A Word from AWP's Chair

November 13, 2025

Dear AWP Members and Community,

It is an honor and privilege to serve as AWP board chair for 2025–2026, as we head to Baltimore for an incredible #AWP26, and as we navigate new obstacles and opportunities for writers, writing programs, and our literary community.

I will be forever grateful to the leadership of outgoing Board Chair January Gill O’Neil—poet and teacher, mentor and friend—who these past years worked diligently to make AWP more inclusive and accessible, to strengthen and deepen our resources, and to better tell the stories of our organization and members. If you know Jan, you know she is always asking, “What is your AWP story?”

AWP is community. When I was a young student in Oregon sitting in Lawson Inada’s poetry class, AWP represented a network of others valuing creative writing education and creative expression. Years later, as I began teaching my own writing students, AWP provided much-needed resources and guidance. And every year at conference I reconnect with friends and mentors, am introduced to new writers and presses, then return home rejuvenated by the ideas and passion of a rich diversity of panels.

Communities require care to thrive, and there is much to attend to. As we face attacks on education and the impacts of new technologies on writing, teaching, and publishing, I firmly believe our mission “to amplify the voices of writers and the academic programs and organizations that serve them while championing diversity and excellence in creative writing” has never been more important.

I’ve come to discover it is always a busy time for AWP, and we have an exciting year ahead. We are promoting and expanding our new video platform, Writer’s TV, where members can browse past conference events, webinar recordings, and more. The Writer’s Chronicle continues to be a vital resource for literary discussion, with a recent roundtable on “AI and the Writing Classroom” and Kendra Nicole Bryant Aya writing about the “MFA vs. HBCU.” At conference in March, we will host a special keynote address from Charm City iconoclast filmmaker and author, the inimitable John Waters.

In order to imagine AWP, with its nearly sixty years of supporting writers and writing programs, I picture a young student. She is perched over her paper, pen in hand. What does she have to say? We don’t know yet. But I believe it is crucial we work together to support her so she can tell us.

I look forward to serving as her board chair, and as yours.

Sincerely,

Travis Kurowski, PhD

Chair, AWP Board of Directors, 2025–2026
Mid-Atlantic Regional Council Chair, 2022–2026