Countdown to AWP 2013: If You were Me on March 8

This is the second installment in the "Countdown to AWP 2013" here on What She Might Think.  And while I'm not attending the conference this year, I am somewhat pretending that I am going to Boston, and sharing the events that I would want to attend.  Because a number of my old friends are attending this year's edition, the conference has been more on my radar than usual.

To see my selections for Thursday's events, see "Countdown to AWP 2013: If You Were Me on March 7." For suggestions on where to stay outside of the conference hotel, since it's booked anyway, see "Youth Hostels in Boston."


Friday, March 8

9:00-10:15 A.M.

"Get a Hold of Your Writing: 

Book Arts in the Classroom"

Room 204, Level 2

Presenters: Meryl DePasquale, Emily Brandt, Genevieve Kaplan, Richard Mathews, Carol Ann Johnston

Provisions by Frances Raven, 

the uniquely made and handbound books by Interbirth Books

Summary: This discussion will revolve around the creation of books, chapbooks, and broadsides and the benefits of teaching book design in the Creative Writing classroom.

Why I would attend: I attempted to have students create an anthology of work that they each selected and then designed.  As this was my first time assigning the project, it would be useful to hear other thoughts about the process. Secondarily, I have always had an interested in creating books, from my pre-literate days when my mother made books out of my thoughts.  If you haven't, check out these two awesome presses whose books are created by hand: Interbirth Books and Little Red Leaves (especially look at the textile series by LRL).

Conflict: "In Sickness and In Health: Literature at the Intersection of Medicine, Science, and the Arts" (Room 203, Level 2).  This would be a difficult panel to miss because it's closer to my interests as a writer and my more recent interests as a reader.  Since it's right next door to the other panel, I'd probably have to peek into both rooms before deciding.


10:30-11:45 A.M.

"Art of the Ending"

Writers: Miles Harvey, Amy Hempel, Michele Morano, William Lychack, Scott Blackwood

Summary: The writers will discuss the problematic situation that comes with ending a work, especially in terms of closure and reader wishes.

Why I Would Attend: While I have more trouble with beginnings than endings, one of my professors in college gave several excellent lectures/discussions on endings in short fiction, and ever since then, I have become very vigilant about my endings and the endings of others (in real life and in fiction).  And I think there's much about the endings in poetry that fiction can learn from, and so it would be good to listen in on this.  

Conflict: "Show and Tell: Audio and Video Production 101" (Room 312, Level 3). It's like a mini-workshop on how to do the basic things that writers often need to do by themselves for online marketing.

Noon-1:15 P.M.

"How to Catch a Pair of Flying Hands:

A Reading by Deaf Writers"

Writers: Raymond Luczak, Kristen Harmon, Allison Polk, Kristen Ringman

Summary: The writers will read their work, but the AWP description makes it unclear whether the writers will discuss their work afterward.

Why I Would Attend: Two of the three essays I teach in English 101 revolve around Deafness, and I'm interested in what works the writers will choose to share since the panel title and AWP description is focused more on the aspect of the writers' deafness than their work.

Conflict: "A Poetry Reading by Four of Ireland's Most Dynamic Younger Poets," Bookfair Stage, Exhibit Hall A, Plaza Level. Of course, it will be a while before I'm in the same room as these people, so this would be my second choice.

1:30-2:45 P.M.

"A Reading by the 2011 AWP Award Series Winners"

Room 107, Plaza Level

Writers: Marcia Aldrich, Kirstin Scott, Laura Read, Corinna Vallanatos

Summary: Each year AWP holds a writing contest in poetry, short fiction, the novel, and creative non-fiction: The writers who won the 2011 contest had their winning manuscripts in late 2012, and many are on tour for those books right now. 

Why I Would Attend: My friend and colleague Laura Read is presenting, and so I would be there.

3:00-4:15 P.M.

"Don DeLillo & Dana Spiotta: 

A Reading and Conversation"

Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Level 2

Summary: Self-explanatory.

Why I Would Attend: I've read several DeLillo novels, have found all of them interesting, smart, and good, and so I would like to hear his voice through the sentences.  He's also going to talk after, and I wonder what he'll say.  He writes some of the most fantastic dialogue I've read. 

4:30-5:45 P.M.

