We are so excited to host over 375 events at #AWP24! While all of the events on the schedule are amazing, AWP wanted to highlight these excellent events below.

First Time’s the Charm: Debut Novelists on How to Debut

Who: Jeremy Broyles, Holly M. Wendt, Kate Reed Petty, Sarah Cypher, Sarah Marian Seltzer

When: Thursday, February 8, 10:35 a.m.-11:50 a.m.

Where: Room 2101, Kansas City Convention Center, Street Level

Q: What can writers who attend your event expect to hear, learn, or enjoy?

A: This event is designed for writers looking to break through with their first novel. That debut process, from querying all the way to publication, is one fraught with potholes and stumbling blocks. Our panel is comprised of recent debut authors fresh from their experiences navigating those challenges. The lessons we’ve learned along the way are ones we intend to share during our panel discussion. The first novel, after all, is the hardest, and we hope to make that journey for writers at least a little bit easier.

Q: What inspired you to put together this event? How did it come about?

A: This event got its start at the AWP Conference & Bookfair in Seattle in March 2023 when authors Holly M. Wendt and Jeremy Broyles just happened to sit at the same table during an informal discussion for writers with debut novels on the horizon. From that initial meeting, this event grew through correspondence almost always centered on the same point: “Golly, I wish I’d known that when I started this process.” Those commiseration sessions grew into an idea—why not try to give future debut authors all the insight we wished we had?

Queer As In: A Reading of Debut Trans and Nonbinary Poets

Who: Sebastian Merrill, Jennifer Conlon, Tennison Black, jason b. crawford

When: Thursday, February 8, 12:10-1:25 p.m.

Where: Room 2209, Kansas City Convention Center, Street Level

Q: What can writers who attend your event expect to hear, learn, or enjoy?

A: Four trans and nonbinary poets read from their debut books.

Q: What inspired you to put together this event? How did it come about?

A: I was inspired to celebrate new trans and nonbinary writing in a time when our lives and ideas are actively erased.

Feeling Heard in a World that Wants to Silence Us: LGBTQIA+ Rep in Young Adult

Who: Jenna Miller, Edward Underhill, Trang Thanh Tran, Rachael Lippincott, Julian Winters

When: Thursday, February 8, 1:45-3:00 p.m.

Where: Room 2504AB, Kansas City Convention Center, Level 2

Q: What can writers who attend your event expect to hear, learn, or enjoy?

A: Writers will learn about the importance of LGBTQIA+ stories for young readers (and all readers). The panelists will talk about their own experiences with readers and systems, both good and bad, that shed light on why these stories are needed.

Q: What inspired you to put together this event? How did it come about?

A: There’s been a tragically overwhelming amount of US legislation passing related to LGBTQIA+ rights, particularly book banning. I was inspired to put this event together to show readers and communities that we’re still here, and our stories deserve to be heard. Young readers deserve access to stories that represent who they are, especially in spaces they should feel safe (schools, libraries, etc.). Silencing stories means silencing the identities they represent, and it’s our goal to keep fighting for both through our words and encouraging others to do the same.

Crafting the Complexity of Jewish Women’s Lives

Who: Elizabeth Poliner, Margot Singer, Rachel Kadish, Sarah Seltzer, Lauren Grodstein

When: Thursday, February 8, 3:20-4:45 p.m.

Where: Room 2208, Kansas City Convention Center, Street Level

Q: What can writers who attend your event expect to hear, learn, or enjoy?

A: A rich, lively discussion between highly accomplished novelists about creating authentic, complex Jewish women on the page. A panel for all writers creating against patriarchal bias and cultural stereotype.

Q: What inspired you to put together this event? How did it come about?

A: The panel evolved from the shared experience of our reading too many works of fiction where Jewish women have been shaped, narrowly, by male writers. We aim to celebrate women writers giving voice to the fullness and reality of women’s lives.

When Every Word Is a Spoon: Disabled Writers on the Accommodations We Need

Who: Jaclyn Rachel, Eshani Surya, Jess Silfa, Sylvia Chan, Cat Ingrid Leeches

When: Friday, February 9, 10:30-11:50 a.m.

