeed in the marketplace. A panel of experts from television, radio, and print media, moderated by an author with extensive experience promoting books, will focus on the question of how best to attract media attention for a new work. |
International Ballroom North |
R107. The Sister Art(s): Toward A Feminist Ekphrasis. (Grace Bauer, Robin Becker, Leslie Adrienne Miller, Joy Manesiotis, Christine Stewart-Nunez, Rebecca Bednarz) Though some might claim that "writing about art is like dancing about architecture," the past decade has witnessed a growing interest in ekphrastic writing. This panel of poets who have written on "subjects" ranging from the Mona Lisa to Kate Moss, monuments to medical illustrations to movies and dance, will examine ekphrasis through a feminist lens, and explore how for women artists, "seeing with fresh eyes" can become, as Adrienne Rich says, "an act of survival." |
Joliet |
R108. Catharsis & Memoir: Who The Heck Are We Writing For?. (Wendy Sumner-Winter, Jill Christman, Kristen Iversen, Steven Church, Steve Woods) Junior high school teachers define catharsis as the release of emotion felt by an audience at the conclusion of a tragedy; yet the term derives from the Greek, meaning religious or physical purgation. So who's having catharsis in contemporary memoir? Who is it for: reader, writer, or both? The panelists will discuss their experiences in writing their memoirs as acts of catharsis, and will endeavor to answer the question of whether or not that catharsis can, or is, for the reader as well. |
Lake Erie |
R109. Case Study of a Successful Small Press Book: Monique and the Mango Rains. (Jeffrey Lependorf, Jim Bildner, Mary Bisbee-Beek, Kris Holloway, Ande Zellman) The staff of the Literary Ventures Fund, together with the author, present strategies used to propel this memoir to a BookSense Pick, a Boston Globe bestseller, an Entertainment Weekly Top Ten Travel Book, and more. |
Lake Huron |
R110. Dramatic Openings. (Bonnie Culver, Jean Klein, Gregory Fletcher, Juanita Rockwell) Four playwrights discuss the basic elements of contemporary plays and how these can be used to improve any piece of creative writing. Character, plot, imagery, tone, mood, story, and arc will be introduced when these playwrights offer samples of great opening scenes from a range of contemporary plays and how these same elements can and should appear in all creative writing, from poetry to creative nonfiction. |
Lake Michigan |
R111A. Fictionalizing Family. (Eric Puchner, Don Waters, Hannah Tinti, Kaui Hemmings Hemmings, Robin Romm, Nora Caspers) Most writers draw from experience, enhancing the writing through research and craft. But what happens when the story or novel tends toward truth and reveals vulnerabilities within the family? This panel will explore how writers deal with the ethics of exposing their lives and the lives of those closest to them. At what point is creating art more important than sparing feelings? Writers will grapple with these questions and discuss when, if ever, they have crossed the line. |
Lake Ontario |
R111B. My Voice, Wide as the Sun: Preparing to Teach Creative Writing in K-12 Classrooms. (Michele Kotler, Ellen Hagan, Alise Alousi, Rebecca Hoogs, Jack McBride) How do writers prepare to work with under served youth? Five organizations will share how they train MFA students, graduates of MFA programs, and professional writers to enter the K-12 classroom. As MFA graduates and professional writers look to share their love of writing and earn a living, Writers in the Schools work is an important opportunity. The panel will discuss different internships and training seminars for writers to transform their teaching methods to meet the needs of younger writers. |
Marquette |
R112. The Aphorism: Life Is Short, Art Is Really Short. (Patrick Madden, Mary Cappello, Sara Levine, James Richardson, Steven Stewart) Somewhere between poetry and essay, the aphorism is an ancient literary form that celebrates observation, speculation, subversion, and idiosyncrasy. Panelists discuss the vitality and versatility of this shortest of literary forms, offering theoretical frameworks, translations of contemporary work, reading suggestions from the Renaissance to the present, brief readings of their own "unconnected propositions," and advice for teaching, writing, and publishing aphorisms today. |
Private Dining Room 2 |
R113. Applying to the National Endowment for the Arts: Helpful Hints for Arts Organizations. (Jon Parrish Peede, Amy Stolls, Catherine Vass) Thinking about applying for an NEA Access to Artistic Excellence grant this year, but feel daunted by the process? Members of the NEA staff are here to help. Grants are available for nonprofit literary publishing projects (deadline in March), as well as nonprofit festivals, reading series, and other projects focused on audience development and/or professional development (deadline in August). This panel will review the guidelines and selection process for both categories, offer advice on how to put together the most effective application, and answer your questions. Special attention will be given to navigating grants.gov, the online government application system. |
Waldorf |
R114. Getting Published for the First Time: What to Expect. (Bill Konigsberg, Aaron Levy, Susan Schulman) This panel addresses, in depth, the harrowing experience of getting that first book deal. From finding an agent to the day a novel comes out, the process is filled with exciting and sometimes challenging twists and turns. The panelists are writers and agents in the Young Adult genre. One of the writers will have just had his first book published, and the other has published a YA play and is currently working with a well-known New York agent, who is also our third panelist. How do you find an agent? How do agents and writers work together? What kind of timetable can a writer expect when it comes to getting a book deal, and once a writer has a contract, what comes next? |
Williford A |
R115. Jewish Poetry vs. Poetry by Jews. (Eve Grubin, Sharon Dolin, Carly Sachs, Joy Katz, Erika Meitner, Idra Novey) While many of the great poets of the 20th century, from Delmore Schwartz to Stanley Kunitz, were Jewish, they rarely dealt with Judaism in their work. Today, a new generation of poets, many of them women, are addressing Judaism head-on. This panel will look at why and how these poets came to write about religion and culture, what role Judaism plays in the shape and scope of their work, and how they were influenced by the generations that preceded them. |
Williford B |
R116. Writers Who Teach High School Full-Time: Why We Do It, How We Do It. (Bill Zavatsky, Lynn Chandhok, Gary Joseph Cohen, Michael Morse, Kip Zegers, Matthew Lippman) Writers who teach high school full-time face unique challenges and rewards. Some realities: heavy paper-grading loads, four to five classes, shorter holidays, lots of parental contact. The delights include close work with students, the chance to witness real developmental leaps, and the feeling of making a difference in young lives. Meet and listen to five experienced public and private school writers talk about high school teaching, discuss their work, and read a poem or two. |
10:30 a.m.-11:45 a.m. | |
Astoria |
R117. Reaching Beyond the Page: Writers in the Community. (Christopher Arnold, Susan Richards Shreve, Mara O'Brien, Kathleen Connor) Join us as we discuss how writers at any stage in their career can take an active role in promoting literacy in their communities. We share the philosophy that creativity and strong writing skills are vital in any community. The organizers of innovative programs such as PEN/Faulkner's Writers in the Schools, 826 Chicago, and Looseleaf Writing Workshops will share their experiences and concrete strategies for writers and writing programs to promote literature in schools, tutoring centers, retirement homes, shelters, and prisons. |
Lake Michigan |