"Alison Bechdel & Jeanette Winterson:

A Reading and Conversation"

Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Level 2

Summary: Self-explanatory

Why I Would Attend: The first college class I ever skipped was at Columbia College in Chicago.  It was a beautiful, sunny day, and even though it was my poetry class, it was a three hour class.  I spent the day on the beach of Lake Michigan reading Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson (a book recommended, in fact, by my poetry instructor).  That was one of the most wonderful days of my life. 

6:00 P.M. and on

While there are a number of events scheduled after this (many more than on Thursday night), such as a conversation with Richard Russo, but I'd probably have to end my AWP experience for the day and go on a long walk to decompress--especially after having just heard Don DeLillo and Jeanette Winterson back-to-back.  To see the complete schedule for Friday, click here.  For off-site events, click here.

Stay tuned for my Saturday selections.

What's one of the Friday events that you would have to attend, and why?

Countdown to AWP 2013: Youth Hostels in Boston

Like most conferences, the AWP conference takes place in one hotel, and attendees are encourages to book their rooms there. Because the AWP conference is so large, there are several associated hotels called "overflow" hotels.  All of these are very expensive.  The main hotel, Boston Sheraton runs for $259 a night, and up.  And while this seems pretty steep to me, especially for MFA students who, even if they have a teaching assistantship, are making about $1,000 a month.  Or maybe the starving artist part comes later.  Or. . .  anyway.  The Boston Sheraton, and the "overflow hotels," are already sold out.

So, if you're attending AWP this year, and you are trying to spend as little as possible, here are some other ideas.

Youth Hostels.  No, they are not only in Europe.  More and more cities have more than one hostel for young-ish travelers, and medium cities are starting to follow suit.  Of course, Boston is pretty large, so there are so many choices.  They also seem perfect for writers since writing requires absorbing as much of the experience that exists outside of the standardized one.

I've stayed in hostels in Europe and in the U.S. and have found that they always add a more unique experience than the standard hotel room since the hostels encourage discussion among travellers and are often located in neighborhoods, or at least in parts of the city that aren't dedicated only to high-end shopping and chain restaurants.  I haven't stayed at the hostels below, but if I were attending AWP this year, I would try to book a room in any of these.

Hostelling International
Here's the situation with staying at Hostelling International:

As of 1/29/13, there are rooms available in the premium and standard dorms for $44.99-$59.99 a night. A private room with a bath is twice as much but $100 less than the Sheraton.

Wed 03/06 Thu 03/07 Fri 03/08 Private Room W/ Ensuite Bath $179.99 $179.99 $189.99 Premium Female Dorm $54.99 $54.99 $59.99 Premium Male Dorm $54.99 $54.99 $59.99 Premium Mixed Dorm $54.99 $54.99 $59.99 Standard Female Dorm $44.99 $44.99 $49.99 Standard Male Dorm $44.99 $44.99 $49.99 Standard Mixed Dorm $44.99 $44.99 $49.99 Economy Female Dorm Sold Sold $44.99 Economy Male Dorm Sold Sold Sold

According to their website, to stay at a youth hostel, you need to have a membership, which costs all of $3.

40Berkeley
As of 1/29/13, this is what was available at 40Berkeley, according to their website:

1. Standard Doubles contain two twin-sized beds, a desk, lamp, chair, and night stand. Most rooms include a ceiling fan and either a clothing rack with hangers or a closet. All bathrooms are shared, with both a women's and a men's bathroom on each floor.

We are currently renovating all of our rooms. During this
transitional period, you may stay in either a renovated or a
non-renovated room.

Click on photo to the right for pictures of both room types.

Wed	Thu	Fri
$56.00	$56.00	$60.00

2.

