Saturday- March 3, 2007

Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Lobby Level S100. Conference Registration. Attendees who have registered in advance may pick up their registration materials throughout the day at AWP's registration desk. On-site registration passes are available for purchase. 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Exhibit Hall Lower Level S101. Bookfair. 9:00 a.m.-10:15 a.m. Crystal Ballroom Lobby Level S102. Beyond Realism: Fiction That Tangles With Tangibles. (Brian Evenson, Jeff VanderMeer, Gwenda Bond, Laird Hunt, Eric Lorberer, Ken Keegan) This panel's writers, publishers, editors, and critics will consider the dangers and demands of prose that destabilizes readers' reference frames. How are standard craft elements, as well as craft experiments, impacted when one writes beyond realism's bounds? What is this work's place in popular culture, in literature's history? Does it challenge criticism's norms? Does such writing ask us to reconsider the psychological, social, political frames we accept as reality, a questioning germane to our times? Ballroom A 2nd Floor S103. From the MFA to the Editor's Desk: MFA graduates talk about careers in publishing and editing. (Jim Clark, Kelly Link, Leigh Anne Couch, Matt O'Donnell, Renee Soto, Allison Seay) In this panel, editors from five different publishing arenas will talk about the editorial opportunities and challenges available to creative writers. The panelists will also consider how being an editor has added to and taken away from their lives as writers and how their lives as writers influence their decisions as editors. Introductions by Allison Seay. Ballroom B 2nd Floor S104. Wild Classrooms: Experiential Education and Creative Writing. (Alison Hawthorne Deming, David Gessner, John Lane, Phil Condon, William Stott, Katie Fallon) What happens when a red-tailed hawk eats a mouse in front of twenty creative writing students? What kind of writing results from a hike in the wilderness? This panel explores ways to use experiential or outdoor education to enhance the teaching of creative writing. What can students gain from hands-on activities? What assignments are given? What costs and risks are involved? Panelists will describe experiential education they employ in their own classes, and discuss benefits and drawbacks. Ballroom C 2nd Floor S105. Battle of the Terminal Degrees: PhD vs. MFA. (Graeme Harper, Tom Hunley, Jenna Kalinsky, Michael Kardos, Misty Urban, Jocelyn Cullity) Despite AWP's official position that the MFA is the appropriate degree for teaching at the university level, prospective employers increasingly require the PhD. Fiction writers and poets describe pros and cons of their degrees and share tips for negotiating the job market. We discuss universities in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, pointing to some differences in attitude. We also present how a mix of publications, academic credentials, and a third, vital ingredient leads to success. Cherokee 2nd Floor S106. Writing on Working, Working on Writing. (Larry Heinemann, Chuck Taylor, Tom Nawrocki, Lowell Mick White) We live in a nation where work is the center of most peoples' lives. Work stories are everywhere. Yet fiction often seems removed from the day-to-day concerns of working people. How can we as writers tell our stories if we ignore this vital topic? Can work stories be brought onto the page and into the classroom? Can we discover and develop voices that remind the nation of its working heritage? This panel will discuss how the lives of ordinary working people inform and enrich our literature. Henry 2nd Floor S107. In the Beginning There Was the Middle: A Panel on How Poems Begin. (Sharon Dolin, Beth Gylys, David Kirby, Phillis Levin, Lisa Russ Spaar, Connie Voisine) There are so many theories afloat about how to end a poem. What's the best way to begin a poem? Is it really always best to begin in the middle? Or does that only hold true for narrative poems? Can a strong poem begin at the beginning or at the end? Why are first lines so hard to write? Poets with divergent aesthetics will muse on the subject of poetic beginnings. North Court East 2nd Floor S108. What's the Conversion Rate for Euros? Americans Publishing Abroad. (Simmons B. Buntin, Philip Fried, Marck L. Beggs, John Hildebidle, Laura Lundgren Smith, Michael Heffernan) Five American poets and one American playwright who have published books review the advantages, challenges, and unique circumstances of publishing an English-language books overseas while living in the United States. Areas of focus include finding the publisher (or the publisher finding you), the give-andtake process, marketing and book-selling, working with North American distributors, and more. North Court West 2nd Floor S109. Interlocutor: An Alternative Literary Reading. (Trevor Dodge, Kat Meads, Davis Schneiderman, Maya Sonenberg, Lance Olsen, Gina Frangello) Chiasmus, one of the leading independent presses in the northwest, proposes an alternative to the conventional literary author-event in an effort to rethink what we mean when we say the word "reading." Chiasmus writers will respond to each other's words in a variety of forms, including critical, creative, performative, and via visual media. The purpose is to become conscious of what a reading is and can be by opening a new collective and collaborative space. Salon B 2nd Floor S110. The Performance of Writing. (Christian Bök, Clem Martini, Robyn Read, Aritha Van Herk) Writers must often "give voice" to their words through literary recital or dramatic staging-and hence their writing does not simply record their anecdotes or their arguments, but instead their writing must also guide the actions of its readership by providing a kind of "score" for performance. This panel will discuss some of the ways by which authors of poems and plays have dramatized their texts to the public, becoming charismatic reinventors of their own work through the act of reading it aloud. Salon C 2nd Floor S111. Does Poetry Make Nothing Happen?: Politics and the Poet. (Wendy Barker, Ralph Black, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Kimiko Hahn, Alicia Ostriker, Kevin Clark) In a time when Earth's future seems in the balance, a poet may feel only, to quote W. S. Merwin, "another priest of ornaments." Yet poets have always witnessed and warned of crises-Homer, Chaucer, Blake, Whitman, Celan, Neruda, and Ahkmatova were all political poets. Our panelists will read from their own poems, and discuss the problems they face and the strategies they employ to address their concerns. Salon D 2nd Floor S112. Beyond Direct Address & Imperative Mood: Second-Person Narration in Fiction. (Diane Glancy, Josh Russell, Lisa Phillips, Margaret Luongo) Authors and teachers who use second-person narration discuss the varied and complex effects of this much-maligned technique. Topics include narrative distance, psychic distance/dislocation, protagonist agency, narrative transparency, and more. South Court West 2nd