R118. Northeast Region: AWP Program Directors Breakout. (Ron Tanner) If you are a program director of an AWP member creative writing program in the following states you should attend this session: Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. This regional breakout session will begin immediately upon the conclusion of the Program Directors Plenary Meeting, so we recommend that you attend the Plenary Meeting first. Your regional representative on the AWP Board of Directors, Ron Tanner, will conduct this meeting. |
Continental B |
R120. Writing About Disability Across the Genres. (Varley O'Connor, Hal Sirowitz, Michelle Latiolais, Stephen Kuusisto, Patti Horvath) Disability in the lives of writers and as their subject matter bring up issues of fresh invention in language and, often, the necessity of crossing genres to represent and interrogate the dynamics of the disabled experience. Our panel of novelists, memoirists, and poets will discuss such representations and intersections, as well as the therapeutic benefits of writing, how being disabled shapes one's sense of self and craft, and why two of our panelists chose to render fact in the context of fiction. |
Continental C |
R121. CLMP Keynote Address—Great Audiences for Great Poetry. (Jay Baron Nicorvo, John Barr) The president of the Poetry Foundation speaks about the complicated relationship between poetry and its audience, and the ongoing importance of independent and small presses to that dialogue. |
Grand Ballroom |
R122. Creating a Home for Literature. (Jocelyn Hale, Nancy Gaschott, Alix Wilber, Christopher Castellani, Stephen Young, Lee Briccetti) Representatives of literary centers will discuss the various ways that their organizations have created a place for literature: problems and opportunities of the process, how programming serves a range of needs, relationships with local writing programs, and more. This panel looks at the particular balance of meeting the needs of multiple constituents—community members and MFA students, for example—and at helping to develop a literary community where one may not yet exist. |
International Ballroom North |
R123. Union: A Conversation in Poetry. (Christopher Merrill, Marvin Bell, Tomaž Šalamun) This panel focuses on the creation of a book, Union, that was written together by seven poets from around the world. Four of those poets—Marvin Bell, Christopher Merrill, Tomaž Šalamun, and Dean Young—discuss the benefits and challenges of poetic collaborations and read selected poems from the book. |
International Ballroom South |
R124. A Room of Her Own Foundation: Show Me the Money. (Kim Ponders, Mary Johnson, Meredith Hall, Summer Wood, Mira Bartok) Grant funding is out there, but how do you find it? And then, how do you shape your application into something that will stand out from the crowd? A Room of Her Own Foundation presents two $50,000 "Gift of Freedom" award winners, a contest judge, and one of the award's conceptual founders. Together, they will discuss their own process and offer strategies for creating your own award-winning grant package. |
Joliet |
R150. West Region: AWP Program Directors Breakout Session. (Newly elected representative from the West Region) If you are a program director of an AWP member creative writing program in the following states you should attend this session: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. This regional breakout session will begin immediately upon the conclusion of the Program Directors Plenary Meeting, so we recommend that you attend the Plenary Meeting first. Your newly elected regional representative on the AWP Board of Directors will conduct this meeting. |
Lake Erie |
R126. First Books of Fiction. (David McGlynn, Christopher Coake, John Dalton, Margot Singer, Rae Meadows, Michael Czyzniejewski) Finding a publisher for a first book of fiction is perhaps the greatest literary hurdle, a seemingly mysterious process that appears to depend largely on luck. This panel brings together authors who found publishers through a variety of paths: through literary agents, book contests, and by querying presses directly. Panelists will share insights and dispense advice regarding agents and publishers, preparing a book for publication, and promoting the work once it's in print. |
Lake Huron |
R127. Pacific West Region: AWP Program Directors breakout Session. (Newly elected representative from the Pacific West Region) If you are a program director of an AWP member creative writing program in the following states you should attend this session: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington. This regional breakout session will begin immediately upon the conclusion of the Program Directors Plenary Meeting, so we recommend that you attend the Plenary Meeting first. Your newly elected regional representative on the AWP Board of Directors will conduct this meeting. |
Boulevard Room A,B,C |
R128. Midwest Region: AWP Program Directors Breakout. (David Fenza, Newly elected representative from the Midwest Region) If you are a program director of an AWP member creative writing program in the following states you should attend this session: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. This regional breakout session will begin immediately upon the conclusion of the Program Directors Plenary Meeting, so we recommend that you attend the Plenary Meeting first. Your newly elected regional representative on the AWP Board of Directors will conduct this meeting. |
Lake Ontario |
R129. Southeast Region: AWP Program Directors Breakout Session. (Donald Morrill) If you are a program director of an AWP member creative writing program in the following states you should attend this session: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. This regional breakout session will begin immediately upon the conclusion of the Program Directors Plenary Meeting, so we recommend that you attend the Plenary Meeting first. Your regional representative on the AWP Board of Directors, Don Morrill, will conduct this meeting. |
Marquette |
R130. Hip-hop and the Future of the Black Writer. (Jessica Young, Avery R. Young, Toni Asante Lightfoot, Tacuma Roeback, Alexis Pride, Cynthium Johnson-Woodfolk) If hip-hop is a way artists reach young people to influence thinking, what is to become of the black writer? Must we all turn ourselves into Li'l Kim and 50 Cent, or are we free to further the legacies of James Baldwin, Phyllis Wheatley, and Toni Morrison? This panel seeks to answer these and other questions. Writers, musicians, and hip-hop artists will discuss the role of hip-hop in our current popular culture, and how it affects the craft and identity of the contemporary black writer. |
Private Dining Room 2 |
R131. Language, Sound, and the Radiophonic Imagination. (Jeff Porter, Elena Passarello, John Bresland, Rebecca Sheir) This panel explores the radio essay as a new genre of literature through the panelists' discussion of their own sound works. How does radio, as a unique medium, alter the equation for writers? We look at the ways in which a written text, once it is mediated by sounds, including the timbre of the human voice and the evocative rhythms of music, can be transformed into a radiophonic work of art whose expressive force relies as much on its sound design as on individual words themselves. |
Waldorf |
R132. Multi-Genre Mentorship. (Julie Schumacher, Charles Baxter, Ray Gonzalez, Yuko Taniguchi, Alex Lemon, Brian Malloy) Writing programs typically ask students to declare allegiance to a particular genre: once a poet, always a poet. But this single-mindedness is less common among MFA faculty. "Multi-Genre Mentorship" will explore the "slippage" between fiction, nonfiction, and poetry in MFA programs, using the University of Minnesota as a model. Should writing students attempt to master one genre before spreading themselves thin via another; or do they benefit from experimentation and a broader sort of mentorship? |
Williford A |
R133. Writing as Parents: Our Children as Subjects. (Jill Christman, Shari MacDonald Strong, Kate Hopper, Sonya Huber, Jennifer Niesslein) This panel of parents and memoirists will consider what happens when we turn our writer's gaze on our children: How does the writing change when we are responsible for more than our art? When parents write about children, how are the ethical considerations different than when it's the other way around? When do our children's stories become theirs to tell, not ours? As memoirists, essayists, bloggers, and editors, we'll discuss how we handle these new critics on our shoulders—our kids. |