Where: Room 2103B, Kansas City Convention Center, Street Level

Q: What can writers who attend your event expect to hear, learn, or enjoy?

A: Disabled and chronically ill writers are writing vital work, especially in lieu of the COVID-19 crisis. But the writing world, through its in-person events, MFA programs, and tireless publishing expectations, often does not accommodate our needs—meaning that our voices are all too easily lost. Join us as we discuss how disabled writers can protect themselves from the industry’s ableism, as well as how the larger writing community can better support and uplift disabled writers.

Q: What inspired you to put together this event? How did it come about?

A: Each of us has navigated different facets of the literary world while also navigating our disabilities, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of us were already connected because of the disability community, and we often already support each other with how to participate in publishing, reading series, MFAs, fellowships/residencies, and workshops. We wanted to extend our knowledge and network to other writers through this panel—and for those attendees who are not disabled themselves, we wanted to inform them on how to be better allies and advocates for us too.

Of a Certain Age: Women Writers Near Sixty and Beyond

Who: Jay Lamar, Patricia Foster, Angela Jackson-Brown, Wendy Reed, Jacqueline Allen Trimble

When: Friday, February 9, 1:45-3:00 p.m.

Where: Room 3501 AB, Kansas City Convention Center, Level 3

Q: What can writers who attend your event expect to hear, learn, or enjoy?

A: Lively conversation and serious thoughts by accomplished writers of fiction, memoir, essays, and poetry about being female, aging, and maintaining (sometimes discovering) creative practice.

Q: What inspired you to put together this event? How did it come about?

A: The panel grows out of an almost three-year collaboration on a collection of essays by women writers and artists about aging and creativity. Each of the panelists contributed to the collection, called Old Enough and due out from the University of Georgia Press in May 2024. We are not alone: many women “of a certain age” are thinking hard about life after fifty-five, sixty-five, seventy-five, or beyond and how to sustain (enhance, expand, begin) creative work. We have a lot to say!

Beating the Numbers Game: Submissions Strategies

Who: Amber Wheeler Bacon, Keith Lesmeister, Jonathan Bohr Heinen, Manuel Gonzales, Libby Flores

When: Friday, February 9, 1:45-3:00 p.m.

Where: Room 2501, Kansas City Convention Center, Street Level

Q: What can writers who attend your event expect to hear, learn, or enjoy?

A: Tips and tricks for submitting to literary magazines and a new outlook on how to think about rejections.

Q: What inspired you to put together this event? How did it come about?

A: I got exactly one hundred rejections before an acceptance. Slowly I saw my acceptance percentile increase as my writing improved, but it wasn’t just that. I also learned more about magazines, working at several myself as a reader and editor. I saw that in many ways, acceptances to literary magazines are a numbers game, and I spoke with other editors about ways submitters can increase the likelihood of an acceptance over time. There are small things writers can do (in addition to continuing to work on their craft) to increase their likelihood of success.

Mango Is Not My Only Metaphor: South Asian Writers on Fiction in the 2020s

Who: Eshani Surya, Mimi Mondal, Swati Sudarsan, Sarah Thankam Mathews, Sophia Babai

When: Saturday, February 10, 9:00-10:15 a.m.

Where: Room 2215C, Kansas City Convention Center, Street Level

Q: What can writers who attend your event expect to hear, learn, or enjoy?

A: Despite the innovative art South Asian writers are creating, the US writing world often expects our work to fit into the same single-story immigrant narrative that has been in vogue for decades. Join five South Asian writers of various intersectional identities as we discuss what South Asian fiction looks like in the 2020s, how we respond to and/or critique our lineages, how we navigate the Western publishing industry, and what we envision for an inclusive South Asian writing community.

Q: What inspired you to put together this event? How did it come about?