Floor S113. Carolina Wren Press: 30 Years Young. (Preston Allen, William Pitt Root, Ken Rumble, Andrea Selch, Evie Shockley, Linda Tomol Pennisi) A reading by several recent Carolina Wren Press authors-one fiction writer and five poets- who represent the Press's original and continuing commitment to diversity of voices, including women, writers of color, writers from the south-as well as its more recent emphasis on experimental writers. Monroe 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) S115. Issues and Ideas in Administration of Creative Writing Programs at Two- Year Colleges. (Thomas Ray, Lyman Grant, Simone Zelitch, Leo Hwang-Carlos) This panel will address many of the common challenges and opportunities in administering writing programs at two-year colleges. The presenters will discuss topics including fundraising, college and community support, student literary magazines and curriculum development. Representing colleges from different regions, rural and urban, large and small, the panelists each offer different perspectives and ideas for developing and managing a creative writing program. Roosevelt 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) S116. 2006/2007 Writers' Conferences & Centers Meeting. (Felicia Olivera, WC&C Representative; Matt Burriesci, Associate Director of AWP; Christian Teresi, Associate Director of Membership Services & WC&C Coordinator) An opportunity for members of the Writers' Conferences & Centers to meet one another and the staff of AWP to discuss issues pertinent to building a strong community of WC&C programs. 10:30 a.m.-11:45 a.m. Crystal Ballroom Lobby Level S117. Freedom to Write? Our obligation to protect expression. (Larry Siems, Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, Eric Lax) Are writers being silenced around the world? Are our first amendment freedoms at risk here at home? How do current affairs affect the rights of writers to practice their craft? What is the role of self-censorship in a culture of real or imagined threats to freedom of expression? Join PEN America and PEN USA, the two United States centers of PEN for this discussion about the state of the Freedom to Write. International PEN has been defending the rights of writers around the world for eighty-five years. Ballroom A 2nd Floor S118. Leading the Double Life. (Phillip Lopate, Sven Birkerts, Ladette Randolph, Spencer Nadler, Diana Wagman, Dinah Lenney) So many writers purposefully pursue other channels, from teaching to medicine to editing to performance to parenthood, without necessarily feeling compromised or diminished as artists. On the contrary, our "day jobs" serve to inspire and deepen the work whether or not we mine them for material. How does it serve us to shuttle between our different worlds? It's worth examining our obligations-practical, social, spiritual-and how they directly and indirectly inform the writing life. Ballroom B 2nd Floor S119. These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Structure in Narrative. (Lan Samantha Chang, Michael Martone, Peter Turchi, C.J. Hribal) Four fiction writers will each pick a story they admire for its structure, talk about how it works, and how it helped their thinking about structuring narratives or teaching structure to our students. Ballroom C 2nd Floor S120. The Greensboro Review at Forty. (Natasha Trethewey, Patrick Phillips, Katrina Vandenberg, Jake Adam York, Kevin Wilson, Dan Albergotti) This multi-genre reading will celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Greensboro Review. Readers will include recent contributors to the The Greensboro Review. Dan Albergotti, former Greensboro Review poetry editor, will chair the session. Ballroom D 2nd Floor S121. Tampa Review and University of Tampa Press: Celebrating 43 Years of Poetry Publishing. (Jenny Browne, Lance Larsen, Julia Levine, Sarah Maclay, Barry Silesky, Jordan Smith) In 1964, UT Poetry Review began publishing poetry at the University of Tampa with work from Philip Whalen, Jerome Rothenberg, LeRoi Jones, Diane Wakoski, and William Stafford, as well as Florida poets. In 1986, the journal reinvented itself as Tampa Review with poets including Stephen Dunn, Derek Walcott, Mark Halliday, and Richard Chess. UT Press launched its poetry series in 2000, and awards the Tampa Review Prize annually. Celebrate forty-three years as UT Press poets read from their latest books. Cherokee 2nd Floor S122. Southern Lights: Community College Instructor-Writers and Experiments in Poetry and Prose. (Jill Karle Leahman, Sandy Longhorn, Al Maginnes, Kelly McQuain, Brett Eugene Ralph, Lois Roma-Deeley) The AWP Two-Year College Caucus presents six cross-genre instructor-writers who have personal and professional ties to the South. Panelists will read and discuss original experiments and traditional influences in new Southern poetry and prose, offering insight with regard to the construction of fractured narratives and the discovery of new positive/negative values in white space and punctuation, including the virgule, as well as the effect of the community college experience on their work. Henry 2nd Floor S123. OUTspoken: Readings by Atlanta's GLBTQ Poets. (Franklin Abbott, Larry Corse, Collin Kelley, Theresa Davis, Robin Kemp, Maria Helena Dolan) A poetry by Atlanta's diverse gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgendered and questioning poets will celebrate the one-year anniversary of Atlanta Rainbow Muse, the city's GLBTQ online literary journal. North Court East 2nd Floor S124. National Book Critics Circle Panel on Poetry Reviewing. (John Freeman, Kevin Prufer, Craig Morgan Teicher, Jerry Harp, Michael Theune, David Orr) For this panel, a group of writers and editors-including poetry reviewers, poets, an assigning editor, a blogger, and a book publisher-will discuss the ethics, vagaries, conflicts, and troubles of poetry reviewing. North Court West 2nd Floor S125. Playwrights and screenwriters: We do Belong. (Jan Quackenbush, Jean Klein, Nicholas Pierce, Bonnie Culver) Presenting plays and film scripts in their final form includes a performance and industry-specific process that makes including these genres "challenging" for most creative writing programs. This presentation will offer a model approach, a partnership of industry and academe, that provides a potential approach for other creative writing programs that must balance the needs of the student writer-to learn how to write-with the demands of play and film industry's expectations and conventions. Salon A 2nd Floor S126. Lewis Nordan's Song of the South. (John Dufresne, Steve Yarbrough, Mary Troy, Lee Martin, Jo McDougall, Donald Hays) A celebration of the life and work of this outrageously talented writer and beloved writing teacher by six writers who knew him when-back there in Fayetteville at the start of his brilliant career. We'll talk about Buddy's achingly beautiful, bluesy short stories and his wildly original novels, their influence on us and on a generation of contemporary Southern writers, and, of course, about