Williford B |
R134. The First Time: Writers Who Began with The Georgia Review. (Stephen Corey, Jeremy Collins, Rene Houtrides, Laura Sewell Matter, Marjorie Sandor) Four writers whose first-ever publications were in The Georgia Review discuss their experiences working with the journal's editors, as well as the impact of this publication on their subsequent thinking, their writing lives, and their career options. |
Williford C |
R135. Revising Modernisms: Innovative Latino Writing in the 21st Century. (J. Michael Martinez, Antonio Viego, John-Michael Rivera, Gabe Gomez, Jennifer Reimer) We will investigate what constitutes innovative U.S. Latino writing through an analysis of the cultural conditions that gave rise to the "innovative." What role does the Latino play in the understanding of "innovative" writing? How is its aim changed by the U.S. Latinos participation in its aesthetic? We will explore these questions through Lacanian theory, an analysis of Modernism and its heirs (NY School, Langpo, etc.) that includes the U.S. Latino, and the methods employed by publishers of innovative U.S. Latino writing. |
Noon.-1:15 p.m. | |
Astoria |
R136. Pedagogy Forum Session: Fiction & Drama. This session is designed to give contributors to the 2009 Pedagogy Forum an opportunity to discuss, though all are welcome. The papers themselves will provide a framework to begin in-depth discussion in creative writing, pedagogy, and theory. A Pedagogy Speaker will contextualize the discussion with some brief remarks before attendees break out into small discussion groups. These groups will be facilitated by trained pedagogy paper contributors. |
Boulevard Room A,B,C |
R137. The Art of Oral History. (Peter Orner, Annie Holmes, Jaykumar Menon, Mimi Lok, Nick Regiacorte, Ailee Yoo) A presentation and panel discussion focusing on the art of oral history and how it represents a profound way to tell stories and illuminate important issues in a different, direct way. The panelists are all editors of the book Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives. Underground America, part of the Voice of Witness, a series of books that tells the stories of real people by real people to underscore human rights abuses on a national and global level. Of the twenty or so people who participated in the making of the book, most were writers themselves, so the presentation and readings will highlight how important it is for a writer to, at times, reach beyond their own narratives and try and help other people tell their stories. Oral history, inspired by the techniques of Studs Terkel (who sits on the Voice of Witness board) and the WPA books of the forties - seeks to provide insight into some of today's most intractable problems by speaking, and more importantly, listening, to those most directly affected. |
Continental A |
R138. Teaching the Novel: Learning as a Writer, Teaching as a Writer. (Carole Burns, Mary Kay Zuravleff, Dan Chaon) This panel explores teaching the novel, and what panelists have learned about their own writing by teaching. Zuravleff has led a class in which she guided students through writing a novel in one semester and wrote a novel alongside them. Chaon teaches the novel in a more traditional workshop; Burns has done both. They will discuss the benefits and difficulties of each approach and the difference between teaching novel vs. short story. Last year, Burns worked on her own novel with author Margot Livesey, and she will discuss what she learned about teaching and writing in that exchange. |
Continental B |
R139. Diverging Lines: Understanding the Evolution of Contemporary Latino Poetry. (Blas Falconer, Rosa Alcalá, Gina Franco, Peter Ramos, Rodrigo Toscano, Robert Tejada) Although Latino poetry has a strong foundation in American literature, emerging writers are complicating the aesthetics of the canon by drawing on movements (i.e., Language Poetry, New Formalism) and communities (i.e., Gay and Lesbian, African American) outside their own. The panelists will explore the intersection between aesthetics and ethnicity, helping to define the foundation and the evolution of Latino poetry. |
Continental C |
R140. New Collections from University Presses. (Daniel Hoyt, Anthony Varallo, Molly McNett, Andrew Porter) These panelists are reading from their award-winning short-story collections. Readers include winners of the 2007 Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction (the University of Georgia Press), the 2008 John Simmons Short Fiction Award (the University of Iowa Press), the 2008 Drue Heinz Literature Prize (the University of Pittsburgh Press), and the 2008 Juniper Prize for Fiction (the University of Massachusetts Press). |
Grand Ballroom |
R141. The Poet as Oracle. (Patricia Monaghan, Richard Cambridge, Patricia Spears Jones, Allison Hedge Coke, Annie Finch, Linda Hogan) Traditional societies considered poets as oracles, charged with mediating between human and greater-than-human worlds. Whether that "other world" is described as divinity, the ancestors, or the earth, poets have served as mouthpieces for forces greater than a single human personality. African griots, Native American orators, and Celtic bards put words and images at the service of their communities and their craft in the service of the transhuman. This panel presents diverse traditions of oracular poetry, both traditional and modern. |
International Ballroom North |
R142. The City—Real and Imagined. (Reginald Gibbons, Stuart Dybek, Aleksandar Hemon, John Keene, Alex Kotlowitz) Poe, Baudelaire, Bruno Schulz, Proust, Calvino, Ellison, Grace Paley, Toni Morrison, and many others see in cities both human encounter and anonymity, both gritty realities and fantastical but emotionally true impossibilities. In fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, this panel has written about Chicago, Houston, St. Louis, and Sarajevo and will discuss ghost cityscapes, fleeting human life amidst historical urban spaces, and the city and literary form. |
International Ballroom South |
R143. Gay Regionalism through the Eyes of Appalachia. (Jackson Tucker, Dorothy Allison, Julia Watts, Jeff Mann, Aaron Smith) Many of America's most celebrated writers are regional writers. For the majority of gay writers, which also includes gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender writers, the urban landscape is the common setting for their work, but what does it mean to be gay and Appalachian? Does being both a gay writer and a regional writer hinder or empower the gay writer? Does it give us the ability to specialize in something specific to our experience, or prevent us from reaching a prospective audience? |
Joliet |
R144. Pedagogy Forum Session: Multi-genre. This session is designed to give contributors to the 2009 Pedagogy Forum 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 pedagogy speaker will contextualize the discussion with some brief remarks before attendees break out into small discussion groups. These groups will be facilitated by trained pedagogy paper contributors. |
Lake Erie |
R145. Pass it On: Cultivating the Art and Craft of Playwriting. (Lisa Schlesinger, Matthew Maguire, Ruth Margraff, Art Borrecca, Todd Ristau, Ken Prestininzi) How and why do people write plays? While playwriting textbooks do exist, most playwrights agree that they don't serve the form. Many playwrights sharpen their teaching skills by continuing to work in the theater, emulating mentors, and by continuing the practice of teaching. This panel will offer strategies and inspiration for teaching the current and next generations of playwrights, with the purpose of cultivating a living, vibrant, evolving theater. |
Lake Huron |