Standard Triples contain three twin-sized beds or one twin and one set of bunk beds. Most have a bureau, night stand, ceiling fan, lamp, and some have a sink. Room specifications can be requested in reservation notes, but are not guaranteed. All bathrooms are shared, with both a women's and a men's bathroom on each floor. We are currently renovating all of our rooms. During this transitional period, you may stay in either a renovated or a non-renovated room. Click on photo to the right for pictures. Wed Thu Fri $93.00 $93.00 $96.00

Guests at 40Berkeley also evidently get some additional perks--for free: free breakfast, free Wi-Fi, a free pass to New England Aquarium, Museum of Science, Harvard Museum of Natural History, Prudential Skywalk, Loew’s Boston Common Theatre

  

3. Friend Street Hostel

Of the three hostels, this hostel has received the best and most consistent reviews via Google. It's also the most inexpensive of the three.  As of 1/29/13, this is what was available:

Room Types	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	No. Of guests
Basic 6 Bed Mixed Dorm	28.00	28.00	28.00	28.00	28.00	0   1   2   3   4   5   6   7
Standard 10 Bed Mixed Dorm	28.00	28.00	28.00	28.00	28.00	0   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10
Basic 10 Bed Male Dorm	28.00	28.00	28.00	28.00	28.00	0   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10
Basic 10 Bed Female Dorm	28.00	28.00	28.00	28.00	28.00	0   1   2   3   4

Countdown to AWP 2013: If You Were Me on March 7

What's AWP?  Some Background

Every year the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) holds a four-day conference in a major city in the United States. This year, the conference is in Boston, March 6-9.  Around this time, droves of grad students attending MFA programs in fiction, poetry, and non-fiction board planes and smash their backpacks in friends' cars to travel across the country--or, if they live nearby, a few blocks away--to attend the conference.

Irish Poet and Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney,

One of the Keynote Speakers at AWP 2013

The other attendees include instructors who teach Creative Writing and/or writers themselves--typically writers who write within the genre known as literary realism.  Guest speakers are invited, a book fair of small presses and journals occurs daily, and panels run throughout the morning and afternoon on subjects that range from craft-based discussions, to how-to-improve-the-creative-writing-classroom discussions, to readings by people published by the same press or journal within the previous, or forthcoming, year.

Each hour there are five and ten events occurring, and since a person can't attend every single one of them, I've highlighted one event per scheduled hour that, were I flying 2,768.1 miles to Boston, I would mark off to attend.

Disclaimers:
1) The times, titles, and locations come from the AWP schedule as it was posted 1/28/13. The times, locations, and presenters sometimes change last-minute, so double-check the printed schedule you receive on-site.

2) Often, the titles and descriptions of panels end may not, in reality, match your expectations.

3) In my experience, it is difficult to find a quiet place or room where attendees can decompress by working on their own writing.  It is my advice then that attendees find at least three nearby coffee shops where they can go to get away from the hubbub.

Wednesday, March 6
Because Wednesday is mainly dedicated to registration, book-fair set up, and an evening, invitation-only awards event, I likely wouldn't arrive in town until Wednesday night.  However, there are a number of interesting off-site events that you should check out if you do arrive on Wednesday.

Thursday, March 7
While there are panels scheduled before nine A.M., I would not be awake enough, or pleasant enough in my mind, to attend.  I would likely inadvertently scowl at the presenters, and that wouldn't be very considerate. For the full list of Thursday events, click here.

9:00-10:15 A.M.

"Modern Fairy Tales and Retellings"

Room 107, Plaza Level

Writers Presenting: Anjali Sachdeva, John Crowley, Jane Yolen, Kelly Link, Kate Bernheimer
Summary: Several contemporary writers who retell fairy tales, or fairy-tale-like stories, will discuss "the need for fables in modern society and the literary marketplace" and some of the considerations they take while moving from fable patterns into contemporary fiction.

Why would I attend? I would especially want to attend because the writer Jane Yolen is speaking, and she's a prolific writer of very good children's and young adult books.  Her work has also been subject to controversy, and is one of the more censored of our children's authors.  Because it's not often that children's authors attend, or speak at, AWP, I would make a point to attend.  Also, I feel like it's about time that I meet Kelly Link.

Conflict: One of my very good friends, Jack Kaulfus, is reading from her fiction on the A Cappella Zoo panel, which occurs at the same time.  (Room 203, Level 2)  It's more than likely that this is the panel I would attend.


10:30-11:45 A.M.

Poetry Reading for Troubling the Line: 

Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics

Room 310, Level 3

Writers: Tim Trace Peterson, TC Tolbert, Max Wolf Valerio, Dawn Lundy Martin, Trish Salah

Summary: Panel of poets whose work is forthcoming in an anthology by Nightboat Books/Eoagh. Reading followed by a discussion "about how issues of trans and genderqueer embodiment and identification influence writing" and how the writers consider their own bodies in relation to the body of the poem.