the Nordan Effect: You're reading one of Buddy's stories and laughing so hard your sides ache when suddenly you realize you're crying. Salon B 2nd Floor S127. Tell It on the Mountain: Appalachian Writers and the Literature of the New South. (Kathryn Stripling Byer, Ann Pancake, Susan Tekulve, Diane Gilliam Fisher, Anita Rose) The creative and scholarly work of the panelists will explore the rich literary and cultural heritage of the Appalachian region. Presentations will question the influence of the timber and coal mining industries on the region, investigate the roles of women in the community, explore the ways writers and historians present the past, and discuss opportunities for bringing the literare of Appalachia into writing and literature classrooms. Salon C 2nd Floor S128. Our Elegiac Age: Contemporary American Poets and Mourning. (Cate Marvin, Alex Lemon, Michael Dumanis, D.A. Powell, Catherine Barnett, Christopher Davis) The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetics argues that the elegy as a genre is "deeply implicated in the making of literary history" as it "often involves the questions of initiation and continuity, inheritance and vocation." How, in the face of "war," AIDS, and violence in the media, does the American poet write about death? Six panelists will discuss younger American poets working within the elegiac tradition, with particular attention to how the personal utterance becomes public. Salon D 2nd Floor S129. Now What?: A Frank Look at Life After the MFA. (Paulette Beete, Tom Avila, Alex MacLennan, Gimbiya Kettering, Lisa Lister) Five MFA graduates, all less than three years out and engaged in writing-related careers, discuss finding your way as a writer in the "real world." Intended primarily for current MFA students or recent graduates, this panel frankly talks and answers questions about the realities of employment options, funding writing as a full-time career, balancing writing and other work, fellowships, writer's colonies, internships, establishing effective writing groups, and building professional connections. Salon E 2nd Floor S130. Book Contracts. (Jan Constantine) Authors Guild General Counsel Jan Constantine will offer attendees her expert advice on reviewing a book contract and the key points for negotiation with publishers. She will review the important clauses routinely found in traditional publishing agreements, such as copyright, royalties, and out of print, and answer audience questions. South Court West 2nd Floor S131. What's So Funny About Suffering? Writing Buddhist Humor. (Bich Minh Nguyen, Nin Andrews, Ira Sukrungruang, Tony Trigilio, Dinty W. Moore) The first noble truth of Buddhist philosophy suggests that "life is suffering," yet one defining characteristic of much recent American Buddhist literature-poetry, fiction, and memoir-is a focus on playfulness and humor in service of a spiritual message. Is this a contradiction, or just a koan? Five American writers of differing ethnicities and Buddhist backgrounds discuss the use of humor and playfulness in their own writing and in the writing of others, such as Ginsberg, Bassho, and the Dalai Lama himself. Walton 2nd Floor S132. Nu?: What's new about Jewish poetry?. (Ilya Kaminsky, Arielle Greenberg, Rachel Zucker, Erika Meitner, Jehanne Dubrow, Jason Schneiderman) How are Jewish writers approaching spiritual and religious material differently than other writers? What are the major issues that very contemporary Jewish-American poets are tackling in their work? How does the religious/cultural Jewish conundrum manifest itself in current Jewish-American poetry? Six diverse Jewish poets share their insights on the evolution of Jewish-American identity, the inheritance of the Shoah, the re-emergence of Yiddishkayt, and the struggle with Jewish tradition. Carter 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) S133. Panel: How to Use Lit Mags in Your Curriculum. (Jay Nicorvo, Ian Morris, Steve Tomasula, Kathy Fagan) Notable literature appears every month on newsstands, but is rarely incorporated in classroom syllabi. This panel will recommend strategies to make the most of the wide range of work published by today's literary magazines. Madison 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) S134. 2008 New York City Conference & Bookfair Forum. Join 2008 New York City conference chair and AWP staff for an open forum to discuss topics of interest and relevance to AWP's upcoming conference in New York City. Roosevelt 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) S135. The Poetry Caravan. (Usha Akella, Ruth Handel, E. J. Antonio) In 2003, the Poetry Caravan was launched. The goal was to provide free poetry readings and writing workshops to people who may not be able to access such opportunities by themselves. Since then, the Poetry Caravan has hosted more than 160 readings and ten writing workshops at nursing homes, senior centers, women's shelters, healthcare facilities etc. If you are interested in starting a chapter of the Poetry Caravan, the panel will share the story and provide you with the necessary documents to organize your own chapter of Poetry Caravan. 12:00 p.m.-1:15 p.m. Crystal Ballroom Lobby Level S136. Approaches to the Craft Class. (Robert Boswell, Catherine Barnett, Chris Castellani, Alan Shapiro, Michael Collier) Faculty and fellows from the Bread Loaf Writers Conference will provide examples of craft classes they've taught while talking about the ingredients of, approaches to, and rationale for the craft class, a popular and valuable form of programming in universities, writing centers, and conferences. Ballroom A 2nd Floor S137. Avoiding Ineptitude: Teaching Fiction Writing to Beginners. (Mark Winegardner, Dan Chaon, Brock Clarke, George Singleton, Lan Samantha Chang, Tom Bligh) Experienced teachers share their approaches to teaching fiction writing to high school and college students. What advice proves most fruitful? Do prescriptive rules or guidelines liberate or discourage students? What's the best balance of praise, encouragement, and constructive criticism? Why do workshop "stars" so rarely develop into career writers? How can teachers help students achieve competence in the short story. Ballroom B 2nd Floor S138. Sex, Death, and Creative Nonfiction. (Kristen Iversen, Laurie Lynn Drummond, Kate Evans, Bob Cowser) Sexuality, mortality, violence, desire-these are the experiences that shape our lives and fuel our writing. As writers of creative nonfiction, how do we write skillfully and honestly about sensitive subject matter? How does a writer move beyond sentimentality, sensationalism, melodrama, or cliché to reveal the true complexities of human experience? This panel will discuss aspects of objectivity, subjectivity, narrative distance, and emotional vulnerability, and provide ideas and strategies for writing about difficult emotional subjects. Ballroom C 2nd Floor S139. Southern Migration: Readings from Georgia's "Newcomer" Poets. (Beth Gylys, Stephen Corey, Alice Friman, Martin Lammon) There's