R146. Interns and Other Untapped Personnel: Maximizing a Volunteer Workforce. (Ron Mitchell, Speer Morgan, Holly Carver, Jennifer S. Davis) Directors of internship programs for Copper Nickel, RopeWalk Writers Retreat, The Missouri Review, and the University of Iowa Press will address strategies for the implementation and enhancement of a well-trained volunteer workforce, a fiscal necessity in the current climate of across-the-board cuts in budgets and staff. The discussion will include tips for recruiting in the classroom and community, methods for preserving best practices, and creative solutions for overcoming unexpected challenges. |
Lake Michigan |
R147. What's in the Magazines: A Conversation about the Work Being Published in Literary Journals. (Bram Hsieh, Marion Wrenn, Robert Stewart, Diane Goettel, Gina Frangello) The editors of New Letters, Painted Bride Quarterly, and The Adirondack Review, along with author Gina Frangello, bring their different perspectives to a discussion on the writing found in literary magazines today. The panelists will share tips about the work that excites them, as well as the kinds of stories that have become overdone. In addition, they will explore recent trends in magazine publishing, such as the role of online submissions and online journals. |
Lake Ontario |
R148. "Memory of Wounds": Memoirists Tell Truth, Lies, and Memory. (Laura Madeline Wiseman, Joy Castro, Karen McElmurray, Kelly Gray Carlisle, Lucy Ferriss, Carrie Anne Tocci) Czeslaw Milosz said, "It is possible that there is no other memory than the memory of wounds." Our panel investigates the role of factual accuracy in memoir, why memoirists invent to improve the facts, and the difficulty in telling traumatic memory. What if research reveals conflicting truths? What is the cost of invention to the story? How do the psychological and physiological workings of memory, the act of writing, and the influence of the world outside the writer hinder or enrich the truth? |
Marquette |
R149. Don't Stand So Close to Me: Controlling Narrative Distance. (Peter Turchi, Antonya Nelson, Liam Callanan, Christopher Castellani) It's easy to fall into habits that limit your range of movement. This panel will focus on point of view, and specifically on the advantages, no matter which point of view one chooses, of remaining flexible: moving in close for intimacy, standing back for a more objective (or different subjective) view and, most importantly, being conscious of the effects of our choices. |
Private Dining Room 2 |
R150. Pitching Poetry as Citizens' Journalism: A New Approach to Festivals and Media. (Laura Hope-Gill, Sebastian Matthews, Wally Bowen) The nonprofit Mountain Area Information Network and Asheville Wordfest Media Outreach Project work together to bring poetry to community media such as public access TV, public radio, and live webcast. Presenting poetry as an authentic and vital source of community information, this union of grassroots poetry and community media (Internet, radio, TV) is delivering poetry as news. In this session, we will discuss the synergy between poetry and journalism and its potential for community-building and problem-solving. |
Waldorf |
R151. Bushwhacking Through the Wilderness with a Ballpoint, or Writing the First Novel. (Meredith Dodson, Amy Hassinger, Karen Shoemaker, Elizabeth Stuckey-French, Cara Lustgarten, Patricia Henley) Learning the novel form is the fiction writer's equivalent of breaching the frontier, hacking through a dense wilderness of character, plot, image, and meaning, hoping not only to come out alive, but bearing a stunning work of art. This panel of writers, teachers, and students will discuss methods, tricks of the trade, and mistakes to avoid—both for setting out on your own journey, and for teaching others the best bushwhacking techniques. |
Williford A |
R152. Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East and Asia. (Nathalie Handal, Jill Bialosky, Kimiko Hahn, Ravi Shankar, Srikanth Reddy, Tina Chang) Language for a New Century brings the voices of some of the most exciting writers of our time. This unique and much anticipated collection by W.W. Norton is a landmark anthology, providing the most ambitious, far-reaching collection of contemporary Asian and Middle Eastern poetry available. This exciting panel features Norton editor, Jill Bialosky, poets and editors of the anthology, Nathalie Handal, Tina Chang, and Ravi Shankar, as well as contributors Kimiko Hahn and Srikanth Reddy for a reading and discussion on this book, which includes 400 unique voices from fifty-five countries writing in forty different languages, broadening our notion of contemporary literature. |
Williford B |
R153. The National Undergrad Lit Journal: Quality, Visibility, and Stability. (Anna Leahy, Christopher Bakken, Karen Craigo, Rachel Hamsmith, Jessica Lewis, Elizabeth Wilks) Faculty advisors and student editors of three national undergraduate literary journals—Allegheny Review, North Central Review, and Prairie Margins—discuss why and how to go national. Topics include the benefits and limitations of undergraduate staff, the rewards and risks of national submissions, and building visibility on and beyond campus. This panel also addresses topics of interest to all student literary journals, such as increasing quality and the role of the journal in the curriculum. |
Williford C |
R154. Bob Hope, Joey Ramone, the Wolf Man, and Me: The Use of Pop Culture in Fiction. (Sam Weller, Stephanie Kuehnert, John McNally, Mark Binelli, Jonathan Messinger, Bill Savage) From Nelson Algren's 40s Chicago to "it" bags in the latest YA novel, pop culture undoubtedly has a presence in fiction. But where do we draw the line? A Kiss reference may work in a timeless story about 70s adolescence, but comparing a sweet, innocent character to Britney Spears is dated by Brit's latest antics. Does pop culture make a work cutting edge or trivialize it? Six writers—whose characters emulate Evil Knievel, open for Bob Hope, and want to be Joey Ramone—discuss how and why they use pop culture in their work and how to avoid its pitfalls. |
1:30 p.m.-2:45 p.m. | |
Astoria |
R155. Multiformalism: Postmodern Poetics of Form. (Susan M. Schultz, Hank Lazer, K. Silem Mohammad, Annie Finch) Language poetry meets new formalism at last, and the poems fly! Editors and contributors to a daring new multicultural, multiaesthetic anthology talk about where poetry is headed now. |
Boulevard Room A,B,C |
R156. Building, Breaking, Rebuilding: Six Chicago Literary Landscapers. (Ellen Placey Wadey, Erin Teegarden, Krista Franklin, Joel Craig, Jennifer Karmin, Irasema Gonzalez) We are the bold sluggers who run Chicago's independent reading series. Set vividly against the established grid, we build literary communities in neighborhoods from the ground up. How are we thriving in the face of our challenges? Less like a panel and more like a virtual show-and-tell, organizers from a diverse group of popular, D-I-Y reading serieses discuss building, breaking from, and rebuilding Chicago's literary landscape. |
Continental A |
R157. "Six Ways of Looking at Stevens". (Maurice Manning, Jay Hopler, Lawrence Joseph, Robyn Schiff, Cate Marvin, Terrance Hayes) "Six Ways of Looking at Stevens" will explore the relationship and influence the work of Wallace Stevens has had upon a variety of contemporary American poets, specifically writers whose poetics one might not expect to be informed by the master of "surpeme fiction." |
Continental B |
R158. Barbarians in the Workshop: Censorship and Creative Writing on Campus. (Chad Davidson, Thomas Hynes, Paul Guest, Gregory Fraser) A workshop student riddles her story with obscenities. The parents of a promising seventeen-year-old classmate contest it. Before long, your chair, your dean, even your vice-president have emailed you. Foundations and even state education boards are now in the picture. Sound like an apocalyptic scenario? With schools increasingly catering to dual-enrollment students and conservative corporations and individuals, censorship in the creative-writing classroom accrues enormous weight. This panel seeks to understand these dynamics from a wide range of administrative perspectives. |
Continental C |
