AWP

As you’ve probably noticed, there’s actually a law that says that if you went to AWP you HAVE to blog about it or they repo your domain name and use it to sell “growth enhancement products.” I thought about doing something fancy to make this post more interesting (like writing it without using the letter “e”), but that would probably just make it poorly written. Instead, I’ll keep it short and sweet.

This year’s AWP was awesome! It was by far and away the most fun I’ve ever had at AWP. I think a big part of that was finally having some online publications in my repertoire. It’s much easier to approach people when you can delude yourself into thinking that they might have heard of you.

I spent most of my time in the book fair, visiting journals that had my name in them, introducing myself to editors I’ve worked with, introducing myself to editors I’m dying to work with, looking at people with squinty eyes to see if I could recognize them from their Facebook pictures. I also got to go to a couple of fantastic readings. First was the PANK/Annalemma/Mud Luscious reading, which blew my mind! And then the Coruim/SmokeLong/Prick of the Spindle reading, which was also great. Conclusion: I really need to read more poetry; there’s a lot of stellar stuff out there.

Wrapping up AWP for me was the Literature Party at the Black Cat. It was actually a lot of fun, despite there being colorful flashing lights, super-loud music, a giant crowd, and a floor that looked like it came out of a Tom Petty video (read: not my scene). I spent the first half hour standing in the most well lit spot I could find, chewing on my straw and looking nervous, but after that I saw some friendly faces and proceeded to have shouting conversations with them over the pounding bass. My voice will hurt for weeks, but it was worth it!

The best things to come out of this year’s AWP for me are yet to come. I left very inspired and have since started on a new project that I think will make a killer chapbook someday in the future. And, the dashing J. Bradley and I have cooked something up for the PANK blog that will forever change the PANK blog landscape as we know it. More details on that are forthcoming. I shared handshakes and hugs with far too many fantastic people to name drop here (despite the temptation). I can tell from this three day long Facebook friending explosion that everyone’s coming away from DC with new pals to talk words with. Thanks to everyone for making AWP DC the BEST EVER!