a standing joke around these parts: "Where are you from," someone asks; "Atlanta," the person responds. "No, I mean where do you really come from?" Although many writers are native to Atlanta and Georgia, many more have moved here from "up north." Four poets whose "roots" go back to Buffalo, New York City, Pittsburgh, and rural Ohio, but who now call Georgia home-read from their poetry and discuss how moving "down south" has influenced their work. Ballroom D 2nd Floor S140. Nimrod 50th Anniversary Reading and Celebration. (Linda Pastan, John Balaban, Alicia Ostriker, Virgil Suarez, Sherry Fairchok, Francine Ringold) For fifty years, Nimrod has meant the discovery of the best new voices in fiction and poetry from around the country and around the world. To celebrate Nimrod's 50th anniversary of continuous publication, five distinguished contributors read from the issues in which their work appeared, as well as from a selection of their new work. These writers, diverse in their styles and backgrounds, demonstrate the range and scope that Nimrod continues to prize and seek for its pages. Cherokee 2nd Floor S141. The Roving "I": Constructing Narrators in the Travel Essay. (Michele Morano, Susannah Mintz, John Price, Dan Stolar) "Travel whirls you around, turns you upside down and stands everything you took for granted on its head," writes Pico Iyer. Sometimes, in the process of all this whirling, the traveler can begin to feel like an entirely new person, less inhibited than usual, more easily seduced by the foreign and the familiar alike. But how does one translate travel into prose when the "I" who experienced a journey feels so different from the "I" who writes about it later? The writers on this panel will discuss the crafting of complex, multilayered narrators in the travel essay, touching on the intersections between place and persona, accuracy and imagination. Henry 2nd Floor S142. The Baobab Poetry Collective Reading. (James Richardson, Lita Hooper, Nagueyalti Warren, Danielle Deadwyler, DeNatalie Phillips, Cherryl Floyd-Miller) Poets from The Baobab Poetry Collective, an African-American workshop based at Atlanta's Southwest Arts Center, showcase their narrative, formalist, experimental, spoken-word and other voices. North Court East 2nd Floor S143. Contemporary Poetry and the Vernacular. (Molly Bendall, Joshua Clover, Martin Corless-Smith, Maurice Manning, Susan Wheeler, Daniel Tiffany) Five contemporary poets discuss the verbal materials and models available to poetry from an array of vernacular sources. Vernacular expression encompasses not only dialect and various pidgin languages, but the jargon of criminal, sexual, and corporate underworlds, specialized vocabularies, and the changing elements of slang. North Court West 2nd Floor S144. Structure and Surprise: A New Paradigm for Teaching Poetry Writing. (Christopher Bakken, Corey Marks, Mark Yakich, Mary Szybist, Michael Theune, John Beer) T. S. Eliot calls the ability to make surprising and still convincing poetic turns "one of the most important means of poetic effect since Homer." While most agree that poems turn, this panel investigates how and why poems turn, introducing new ways to conceive of, categorize, and so craft poems, providing methods for creating the kind of poem Randall Jarrell envisions when he states, "A successful poem starts from one position and ends at a very different one.yet there has been no break in the unity of the poem." Salon A 2nd Floor S145. Celebrating the Legacy of Barbara Guest. (Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Andrew Joron, Elizabeth Robinson, Catherine Wagner) A Frost Medalist for her distinguished lifetime achievements in poetry, Barbara Guest, who died in 2006, was one of the United States' premier poets. Often associated with the New York School, Guest was the author of twenty-three books of poetry and collaborations with visual artists, including an acclaimed biography of the poet H. D., an innovative novel, Seeking Air; and books of art criticism and poetics. This panel will consider the ongoing import of Barbara Guest's writing and celebrate her legacy. Salon B 2nd Floor S146. Rear View: Southern Expatriate Writers on Regionalism, Distance, and Perspective. (Rebecca Black, Forrest Hamer, Rodney Jones, Stacey Lynn Brown, Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon) Whose job is it to define a place? Is Regionalism the domain of the people who remain? Or can a place equally be defined by those who leave it, bringing with them its language, landscape, and customs? How does the act of leaving inform the ways in which writers understand and write about the South? A cross-genre look at crossing state lines, this panel will explore the ways in which memory, understanding, and perspective become constructs as a result of distance from the place itself. Salon C 2nd Floor S147. I Like You, I Like You Not. (Rachel Pastan, Roger Turnau, Forrest Anderson, Jessica Pitchford, Jill Caputo) This panel will examine the different factors that deem a character as likable or unlikable. Panelists will explore whether or not the likeability of a character varies according to genre, gender, and point of view, focusing on the questions: Is there a way to present the unlikable character effectively? Should we, as writers, strive to make all of our characters likable, or is this the definition of mediocrity? South Court West 2nd Floor S148. Girl Stories: Lost Voices. (Rosemary Magee, Elaine Orr, Quinn Dalton, Lisa Allen) Four writers from the Georgia/Carolina region read short fiction depicting coming-of-age girl protagonists who are tested in significant life-altering ways. Their stories focus on psychological or spiritual events that lead toward belief, conversion, and enlightenment-or toward doubt, uncertainty, and fragmentation. The stories build on an important but slender canon of stories that include Sarah Orne Jewett's "The White Heron" and Tillie Olsen's "Oh Yes!" Walton 2nd Floor S149. Five Takes on the Lyric Essay: A Sarabande Reading in Memory of Deborah Tall. (Jenny Boully, Brenda Miller, Lia Purpura, Patricia Vigderman, Stephen Kuusisto) Literature today is in a period of overlap and integration. New genres have developed, or have benefited opportunistically, as a result of living along the borders between poetry and prose. We have poems that look like prose, stories that resemble poems, and essays that utilize poetic techniques. Sarabande gathers together five masters of the lyric essay: Jenny Boully, Brenda Miller, Lia Purpura, and Patricia Vigderman, who each offer their unique take on this intriguing form. Roosevelt 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) S150. Bridge and Interchange: Literary Centers Spanning Community and Academy. (Gail Browne, Rosemary Catacalos, Rich Levy, Kim Stafford, Thea Temple) Literary centers come in all stripes and sizes, some independent and community based, others housed in or deeply associated with university creative writing programs. What unites most centers is that we are profoundly dedicated to the widest possible range of writers, readers, and thinkers-from the polished professional to the grandmother who wants to record her family stories. This panel will explore how the general public and the academy are both enriched through the diverse work of literary centers. 