R159. Another World Instead: Readings from The Early Poems of William Stafford, 1937-1947. (Fred Marchant, Linda Pastan, Kim Stafford, Jennifer Barber, Kevin Bowen, Mary Szybist) While interned in work camps as a conscientious objector during World War II, William Stafford began a daily, life-long exploration of how poetry might bear witness for peace. In celebration of the recently published Another World Instead: The Early Poems of William Stafford, 1937-1947 (Graywolf Press), the panelists will read from Stafford's early work, and will also read kindred poems of their own. A discussion about the poet's responsibilities in a time of war will follow the reading. |
Grand Ballroom |
R160. The Loft Mentor Series 30th Anniversary Reading. (Charles Baxter, Barrie Jean Borich, C.J. Hribal, Scott Russell Sanders, Sun Yung Shin, Wang Ping) For the past 30 years, the Loft Mentor Series has provided emerging Minnesota writers the opportunity for intensive study with nationally acclaimed writers of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Many former participants have gone on to publish and serve as mentors to other writers. This reading pairs past mentors and an accomplished writer whom they mentored: Wang Ping and Sun Yung Shin, Charles Baxter and C.J. Hribal, and Scott Russell Sanders and Barrie Jean Borich. |
International Ballroom North |
R161. Not the Usual Suspects: Poets Reading for Poetry Magazine. (Don Share, Craig Arnold, Ange Mlinko, Jacob Saenz, A. E. Stallings) Founded in Chicago in 1912, Poetry magazine introduced the world to the early works of Pound, Eliot, Stevens, Frost, and Williams. Now, under the editorship of Christian Wiman, the magazine continues to discover and nurture new and emerging talent—the elegant, the edgy, and the ecstatic. Poetry's senior editor, Don Share, introduces four strong and distinctive voices, who read their own work and that of others recently featured in the magazine. |
International Ballroom South |
R162. "Alive and Coarse and Strong and Cunning...". (Michael Downs, Jane Varley, Phillip Lopate, Patricia Ann McNair, Phyllis Barber) Sandberg's "Chicago" remains a popular precedent in the literary tradition of personifying cities, a tradition that when applied to creative nonfiction presents a host of questions. Writers who have treated cities as characters in nonfiction will examine through classics of the genre such questions as: How do cities show arcs of character? What mysteries in a city mirror the mysteries of the human heart? When cities operate as characters, what challenges or benefits do they present the writer? |
Joliet |
R163. From The Ground Up, Developing A Writers In The Schools Program At Your College. (Allen Gee, David Hassler, Derrick Medina, John Teschner, Stephen Cavitt) On this panel sponsored by the WITS Alliance, faculty and students from Georgia College, Kent State, and Arizona State will discuss the pragmatic aspects of developing a Writers In The Schools program. The panel will talk about developing relationships with public schools, finding funding sources, incorporating service learning components, preparing college students as teachers, planning typical program calendars and events, and the many rewards of community outreach for faculty and students. |
Lake Erie |
R164. Playing Locally: Creating Plays that Connect to Community. (Jennifer Bakken, Deborah Stein, Richard Zinober, Trista Baldwin) Playwrights from the Playwrights' Center, the Workhaus Collective, and Minnesota State University Moorhead discuss the need for playwrights to connect with their community. By becoming community aware, these award-winning playwrights have found audiences for their plays in places that some may consider less conventional venues. |
Lake Huron |
R165. Ways of Looking at the Chapter: A Writer's Guide. (Mary Stewart Atwell, Paul Graham, Drew Johnson) Our presenters will examine ways of looking at the chapter, deciphering its purpose, and providing tips for fiction writers negotiating the always uncharted territory of the novel. We will consider the history of the chapter and consider different models for imitation. A helpful but by no means exhaustive schematic of the chapter will assist writers in thinking through their own structural choices. |
Lake Michigan |
R166. CLMP Panel—Passing the Torch and Keeping the Flame: Succession Concerns for Indie Publishers. (Debora Ott, David Hamilton, Gloria Jacobs, Ron Kavanaugh, Brenda Mills) A frank discussion of how publishers and editors can effectively pass on their presses or journals and how those stepping in can best manage a successful transition, with panelists from The Iowa Review, The Feminist Press at CUNY, Mosaic Literary Magazine, FC2, and the author of About Face—A Guide to Founder Transition. |
Lake Ontario |
R167. Why Won't Jose Read? (Jeanie Chung, Maria Galvez, Ashaki Howard, Ina Jazic, Sasha Pena, Antonio Villasenor) You've seen the studies. People—especially young people—aren't reading for fun like they used to. We're losing our audience to reality shows, video games, and the perception that reading isn't cool. What to do? Let's ask the young people themselves. Five Chicago high school students weigh in on why they read, why many of their friends and peers don't, what "literature" really is, the limits of the Harry Potter phenomenon, and what makes them pick up a book. |
Marquette |
R168. Must a Memoir Read Like a Novel? (Thomas Larson, Bob Shacochis, Jocelyn Bartkevicius, Dale Rigby, Robert Root) We all know good narrative memoirs: Angela's Ashes, The Glass Castle, Cherry. But what about all the memoirs that don't fit the definition of a strict story-centered form? Books like The Year of Magical Thinking, The Elusive Embrace, The Story of My Father. Is it important that the memoir be classified as a nonfiction narrative? Can it be more and, if so, what do we call it? How do we help our students do more with their writing than merely "applying" fictional techniques to nonfiction narrative? What sorts of hybrids or new imaginative creations—forms like the braided, the essayistic, the historical, the witness, the meditative memoir, not to mention new video, audio, and graphic forms of life writing—are memoirists exploring? This panel of writers and critics will explore the world that includes and goes beyond the narrative memoir. |
Private Dining Room 2 |
R169. The New-Media Novel: The Intersection of Film, E-Lit, & Story. (Steve Tomasula, John Cayley, Tal Halpern, M.D. Coverley) New authoring tools are allowing a new kind of novel to emerge, one that resides between print and independent film. Often created by a team of collaborators working in sound, animation, and language, these new-media novels involve many of the same challenges and pleasures of working in film or theater. This panel will take up several aspects of this exciting new genre, including its writing, creation, collaboration, and publication. |
Waldorf |
R170. New England Review 30th Anniversary Reading. (Keith Lee Morris, Shannon Cain, Brock Clarke, Natasha Trethewey, Carl Phillips, Jennifer Grotz) New England Review's anniversary reading highlights the diversity of talent that has characterized this quarterly for thirty years. Literary magazines are often fleeting enterprises, but New England Review has been publishing new and established writers since 1978. Three poets and three fiction writers who have appeared recently in our pages will read from their work. Come hear some of the voices that have distinguished and sustained this publication through the past three decades. |
Williford A |
R171. Art School Confidential: Creative Writing in the Art School Environment. (Hugh Behm-Steinberg, Monica Drake, Matt Hart, Joseph Lease, Janet Desaulniers, Mairéad Byrne) Once thought of as places that only produced artists and designers, art schools increasingly have become places that teach writing and are the home of graduate and undergraduate creative writing programs. Not just places where poets and painters rub elbows, these institutions are laboratories of culture with the potential to change how literature is produced and taught. In this panel, we'll examine the opportunities and concerns that face writers at these unique institutions. |
Williford B |
