2019 AWP Conference Schedule

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

6:30 pm to 9:30 pm Books, Booze, Boogie: A Welcome Poetry & Dance Party! NM Bodecker Foundation, 2360 NW Quimby St, Portland, OR 97210 Cost: Free: Must register! Url: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/books-booze-boogie-a-welcome-poetry-dance-party-tickets-58018909119 Join authors from Write Bloody Publishing and University of Hell Press at the fabulous NM Bodecker Creative Foundation on Wednesday, March 27, for a celebration of books, (a bit) of booze, and (a lot) of boogie. Eight authors will share short, powerful selections of their work; all participants will dance dance dance the (early) night away. 6:30 p.m: Doors open! 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m: Reading begins! 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m: Fast and furious dance party! Free! but must RSVP via Eventbrite to reserve your coveted spot for this exclusively rad event. Limited to the first 100 guests!

Thursday, March 28, 2019

12:00 pm to 1:15 pm R198. Page Meets Stage D137-138, Oregon Convention Center, Level 1 ( Taylor Mali, Mark Doty, Anis Mojgani, Shayla Lawson, Seema Reza) Where does poetry live? Where does it breathe? And what makes it dance? This reading will answer those questions insufficiently but entertainingly. Modeled after the popular 14-year-old series at the Bowery Poetry Club in , four poets who occupy different places on the continuum from page to stage—from the National Book Award to the National —read "popcorn style," with no set order and sometimes not even a set list in an ongoing poetic conversation.

1:30 pm to 2:45 pm R234. Give a Good Reading E141-142, Oregon Convention Center, Level 1 (Angel Nafis, Hieu Min Nguyen, Leigh Lucas, Mike Goetzman) Writers are entertainers. And yet, sometimes we're the worst presenters of our own writing. Why do we spend so much time composing and editing and so little time practicing reading our work? Who are readers we love and what can we learn from them? How can we better prepare, more frequently share, and give life to our work off the page?

2:00 pm to 3:00 pm Author Signing: Choi, Franny Organization Name: Alice James Books Spot: 3023, 3025

3:00 pm to 4:15 pm R278. Building the Table: Carving Out PoC Creative Spaces F151, Oregon Convention Center, Level 1 (Nicole Homer, Candace Wiley, Monifa Lemons, William Evans, Rachel McKibbens) Black and brown communities have been traditionally underrepresented in academia and publishing. The proverbial seat at the table has been denied to PoC time and time again. Sometimes you need to build your own table. The founders of Pink Door Writing Retreat for Women and GNC Writers of Color, The Watering Hole, and BlackNerdProblems discuss their specific reasons for creating and maintaining PoC-only spaces, the rewards and challenges, and strategies to grow, fund, and tend to them.

4:30 pm to 5:45 pm R316. The Future is Femme & Queer: An Alice James Reading Portland Ballroom 251, Oregon Convention Center, Level 2 (Franny Choi, Carey Salerno, Shira Erlichman, Tamiko Beyer) Alice James Books was founded in 1973 with the goal of giving voice to women poets. Though the press now publishes poets from a broad range of identities, women writers remain central to Alice James' mission—and queer women are leading the charge on some of the most exciting innovations in contemporary . Three authors, whose work spans a broad range of styles, forms, and concerns, will read from their collections and ask: what is the future of queer feminist poetry?

6:00 pm to 7:15 pm R322A. Asian American Caucus E147-148, Oregon Convention Center, Level 1 (Cathy Linh Che, Neelanjana Banerjee, Lawrence-Minh Bùi Davis, Jyothi Natarajan, Jason Bayani) How can Asian American writers build a more robust network? What does it mean to be a writer of color in these times? This fourth annual Asian American Caucus is a town hall-style hang out and community space. Come meet other Asian American writers and discuss fellowships, publication opportunities, and resources available to support you. Organized by the Asian American Writers' Workshop, Kaya, Kundiman, the Asian American Literary Review, Kearny Street, Hyphen, and Smithsonian’s APAC.

6:00 pm to 7:30 pm Books & Brass: An Evening of Prose, Poetry, and Live Jazz 830 N Shaver St, Portland, OR 97227 Cost: Free Url: https://www.facebook.com/events/270186693874732 The Conium Review & Conium Press present a night of readings from Theodora Bishop, Ashley Farmer, TJ Fuller, Simone Person, Caitlin Scarano, Rebecca Schiff, Christine Texeira, and Eliza Tudor. Readings from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. with book signings and mingling to follow. Plus there will be free swag from Conium Press! After the readings, you are invited to stay for a live jazz performance from the Michael Raynor Quartet starting at 8:00 p.m. Please note: The readings are free, but there is a $5 cover if you stay for the music.

7:00 pm to 9:00 pm No Grit, No Pearl Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC), 318 SE Main St #155, Portland, OR 97214 Cost: Free Url: https://www.facebook.com/events/1476943015769683/ Join University of Hell Press authors and friends in an evening showcase of stories demonstrating true grit. This night will be one of the best ways to see, hear, and meet new creatives in one of the best creative (DIY/publishing) spaces in town!

8:30 pm to 9:30 pm Platypus Press Presents: Wildness Mother Foucault’s Bookshop, 523 SE Morrison St, Portland, OR 97214 Cost: Free Url: http://facebook.com/events/333415630787718 Join your host, Jenny Sadre-Orafai, for an amazing night of words from two-time Champion Anis Mojgani, National Book Award longlistee Chen Chen, and and Anisfield-Wolf fellow Leila Chatti.

Saturday, March 30, 2019

10:30 am to 11:45 am S145. Kafka’s Office, Ailey’s Studio: Creative Writers in Professional Administration A106, Oregon Convention Center, Level 1 (Christy J. Zink, Doug Hesse, Michael Paul Thomas, Lisa Page, Seema Reza) For creative writers, administration signals bureaucracy, at worst, or artistic free-rein, at best. But in this gig economy, leadership jobs can provide not just stable but also fulfilling work. This panel—comprised of university program directors and a dean, with leaders of national organizations and local nonprofits—discusses complex realities when writers enter into a system’s machine. Writer/administrators share lessons from their creative leadership, even under institutional resistance.

12:00 pm to 1:15 pm S189. Prison Is Not A Genre C124, Oregon Convention Center, Level 1 (Caits Meissner, Randall Horton, Clint Smith, Jeannie Thompson, Joshua Bennett) Reaching beyond the often-discussed value and how-to of writing programs in prisons, this PEN America panel seeks to challenge personal motivations, institutional practices, and the use of rhetorical language that can inadvertently perpetuate a culture of stigma and separation. Panelists representing a range of lived, creative, organizational and policy perspectives will discuss how to collaborate more ethically, equitably and inventively with work coming out of the prison environment.

3:00 pm to 4:15 pm S272. The Art of the Interview Oregon Ballroom 201-202, Oregon Convention Center, Level 2 (Rachel Zucker , Franny Choi, Danez Smith, Kaveh Akbar, Rebecca Hoogs) This panel will explore the various manifestations, roles, connections, complications, and utilities of the interview within current literary communities. Panelists have conducted interviews in a variety of formats, including written, live, and online. They will share some of the ethical, logistical and personal challenges they have encountered—and each of us encounters—when trying to guide meaningful conversations around the personal, the political, and the poetic.