1:30 p.m.-2:45 p.m. Crystal Ballroom Lobby Level S151. Purdue University MFA Program 20th Anniversary Reading. (Marianne Boruch, Patricia Henley, Elizabeth Stuckey-French, Mairead Byrne, Rob Davidson) The MFA Program in Creative Writing at Purdue University is celebrating twenty years as a graduate program. Two faculty members who have taught at Purdue from the beginning and four alumni will help us celebrate the milestone. Ballroom A 2nd Floor S152. Poets House Builds for the Future. (Kim Addonizio, Major Jackson, Thomas Lux, Nathalie Stephens) A poetry reading to celebrate the relocatation of Poets House, in late 2007, to a marvelous new building in Battery Park City, the beautiful riverfront neighborhood in lower Manhattan. With free rent guaranteed through 2069, the organization's singular poetry collections and programs will be secure for generations to come. Poets House is a 45,000 volume-poetry library and literary center that is open free to the public. Please visit www.poetshouse.org for more information. Ballroom B 2nd Floor S153. Show Me the Money! (Christina Lovin, John D. Thompson, Kristin Johannsen, Dhana-Marie Branton) Most writers see little compensation, even for their published work. In this session, panel members will divulge their sources and discuss methods for any writer to tap into the millions of dollars given each year to the arts. Individual writers, collectives, and small presses can all benefit from grants geared to their particular niche in the writing community. The usual suspects when it comes to grants, as well as more obscure funding sources based on specific criteria, will be discussed. Ballroom C 2nd Floor S154. Southern Experimental Writers: A Reading. (R. M. Berry, Kate Bernheimer, Lucy Corin, Michael Mejia, Brenda Mills) Whether writers have grown up Southern or moved to the South as adults, they swim in a cultural gumbo that is unique to this region, and must decide how to respond to it in their writing. These experimental writers enlarge the grand Southern literary tradition embodied by William Faulkner, Sherwood Anderson, Laura Riding Jackson, and Guy Davenport. Introduction from Michael Martone. Ballroom D 2nd Floor S155. Black, White and Read All Over: Discussing Literature "of Color". (Andrew Hsiao, Francisco Aragón, Kyoko Mori, Nick Chiles) In the world of literature, excellence is simply that: it has no special qualifications, only qualities that may be appreciated as unique, as universal or as both. Concern arises when ethnicity is included as an element to be considered when approaching and appreciating a literary text. The question arises: what weight does ethnicity carry, in describing outstanding literature? Cherokee 2nd Floor S156. The Imagination of Displacement. (Sehba Sarwar, Sorayya Khan, Ilona Yusuf, Maniza Naqvi) Four women novelists and poets of Pakistani origin currently living in the US explore issues of displacement and identity. Each writer's work reflects her personal history which includes being multiracial and/or belonging to an immigrant community twice, once with the creation of Pakistan/India and the second time by leaving the Subcontinent for the US. Each will read excerpts that address these themes and an open discussion will follow readings. Grand Salon West 2nd Floor S157. Reading from Jayne Anne Phillips & Susan Shreve. (Sponsored by Wilkes University Low Residency MA Program) Jayne Anne Phillips will be reading from her forthcoming novel and Susan Shreve will be reading from her forthcoming nonfiction book. Henry 2nd Floor S158. What We Need To Talk About: On Teaching Writers of Color.(Opal Moore, Jason Koo, Allen Gee, Jack Wang, Anthony Farrington, Sean Hill) This panel of teaching poets and fiction writers will address considerations for teaching writers of color, such as: encouragement, voice, style, to protest or not, to acknowledge race or not, avoiding stereotypes, cultural pride, cultural nationalism, authenticity versus pandering, racial intersections, assumed racial identifies, and writing beyond or outside of race. North Court East 2nd Floor S159. Is It Ever Too Much? A Discussion on Classroom Censorship. (Ryan Van Cleave, Virgil Suarez, Marguerite Scott, Vivian Shipley, Todd James Pierce) This panel will discuss the particular pedagogical challenges involved in encouraging true free expression in a creative writing class. Is classroom censorship ever appropriate? Should certain topics be taboo in writing? What is the difference between censorship and guidance? Panelists will offer strategies and advice for encouraging the safe exploration of a wide range of subjects in a respectful, responsible manner. North Court West 2nd Floor S160. Beyond the Book. (Nancy Zafris, Richard Peabody, Urayoan Noel, Joseph Bednarik, Richard Beban, C. M. Mayo) Are books the be-all and end-all "delivery system"? This panel examines a variety of content delivery systems, including websites, blogs, podcasts, audio CDs, DVDs, and "vidlit," as well as time-tested print technologies such as chapbooks and broadsheets. Panel participants discuss the benefits, costs, synergies, and surprises of publishing in these ways. Salon A 2nd Floor S161. In Defense of Difficulty. (Maxine Chernoff, Paul Hoover, Rusty Morrison, Jaime Robles, Susanne Dyckman) Recently, editors and reviewers in the media have argued that today's poetry is too "difficult," and that the worth of writers such as Wallace Stevens, the surrealists, and the language poets should be reevaluated, based on accessibility. This panel will examine the label as applied to literature. Who determines what constitutes "difficulty"? How is difficulty related to complexity? Is difficulty connected, or unconnected, to commercial success? And finally, how do challenging texts serve us? Salon B 2nd Floor S162. Writing Islam. (Khaled Mattawa, Raza Hasan, Kazim Ali) This panel will discuss the difficulties and opportunities of writing poems and stories dealing with the Islamic World. We will talk about the strategies for managing references to political events, places, and people unfamiliar to American readers. As outsiders as well as insiders, we will discuss how we negotiate that position in our writings. Our discussion will raise awareness of an emerging body of poetry and fiction dealing with the Islamic World and the West published in the US. Salon C 2nd Floor S163. The 'I' in Contemporary Poetry: Its Intersections With the Autobiographical and the Fictive.