R172. The Age of Invention: Innovation and Experimentation in Middle-Grade and Young Adult Fiction. (Mary Rockcastle, Liza Ketchum, Anne Ursu, E. Lockhart, Anita Silvey) Very innovative work is being done today in middle-grade and young adult fiction—innovative in form, style, point of view, design, and subject matter. These books boldly satirize and comment on the human condition; they take on taboo subjects; and they interweave fiction, poetry, drama, and visual art. The panelists will discuss artistic innovation in their own work and in the work of writers they admire. They will set this work in a context of the larger field of fiction for young readers. |
Williford C |
R173. Writing the Novella. (Brian Roley, Cynthia Reeves, Cary Holladay) Too long for magazines, too short for most publishers, the novella has become a literary form with few venues for publication. Two published winners of the Miami University Press Novella Prize will read from their work and discuss the current state of the novella. |
3:00 p.m.-4:15 p.m. | |
Astoria |
R174. Translation: On the Page and Beyond. (Johannes Goransson, Martin Riker, Olivia Sears, Mairead Case) While there has been some discussion about the process of translation itself, less has been said about the role translation can play on the page and beyond. How are translations published? What can translations do to empower communities, inspire students, and forge exchange among different cultures? This panel of publishers, editors, teachers, and activists will discuss opportunities for translation in publishing, teaching, arts organizations, and community service. |
Boulevard Room A,B,C |
R175. Reentering the Black Forest in Poetry, Prose, and Drama. (Marilyn Kallet, Mimi Schwartz, Gilya Schmidt, Kali Meister) This reading and dramatization by practitioners of diverse genres brings to life Holocaust survivor testimonies from the Black Forest area of Germany. Two of the panelists are cousins whose relatives were victims of Hitler. They found each other recently at a survivors' reunion and discovered both were authors; one a poet, one a novelist. A scholar of rural German Jewry and an actress/playwright help to inform and animate the topic, to honor the voices of the "discarded." |
Continental A |
R176. Poetic Responses to AIDS. (Charles Flowers, Ruben Quesada, Eloise Klein Healy, Rafael Campo, Jack Wiler, Michael Broder) Poetic responses to the AIDS experience began to appear in the mid-1980s. Through the 1990s and today, the dialogue between poetry and AIDS has changed its focus. How has the advent of medication and the treatment of AIDS changed perspectives in the 21st century? What contribution does poetry make in recognizing this disease? This panel will discuss how poetic responses to AIDS are evolving and its impact over the past twenty years. |
Continental B |
R177. Writing Class / Writing Gender. (Teresa Carmody, Selah Saterstrom, Corrina Wycoff, Ali Liebegott, Veronica Gonzalez) The stories of poor women have been traditionally written realistically, in order to faithfully depict the grind and grit of poverty to readers often presumed to be not-poor. What happens to the reality of poor women when rendered in non-realist, non-naturalist writing? Is realism actually more artificial than the sometimes surreal state of being a have-not? This panel presents five women writers whose work addresses the realities of social class and gender in a not-strictly realist style. |
Continental C |
R178. How to Make Money Writing Right Now. (Lisa Lieberman, Logan Perkes, Kristen Fitzpatrick, James Espinoza) This panel examines the untapped world of commercial and trade magazine writing. We are discussing where to find writing jobs, how much they pay, and how to get started. These jobs may not all be glamorous. They may not all be writing for Cosmopolitan, the New York Times, or Vogue magazine. Some jobs may be writing about tomato diseases or the best dairy cow milking practices, or behind-the-scenes profiles of Texas legislators. But these jobs pay, and some of them pay very well. |
Grand Ballroom |
R179. A Tribute to Albert Goldbarth. (Rick Mulkey, Stephen Corey, Denise Duhamel, Barbara Hamby, Lia Purpura, Jeffrey Shotts) Albert Goldbarth's value to American literature is widely known. Considered by many to be the most original voice of his generation, this two-time National Book Critics Circle Award winner and Pen West Award winner continues to amaze with the quality and quantity of his writing. Reflecting on The Kitchen Sink: New and Selected Poems (2007), the panel of writers and editors will discuss the work of this Chicago-born poet, and the impact on two generations of American poetry and nonfiction. |
International Ballroom North |
R180. Something to Declare? Writers Discuss America's Internal Border. (Stacy Leigh, Luis Urrea, Tyehimba Jess, Achy Obejas, Roger Sedarat) The United States sees itself as a land of racial, ethnic, and cultural convergences. Yet time and again, publishers doubt American readers' willingness to cross cultural borders, even for a good story. Many readers seem unaware of, or seriously misinformed about, the wealth of American perspectives to be found in all genres of contemporary writing. How do writers cope with these strikes against their work? How does persistent cultural amnesia on the part of American readers and perpetual skepticism on the part of critics and publishers affect the writer's approach to storytelling? Four writers tell of highs, lows and, ultimately, successes in bringing their stories to broad audiences. |
International Ballroom South |
R181. Readings from Nelson Algren's The Man with the Golden Arm. (Dan Simon, Barry Gifford) Nelson Algren's greatest novel was The Man with the Golden Arm, which won the first National Book Award for fiction. Despite violence and pathos in the book that is cinematic, as Otto Preminger demonstrated in his adaptation starring Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak, it is a difficult and challenging book to read. Here Barry Gifford and fellow novelists read from and discuss the book, speaking as practitioners in the art of writing novels on topics drawn from real-life current events. |
Joliet |
R182. Elegiac Memoirs of Protest. (Kass Fleisher, Kristin Prevallet, Catherine Taylor, Khaled Mattawa, Akilah Oliver) Memoir is often about loss, but some memoirs take as their primary topic the loss of vital others, countries, or circumstance. Some narrators hope to incite in the reader an impulse to change the societal situations that caused the loss. These artifacts mourn as well as remonstrate, making the reader not just an ally of the victim, but an accomplice to the crime. Some works protest the loss as well as the lack of language adequate to articulate it. Here, form meets function to oppose social ill. |
Lake Erie |
R183. Editing—The Business of Writing. (Anthony Caleshu, Jeanne Leiby, Mark Drew, Mindy Wilson, Christopher Chambers) This event brings together five editors of esteemed literary journals: The Southern Review, The Georgia Review, Gettysburg Review, New Orleans Review, and Short Fiction. All editors are former editors of Black Warrior Review and will discuss how their editorial practice has developed over the past ten years. Of interest to fellow editors and writers alike, topics will include the "business" of editing, editor/writer relations, the selection process, and the future of the literary journal. |
Lake Huron |
R184. Lyric Selves and Global Imperatives: Toward a Poetics and Ethics of Encounter. (Luisa Igloria, Marjorie Agosin, Christine Casson, Honoree Fanonne Jeffers, Andrew Kaufman, Vivian Teter) This panel will discuss the formal and ethical concerns poets must engage with when the individual lyric self confronts the urgency of a global world and its imperatives. How is a poetics of encounter to be practiced and defined as the self ventures from a personal and experiential mode of saying toward a more representative utterance that would seek to translate others' voices or stories, re-vision historical accounts, or give voice to displaced, marginalized or vanishing peoples, forms, and landscapes? |
Lake Michigan |