A: There are many South Asian writers working and writing in innovative ways. In many cases, we have been following each other’s work and cheering each other for years. At the same time, many of us are forced to navigate our external pressures about what our art should look like—and in some cases, we are also navigating our own internalized pressures too. We encourage South Asian writers to seek each other out and build a community that supports each other, engages with political and social issues, and recognizes the diversity of South Asian work. We hope this panel can be a starting point for creating this type of community.

The Writer-Mom: How Motherhood Changes and Influences Writing Habits and Subject

Who: Laura Leigh Morris, Christine Stewart-Nuñez, Michelle Ross, Shannon Gibney 

When: Saturday, February 10, 12:10-1:15 p.m.

Where: Room 2502A, Kansas City Convention Center, Level 2

Q: What can writers who attend your event expect to hear, learn, or enjoy?

A: Writers can expect to hear from four writer-moms who will discuss the tools they’ve developed to keep writing in motherhood. We will also discuss the ways our writing has changed with motherhood.

Q: What inspired you to put together this event? How did it come about?

A: My entire writing life changed after having a baby and gaining a stepdaughter. From the time I have to write to the subject matter I explore, everything is different!

Show (Me), Don’t Tell: Missouri Writers Grappling with the State of Their State

Who: Caleb Tankersley, Hadara Bar-Nadav, Sam Edmonds, Ron A. Austin, Phong Nguyen

When: Saturday, February 10, 12:10-1:25 p.m.

Where: Room 3501CD, Kansas City Convention Center, Level 3

Q: What inspired you to put together this event? How did it come about?

A: This panel was born out of that mixture of frustration and love many transplants feel for their former homes. I grew up in Missouri and loved much of the experience. At the same time, there were elements (cultural, political, religious) that—as a gay man—left me feeling trapped and confined. I moved away to get out from under those elements, but a part of me has always regretted that move. Would it have been kinder or more integritous to stay and fight for a place that is often dismissed but that I know has so much potential for renewal? There are no easy answers to these questions, and my writing became a space where I could more fully grapple with them. I wondered if other Missouri writers dealt with similarly complex feelings toward the state. I reached out to a few I knew and admired. Interestingly, some of them were working on essentially the same panel concept, so we combined our efforts and formed this one. I hope that means there’s something in this idea worth discussing and that Missouri has not only a rich literary past but a literary future as well.

There’s No Normal in Publishing: Stories from 2023 Young Adult Debuts

Who: Jenna Miller, Edward Underhill, Ellen O’Clover, Trang Thanh Tran, Krystal Marquis

When: Saturday, February 10, 12:10-1:25 p.m.

Where: Room 2211,  Kansas City Convention Center, Street Level

Q: What can writers who attend your event expect to hear, learn, or enjoy?

A: Writers can expect to get a realistic view of the publishing industry from a diverse range of genres and voices. These 2023 debut author panelists will draw from their own experiences to uncover the exciting and intense world of publishing. We’ll share pain points, wins, and the amazing chaos that’s happened along the way.

Q: What inspired you to put together this event? How did it come about?

A: From Twitter discourse to private group chats to varying successes, young adult publishing can feel like the Wild West. We oftentimes hear “There’s no normal in publishing,” but what does that mean? I was inspired to put this event together to help new and future YA authors (and authors in general) better understand the ins and outs of the publishing landscape. Our goal is to help others be better prepared for the chaos that is publishing.

Indigenous Stories & Literary Stewardship: Evolving & Protecting Our Narratives

Who: Marisa Tirado, Stacie Denetsosie, Kateri Menominee, Erin Marie Lynch, m.s. RedCherries

When: Saturday, February 10, 3:20-4:45 p.m.

Where: Room 2102B, Kansas City Convention Center, Street Level

Q: What can writers who attend your event expect to hear, learn, or enjoy?

A: An enthusiastic conversation and discussion of craft choices, ethical questions, and publishing and editing concerns that affect the Indigenous writer when confronted with questions regarding their identity and culture and the portrayal of Indigeneity in their work.

Q: What inspired you to put together this event? How did it come about?

A: It began with a conversation between friends that became a broader discussion with other Indigenous writers who had similar concerns regarding editing and representation in the publishing industry—and the obstacles we, collectively, have faced.