(Judith Baumel, Sven Birkerts, Liam Rector, Susan Kinsolving, Timothy Liu, Victoria Clausi) This panel of five poets and one reader/critic discuss their views on the use of the 'I' in contemporary poetry. Questions of interest include: Do panelists more often view the 'I' as autobiographical or fictive? How do the poet panelists view the 'I' in their own work? Do readers tend to view the 'I' as autobiography or fiction? What effect (if any) does naming the 'I' as autobiographical have on the artistic merit of a poem, on a book of poems, on an oeuvre? And, what about the nonexistent 'I?' The fragmented 'I?' or The 'I' of, say, a 'Borges and I? South Court West 2nd Floor S164. Building with Words: Fiction as Architecture. (Rikki Ducornet, Lance Olsen, Steve Tomasula, Christopher Grimes) Usually the metaphor of architecture is applied to fiction in order to italicize craft in its creation. This panel will probe a different sense of that relationship by asking, along with such writers as Bachelard and William Gass, how it is illuminating and stimulating to conceptualize fiction's structures and discourses as spaces one lives in and moves through as one might, say, a Bauhaus building, a tenement, a cathedral. What experiments along these lines have been and should be attempted, and why? Walton 2nd Floor S165. How to Start, Sustain, and Promote Your Reading Series. (Megan Sexton, Rochelle Spencer, Collin Kelley, Marc Fitten, Bonnie Rose Marcus) This panel focuses on the nuts and bolts of running successful reading series. Panelists, all of whom run reading series in the Atlanta area, speak about how to select writers, where to find funding, how to promote events, and the value of collaboration. Bonnie Rose Marcus, from Poets & Writers, moderates the panel and provides information about Poets & Writers Readings/ Workshops program which helps pay fees to writers giving readings and conducting workshops in New York, California, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta and Seattle. Monroe 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) S166. The Art of Advocacy: How to Make Legislators Your New Best Friends. (Jeanie Thompson, Wendy Rawlings, Albert Head) Writers, educators and arts administrators make powerful advocates for arts funding, provided they know the territory and the players. Educating legislators about arts in their home districts and building relationships are key to stable funding. Panelists discuss Alabama arts advocacy that involves an on-going coalition of nonprofits, educators, and state officials and give tips for meeting legislators, working with partners, and teaching advocacy in practical MFA courses. 3:00 p.m.-4:15 p.m. Crystal Ballroom Lobby Level S167. More Than One Way to Tell a Story. (Stephen Dunn, Rosellen Brown, Lee Martin, Hilda Raz, Mimi Schwartz) For writers, a story can change with each telling. What seems central can become inconsequential (and visa versa), as mood and perspective shift. On this panel, five writers of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction will discuss the ways they find the "truth of a story," and the means by which tone, rhythms, structures, facts added and omitted, and points of view all shift in a process that evolves over time and across genres. Cherokee 2nd Floor S168. Kennesaw State University Faculty Reading. (Ralph Wilson, Greg Johnson, Anthony Grooms, Jeffrey Stepakoff) Cherokee, 2nd Floor Three writers from the Master of Arts in Professional Writing program read from their work in the genres of fiction and nonfiction. Greg Johnson is the author of more than eleven books, including novels, short story collections, and criticism. Tony Groom's novel is Bombingham, and his collection of stories, Trouble No More, was named the "Book Every Georgian Should Read" by The Georgia Center for the Book. Jeff Stepakoff's memoir, Billion Dollar Kiss, details his experiences as a screen writer and producer for film and television. Grand Salon West 2nd Floor S169. A Reading by Poet Les Murray. Sponsored by the University of Alabama. Leading Australian poet Les Murray, author of Poems the Size of Photographs, will read from his work. Henry 2nd Floor S170. All Collegiate Poetry Slam. (James warner, Phil Brady, Christine Gelineau) All Collegiate Poetry Slam sponsored by Wilkes University and Etruscan Press. Event is open to all undergraduate and graduate students attending the conference. Participation is limited to twenty-five poets. Sign-up at the Wilkes University low residency MA in Creative Writing/Etruscan Press table in the book Fair. Prizes, judges, and organization of the event all handled by Wilkes University Asst. Program Director and poet-James Warner. Northwind East 2nd Floor S171. Talking English: Anything but Token. (Allison Hedge Coke, Gordon Henry, Evelina Lucero, LeAnne Howe, Heid Erdrich, Kim Blaeser) This reading event will offer a sampling of emerging and wellproven Indigenous literary work from some of the brightest contributors to the body of American/Canadian literature with Native lifeblood. As diverse in stylistic approach, intellectual shape, rhythm, content and form as the nations they derive from, these writers are anything but token and bring a fresh vitality and remarkable force to ever-developing collective literary movements as of yet rarely rivaled, from their own thousands of generations of ancestral lives and landscapes here in this country, as well as our northern neighbor. North Court West 2nd Floor S172. Picturing the Story: Graphic Novels and Illustrated Literature. (Laurenn McCubbin, Ali Liebegott, Anna Joy Springer) This fiction panel will explore contemporary graphic novels via those who create them and those who teach from them. Questions to be explored include, how do graphic novels differ from comics in both content and production? What does the process of creating an illustrated work look like, and how does it contrast to the writing of non-illustarted works? How does one bring graphic novels into the classroom? Issues of collaboration will be discussed, as well as the way the graphic novel has been both impacted by and has helped to facilitate feminism, GLBT visibility, personal narrative, the 'zine revolution, and mainstream pop culture. Salon A 2nd Floor S173. Adult Authors Who Cross Over To Young Adult. (Marina Budhos, Helen Benedict, Susan Shreve, Kyoko Mori, Stacy Leigh) Many adult authors are unaware of the vibrant field of literary young adult publishing. However, in the past few years, several adult authors have tried their hand at publishing in young adult and many quite successfully. This panel will offer a chance to explore the challenges of "crossing over" as an adult author and for other members of AWP to hear about the publishing experiences of authors in this area of publishing. Salon B 2nd Floor S174. Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll in the Contemporary Urban South. (Suzanne Kingsbury, Tom Piazza, Madison Smartt Bell, Victoria Lancelotta) This discussion will include four authors writing about the urban south and focuses on literary fiction and non-fiction set in four southern cities. How does this literature differ from rural southern writing? Authors will discuss issues they face in researching an urban landscape including issues such as gun running and drug abuse and will ponder the question of whether books set in the urban south are considered "southern literature" character. Salon C 2nd Floor S175. Bending Genre. (Margot Singer, Nicole Walker, Nick Flynn, David Shields) What is unique about nonfiction is the way it capitalizes on the formal structures of both poetry and fiction. What is a line break in poetry is an interrupted sentence or white space in a lyric essay. The linear action of plot in fiction becomes reflection and reconstitution in memoir. Panelists will look at the ways genre informs genre and how the lines between genres are at once blurred and drawn more thickly as they try to dissect the operation of structure and form. South Court West 2nd Floor S176. Deigning to Entertain: Exploring the Novelists' Desire to find Readers Among those Who'd Otherwise Rent a DVD. (Justin Cronin, Tom Barbash, Dan Chaon, Jennifer Vanderbes, Hannah Tinti) Panelists will focus on the struggle to create works of literature that manage to be well crafted and psychologically complex; but also readable, and entertaining. Conventional wisdom states that books usually fall into one or the other category. Panelists will discuss how books cross into both, as well as their own struggles to capture the inner and outer world's of our characters while taking our readers on an engaging ride. Walton 2nd Floor S177. Cut Off from the Roots: Four Eastern European Poets Respond to Displacement. (Sibelan Forrester, Anna Moschovakis, Mira Rosenthal, Adam J. Sorkin, Christopher Mattison) Walton, 2nd Floor In this multi-lingual presentation, four literary translators will both read from and discuss the work of Czech poet Ivan Blatny, Russian poet Elena Ignatova, Romanian poet Mariana Marin, and Polish poet Tomasz Rozycki, focusing on each poet's experiences of uprootedness-from country, language, and culture-and what those ruptures fomented in their work and lives. 4:30 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Crystal Ballroom Lobby Level S178. Sheep in Wolves' Clothing?: The Problem of Contemporary Christian Fiction. (Bret Lott, Erin McGraw, Mary Kenagy, David McGlynn) Contemporary fiction circles often discuss religion beneath the more-palatable banner of "spirituality," a category that allows writers to avoid claiming membership in particular religious communities. What are the consequences of writers "outing" themselves as Christians? How do Christian writers both reject religious stereotypes and critique religious discourse? Panel will feature a discussion and readings from the 2006 Best Christian Short Stories. Grand Ballroom 2nd Floor S179. A Reading by Ann Beattie & Elizabeth Spencer Sponsored by the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Novelist and short story writer Anne Beattie and novelist and short story writer Elizabeth Spencer, author of The Light in the Piazza, will read from their work. Grand Salon West 2nd Floor S180. An Address by John Barr. The Importance of Being Wrong: American Poetry in the Coming Century. Sponsored by the Poetry Foundation. Introduction by Sidney Wade, President, AWP Board of Directors. The turn of the last two centuries has marked the emergence of a new kind of writing. Will the 21st century be so lucky? American poetry is ready for something new, not only because of the calendar, but because contemporary poets have too long been writing in the rain shadow thrown by Modernism. A new poetry will be wrong in the eyes of that which it displaces, but recognizing and championing it is paramount. The new era of poetry will spring not from further innovation of form, but from an evolution of sensibility based on lived experience. Salon A 2nd Floor S181. War, Literature & the Arts: a reading from 20 years of great writing. (Donald Anderson, Vivian Shipley, Dale Ritterbusch, David Keplinger, Karen Head, Kyle Torke) The international journal War, Literature & the Arts has been publishing poetry, fiction, nonfiction, essays, reviews, and art for twenty years! The journal, dedicated to exploring the intersections between the humanities and war, will present six contributers reading original material: poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. Salon C 2nd Floor S182. PSA New American Poets Read Poetry in Motion® Poems. (Timothy Donnelly, Cathy Park Hong, Major Jackson, Ilya Kaminsky, Alice Quinn, Prageeta Sharma) Two of the Poetry Society of America's most innovative programs come together for the first time in a special reading. Former participants in the biannual PSA Festival of New American Poets read their favorite poems featured in the nationally celebrated Poetry in Motion® program, as well as their own work. South Court West 2nd Floor S183. PMS poemmemoirstory "Lucky Seven" Reading. (Kelle Groom, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Emily Lyons, Ada Long, Sonia Sanchez, Linda Frost) Now in its seventh year, PMS has been publishing the poetry, memoirs, and fiction of women writers nationwide since 2001. Based in the historic city of Birmingham, Alabama, PMS features an essay in each issue written by a woman who has experienced something of national significance and import. Join five of our finest writers, including 1998 Birmingham clinic bombing survivor, Emily Lyons, for a celebration of the publication of PMS 7. 7:00 p.m. Madison 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) S184. Reception Hosted by University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Cash bar and Hors d'Oeuvres. Jackson 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) S185. Reception hosted by Kennesaw State University. Cash bar and Hors d'Oeuvres. Walton 2nd Floor S186. A Reception Hosted by Arts & Letters. Cash bar and Hors d'Oeuvres. Monroe 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) S187. UT Press Presents the James A. Michener Fiction Series. Reading, Signing, Refreshments. Cherokee 2nd Floor S188A. Poets Out Loud/Fordham University Press Reception. Readings by Jennifer Clarvoe, Elisabeth Frost, Jean Gallagher, Karin Gottshall, Scott Hightower, Julie Sheehan, Robert Thomas. Sundae Bar, coffee and tea served. Carter 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) S188B. A Reception Hosted by the University of Alabama. Cash bar. 8:30 p.m. Grand Ballroom 2nd Floor S189. A Reading from Kaye Gibbons & Tayari Jones. Sponsored by Poets & Writers. Novelist Kaye Gibbons, author of Ellen Foster, and novelist Tayari Jones, author of Leaving Atlanta, will read from their work. Grand Salon 2nd Floor S190. A Reading from C.D. Wright & Coleman Barks. Sponsored by Poetry at Georgia Tech. Poet C.D. Wright, author of Deepstep Come Shining, and poet Coleman Barks, author of The Essential Rumi, will read from their work. 10:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m. Crystal Ballroom Lobby Level S191. Public Reception. Music by Tech-Radio, an energetic local band to play a variety of your requests. Cash Bar 10 pm-12:00 Midnight. 10:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m. Carter 3rd Floor (accessible by elevator) S192. Open-Mic Reading.