R185. CLMP Panel—Finding the Needle in the Haystack: Marketing Strategies for Indie Publishers. (Jay Baron Nicorvo, Emily Cook, Dennis Johnson, Lisa C. Moore, Martha Rhodes, Richard Sowienski) Staff members from Milkweed Editions, Melville House Publishers, RedBone Press, Four Way Books, and The Missouri Review share how they make their books and magazines known to readers given the availability of 700,000 titles and oodles of magazines. |
Lake Ontario |
R186. Aftershock: What Happens Then You Throw Off the Veil of Fiction in Rendering Long Hidden Truths? Strategies, Advice, and Practical Tips from Four Writers of Memoir. (Leila Philip, Bob Cowser, Natalia Rachel Singer) Four writers of acclaimed memoirs consider the often surprising aftershock of publishing real life stories. Many writers are drawn to memoir through a sense of allegiance to real people, places, and historical events, but what happens when that allegiance requires the telling of long hidden truths? How can a writer anticipate and respond to reactions from family, friends, or whole communities? This panel will engage a lively discussion of issues ranging from the practical to the provocative, including hands-on advice for how to work with legal departments and copyright law. |
Marquette |
R187. This is the Midwest? Landscape in Narrative. (C.J. Hribal, A. Manette Ansay, David Haynes, Lan Samantha Chang, Susan Neville) Celebrating the diversity of writers with national reputations and Midwestern roots, and proving that life is complex wherever it's lived, five writers—A. Manette Ansay, Susan Neville, Lan Samantha Chang, David Haynes, and C.J. Hribal—will draw from their own work (which is set in such exotic locales as Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, and beyond) and discuss how setting, particularly landscape, can be used in narrative. |
Private Dining Room 2 |
R188. Is There Balm In Cyberspace? The Online Creative Writing Workshop. (Barbra Nightingale, Kristine Anderson, Abby Bardi, Tobey Kaplan, Sean Michael Law, Mary Cantrell) Teaching creative writing online presents many challenges and opportunities, especially at the introductory level. This session will illustrate techniques for moving "traditional" creative writing activities into an online environment, strategies for engaging students in creative writing activities, and methods of creating a community of writers in an online course. Participants will share their best practices and engage the audience to share theirs. |
Waldorf |
R189. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Nonfiction Reading. (Philip Graham, John Griswold, David Wright) This reading offers the latest nonfiction by three writers who serve on the faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: excerpts from a follow-up memoir about living in African villages, life as internet columnist Oronte Churm, and a view of the November 2005 riots in France by a writer who coached American football in one of the embattled immigrant suburbs. |
Williford A |
R190. A Reading in Celebration of the VONA Workshop. (Elmaz Abinader, David Mura, Willie Perdomo, Faith Adiele) This reading features the faculty of the VONA Voices Workshop, a writer's conference for writers of color taught by writers of color. Once part of the Hurston-Wright Writers Week, VONA is unique in its interracial and interethnic focus and has become a crucial and necessary institution for emerging writers of color. The writers on this panel represent a wide array of traditions, histories, and identities. They are border crossers whose vantage point is both local and global. They will speak about VONA's creation of a community for writers of color and will read from their own celebrated work. |
Williford B |
R191. Political Poets of Portland Reading. (Frances P. Adler, Cindy Williams Gutierrez, Gerardo Calderon, Willa Schneberg) Poet-dramatist Cindy Williams Gutierrez retrieves subversive voices of historical Aztec and Mexican figures. Mexican American musician Gerardo Calderon accompanies her on pre-Columbian flutes and drums. Poet Willa Schneberg worked in Cambodia for free elections and bears witness to the killing fields. Frances Payne Adler, who exhibits activist poetry in Capitol buildings, founded a Creative Writing and Social Action program. Come hear these Portland poets perform for peace and social justice. |
Williford C |
R192. Post-Racial Writing. (John Keene, Angelica Lawson, Prageeta Sharma, Dorothy Wang) In recent years, the idea of "post racial" identity and art has gained currency in a range of critical discussions and fields, from art history and theory to politics and literary critcism. "Are We Beyond Race?" has been asked as much about Claudia Rankine or Tao Lin as about Barack Obama. This panel will interrogate this concept through a critical reading of various poetries by writers of color in an effort to discover whether they, or we as readers, have left or could leave race behind. |
4:30 p.m.-5:45 p.m. | |
Astoria |
R193. A Tribute to Richard Stern. (Mary Quade, Peter Cooley, Molly McQuade, Jim Schiffer, Douglas Unger) Hailed as an attentive master of the forms of fiction, Richard Stern has for many decades been a landmark in Chicago's literary world, with stories that are human, precise, and warmly ironic. A towering icon at the University of Chicago, he has offered both honest perspective and dedicated guidance to many young writers struggling to find a voice. Celebrate his 81st birthday by joining authors who have written under and about Richard Stern for a tribute to his work on the page and in the classroom. |
Boulevard Room A,B,C |
R194. The Cincinnati Review 5th Anniversary Reading. (Don Bogen, Peter Orner, James Kimbrell, Barbara Ras, Keith Lee Morris) Award-winning poets Barbara Ras and James Kimbrell and renowned fiction writers Peter Orner and Keith Lee Morris share the stage to celebrate the 5th anniversary of The Cincinnati Review. |
Continental A |
R195. Inclined to Speak: Arab American Poets Reading. (Philip Metres, Khaled Mattawa, Hayan Charara, Elmaz Abinader, Fady Joudah, Deema Shehabi) In celebration of the publication of Inclined to Speak: Contemporary Arab American Poetry, six Arab American poets—Elmaz Abinader, Hayan Charara, Fady Joudah, Khaled Mattawa, Philip Metres, and Deema Shehabi—read from the anthology and their latest works, engaging in the questions of being Arab and American in a post 9/11 world. |
Continental B |
R196. Penelope Austin: A Tribute and Celebration. (Ralph Wilson, Scott Cairns, Wyn Cooper, Christopher Merrill, Kathy Fagan, Michael White) A panel of distinguished colleagues and friends will pay tribute to this poet from Detroit, Michigan who wrote, taught, and lived her life with passionate intensity before succumbing to breast cancer in 2003. Participants will remember her through personal stories and by reading from her award-winning poems. The event also celebrates the posthumous publication of her last book of poetry, Bow, in 2008. |
Continental C |
R197. Wesleyan University Press Poetry Reading. (Stephanie Elliott, Kazim Ali, Marianne Boruch, M. NourbeSe Philip, Hilda Raz, Rae Armantrout, Rae Armantrout) Five poets recently published by Wesleyan will read from their books. Each distinguished poet in this diverse group is an original. The poets in this reading draw their inspiration from Sufi texts and Yoruba ancestors, from grandchildren and avant garde photographers, from sparrows and shipwrecks. Their works are unified by sublime craftsmanship, the power to move us, and by the profound truths they reveal to us. |
Grand Ballroom |
R198. Builder of Positive Reality: A Conversation with Haki R. Madhubuti. (Quraysh Ali Lansana, Haki R. Madhubuti) Poet and essayist Dr. Haki R. Madhubuti is the founder and publisher of Chicago's Third World Press. At 41 years of age, TWP is the oldest continously publishing independent African American book publisher in the nation. Madhubuti, a key figure from the Black Arts Movement, has established four Afrikan-centered schools and countless other institutions focused on the cultural and political education of people of color. The aim of this public discourse is to allow Madhubuti to discuss his many activities and achievements. |
International Ballroom North |
R199. Reading by Eric Bogosian. A Reading by Eric Bogosian, sponsored by the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University |