Complete schedule for downloading/printing (3.22MB)

2007 Sponsors

Major Sponsors

Georgia College & State University

Arts & Letters

Flannery O’Connor Review

Poetry @ Tech

Vanderbilt University

The National Endowment for the Arts

Literary Partners

The Academy of American Poets

The Poetry Foundation

Poets & Writers

The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses

Benefactors

The Georgia Review

University of North Carolina Wilmington MFA Program

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

Patrons

The Chattahoochee Review, the Literary Quarterly of Georgia Perimeter College

Emory University

University of North Carolina Greensboro

University of Alabama Tuscaloosa

Virginia Tech

Wilkes University Low Residency MA Program

Sponsors

Agnes Scott College

Antioch University Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program

Columbia College Chicago, English Department, Poetry Programs

Crazyhorse / College of Charleston

Five Points

Goddard College Low Residency MFA Program

Hollins University

Kennesaw State University

Mississippi State University

Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Southern Poetry Review

Spalding University Low Residency Program

University of Florida MFA in Creative Writing

University of Illinois MFA in Writing Program / Ninth Letter

University of Tennessee Chattanooga

Virginia Commonwealth University, MFA in Creative Writing

Contributors

Alabama Writers' Forum

The Bennington Writing Seminars, The Low Residency MFA in Writing

Berry College Southern Women Writers Conference and Ninebark Press

Florida State University Creative Writing Program / The Southeast Review

Crazyhorse/College of Charleston

Longwood University

Queens University of Charlotte MFA in Creative Writing

Randolph Macon Women's College

Sewanee Writers’ Conference

The Prague Summer Program

The Southern Review

Tulane University

University of Alabama Birmingham

The University of Georgia Press

University of Minnesota Creative Writing Program

The MFA Program at the University of Central Florida

University of Minnesota Creative Writing Program

University of San Francisco

University of Tampa

Vermont College of Union Institute and University

Western Carolina University

Supporter

Association of Literary Scholars & Critics

Florida International University

Louisiana State University

Purdue University

Information on Sponsorship (PDF 8085KB)