International Ballroom South |
R200. American Hybrid: The Meeting of Extremes. (Cole Swensen, Forrest Gander, Brenda Hillman, Cal Bedient, Lynn Emanuel, Mark McMorris) This panel will address the critical premise behind the 2009 Norton anthology American Hybrid: that the long-standing division in American poetry between tradition and experiment has given way to myriad hybrids informed by both extremes, bringing them into real conversation for the first time. The panelists chosen demonstrate the rich range of our poetic inheritances; their statements on this trend will be followed by a public discussion to explore its potentials and ramifications. |
Lake Erie |
R201. University of Michigan MFA Program Alumni Reading. (Sean Norton, Rattawut Lapcharoensap, Tung-Hui Hu, Nami Mun, Patrick O'Keeffe, Jason Bredle, Tung-Hui Hu) This reading will feature several notable alumni from the U-M MFA Program and will focus on the varied approaches to aesthetics that have traditionally been a hallmark of the program. |
Lake Huron |
R202. It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood!: Five Chicago Writers Mark Their Territory. (John McNally, Stephanie Kuehnert, Billy Lombardo, Elizabeth Crane, Donald Evans) We all know that writers value place in their fiction, but what about that place within a place—the neighborhood? And how do writers writing about the same place cordon off their own unique patch of land? Meet five Chicago fiction writers who, having planted flags on their own literary blocks, will discuss their specific neighborhoods, the role neighborhood plays in their work, the ways in which they stake claim to their local tavern or coffee shop, and the ways in which their use of neighborhood affects their readership. |
Lake Michigan |
R203. The Notre Dame Review's 15th Anniversary Reading. (Valerie Sayers, William O'Rourke, Jaimy Gordon, Jenny Boully, Kevin Ducey, Ed Falco) The Notre Dame Review, a journal of prose, poetry, and art, celebrates its 15th anniversary with a reading. Four writers who have appeared in the Review's pages and who demonstrate its formal range will read poetry and prose. Founding editor Valerie Sayers and current co-editor William O'Rourke will introduce the readers. |
Lake Ontario |
R204. Las Mocosas Gritan: A Reading by Macondista Snot-noses. (Lorraine Lopez, Gabriela Jauregui, Angie Chau, Daisy Hernandez, Erin Badhand, Laura Negrete) This cross-genre reading will present poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction by a group of emerging women writers, all members of the Macondo Workshop established by Sandra Cisneros in San Antonio, Texas. These authors, who come from around the country and abroad—brought together through creativity and community activism—will share a variety of original works inspired by and in tribute to this extraordinary homeland for writers of color and other creative spirits at the margins. |
Marquette |
R205. A Tribute to Scott Russell Sanders. (Samrat Upadhyay, Scott Russell Sanders, Ross Gay, Maurice Manning, Barbara Bean, Bob Bledsoe) This event honors Scott Sanders as a teacher and a writer. After 38 years, Scott is retiring from Indiana University, where he has been a beloved teacher to hundreds of students. This tribute brings together many of Scott's past and present students. Scott's colleagues will speak about his contribution to Indiana's writing program and to American literature, particularly through his deeply reflective personal essays on nature. |
Private Dining Room 2 |
R206. Poetry's Electronic Communities. (Bruce Covey, Stephanie Young, Amy King, Robin Beth Schaer, Eileen Tabios, Stephanie Strickland) This panel examines a broad range of web-based and digital poetic communities, including poetry blogs, electronic journals, poetry listservs, facebook, myspace, flarf, and other electronic collaborations, and audience responses to digital poetry. What are the positive and negative implications of these communities? What are their overarching effects on audience, canonicity, and accessibility? How does a writer or reader navigate these virtual spaces? Is there such a thing as a "poetics of the web"? |
Waldorf |
R207. Bruce Jay Friedman & Friends on the Short Story. (Derek Alger, Bruce Jay Friedman, Claire Davis, Steve Heller) Bruce Jay Friedman, hailed as a comic genius, leads a discussion on the short story as an art form in itself, not as a stepchild of American literature, but as a 100-yard dash that is every bit as challenging as the mile run. There are stories that accomplish more in a few pages than a novel does in several hundred, with many writers doing their best work in the short story, such as Cheever and Hemingway. The panel will also discuss how many great films have been adapted from short stories, including "Psycho," "High Noon," and Friedman's own story, "Change of Plan," which became the film "The Heartbreak Kid." |
Williford B |
R208. Arts & Letters 10th Anniversary: A Poetry Reading and Celebration. (Martin Lammon, Michael Waters, Fleda Brown, Leslie Ullman) Since 1999, Arts & Letters Journal of Contemporary Culture has published poetry, fiction, essays, plays, translations, reviews, and interviews featuring the world's most prominent authors as well as accomplished new writers. In this 10th anniversary celebration, contributors read their poetry. Editor Martin Lammon offers highlights from the journal's past, future plans, and a memorial for former poetry editor Susan Atefat-Peckham. |
Williford B |
R209. A Reading by Four Illinois Poets. (Michael Madonick, Tyehimba Jess, Janice N. Harrington, Steve Davenport) Join us as four award-winning poets from Illinois read from their culturally diverse and stylistically varied recent work. |
Williford C |
R210. My Share: Women Poets at LSU Press. (Taije Silverman, Constance Merritt, Betty Adcock, Claudia Emerson, Cathryn Hankla) Each of these poets—spanning four decades—will read a poem by one of her favorite LSU predecessors before reading her own work. This reading will hold to the spirit of women as muse, home, and bread for each other. It will celebrate how, to borrow from LSU poet Eleanor Ross Taylor, we write "weary from dancing, up the famous stairs...,together and alone toward "my love, my escape;/ My share." |
7 p.m. | |
Continental A |
R211. A Reception Hosted by the Grand Valley State University Department of Writing. Join us for a drink! Bar with tickets for free drinks available. |
Continental B |
R212. A Reception Hosted by the University Press. Join us for a drink! Bar with tickets for free drinks available. |
Continental C |
R213A. A Reception Hosted by The Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University. Join us for a drink! Bar with tickets for free drinks available. |
Lake Ontario |
R213B. A Reception Hosted by Michigan State University Press. A Book Reading and Reception. |
Private Dining Room 2 |
R214. A Reception Hosted by The University of Minnesota Creative Writing Program. Join us for a drink! Bar with tickets for free drinks available. |
Marquette |
R215. A Reception Hosted by Writers in the Schools. Join us for a drink! Bar with tickets for free drinks available. |
Williford A |
R216. A Reception Hosted by Georgia College and State University. Join us for a drink! Bar with tickets for free drinks available. |
8:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. | |
Auditorium Theatre |
R217. Keynote Address by Art Spiegelman. (Art Spiegelman) AWP's 2009 Keynote Address by Art Spiegelman, sponsored by Roosevelt University. |
10:00 p.m.-Midnight | |
Boulevard Room A,B,C |
R218. Afterhours Poetry Slam. (James Warner) The All Collegiate event is open to all undergrad and grad students attending the slam. Participation is capped at ten slammers a night. Slam pieces must be no longer than three minutes in length. Prizes, judges, and organization of event will be handled by Wilkes University Creative Writing Program. |
Waldorf |
219. AWP Public Reception & Dance Party. Sponsored by Murray State University Low-Residency MFA. Music by DJ Neza. Free beer and wine from 10:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m. Cash bar from 11:00 p.m.-midnight. |