Why would I attend? I'm not familiar with any of these writers or the press, and while I haven't attended AWP for a few years, this panel is the first I've seen dealing with this topic, and so I'd be interested to listen and be a part of the discussion since the discussion is important for all writers to think about, especially in terms of how such issues are then imaged in writing (or not).  I know that transgender topic panels are not uncommon abroad at Fantasy/Science-Fiction conventions, and so am glad to see this conversation happening within literary realism, too.  Would also be a quick, effective way to find some poetry that may be of interest to my own Creative Writing classes.

Conflict: The panel, "Odes, Psalms, and Praise Songs," also seems interesting and is in line with my belief that the writer's role is to be the bard.  (Room 206, Level 2.)


Noon to 1:15 P.M.

Reduced to I: 

Israeli and Iranian Poets

Room 108, Plaza Level

Writers: Maya Pindyck, Hadara Bar-Nadav, Roger Sedarat, Ofer Ziv, Katayoon Zandvakili

Summary: Poets will read from their writing. The official description suggests that there will be discussion, possibly in regards to the effects war, the language of war, and the conflict between the countries have on the poet experience.

Why I would attend: Besides that it is difficult to find writing in the U.S. in regards to war and so issues of war and the writing of it are high on my radar, I would want to attend because I am damn stupid about the conflict between these countries and completely ignorant about these poets and their work, and so this panel would help to remedy that.

Conflict: Evidently, this is international hour, as several international groups have been scheduled--a problem that doesn't occur in the other times on this day.  From Black British Writers to Iranian writers to Ireland's poetry center to Afghan women writers . . . the ability to connect with writers abroad seems broad, but the scheduling makes the reality minimal.


1:30-2:45 P.M.

Picture Book Writers in an E-Book and App Era: 

How Can Writers Change the Way We Envision Story to Take Advantage of New Technology?

Room 103, Plaza Level

Photograph by John Blyberg, used under CC license

Summary: The title is so specific that there's really not much more to say.  The presenters will discuss how e-book technology will affect how writers tell stories; for example, music is an option on e-books and so might influence how writers present their texts.  (Or should such possibilities affect the story?--Seems like a question that will come up, or should be brought up.)

Presenters: Laurie A. Jacobs, Rubin Pfeffer, Jean Heilprin Diehl, Emilie Boon, Julie Hedlund

Why would I attend?  As a self-professed luddite, I'm always interested in discussions regarding the relationship between technology and storytelling.  I'm especially interested in this in regards to children's literature because many children's books are pretty expensive and, as such, tend to exclude people in the lower class.  Therefore, in thinking about children's literature via very expensive E-readers is especially intriguing. That the authors mainly write very young children's books, the conversation might be more or less interesting.

Conflict: By this point in the day, had I attended all of the previous panels, I would be really thinking about taking a break to look through the book fair or have a glass of wine with friends I haven't seen in a long time.




3:00-4:15 P.M.

"CLMP (Council of Literary Magazines and Presses) Keynote Address:

The Library of America

Room 101, Plaza level

Presenter: Max Rudin

Summary: Rudin will discuss the role his publishing house plays in America's literary canon.

Why I would attend: I'm interested in the influence a publisher has in shaping the voice of a country and how changing perceptions of a country's identity function to change both the way writers approach their subject but also how publishers consider or reconsider certain writers as more or less authentic--especially when publishing is also driven by economic forces as much as historical preservation.  It would also be good to witness how the publisher himself seems to be thinking of it.  And since it's likely that a number of publishers will be attending this, I would want to hear what they're hearing.

Conflict: None. I'd just have to go to this one.


4:30-5:45 P.M.

Growing Up in a Warzone: 

Voices of Writers on War and Childhood

Room 206, Level 2

Summary: Non-fiction essayists read from their work and discuss the effects war had on their childhoods, or at least on the writing of their childhoods.

Presenters: J.L. Powers, Peauladd Huy, David Griffith, Aria Minu-Sepehr, Marnie Mueller

Why I Would Attend: While I typically anti-gravitate toward non-fiction, the two subjects here trump my typical interests, and I'm interested in hearing the stylistic choices the writers made in how they presented the content.

Conflict: It's late in the day, and I would be very aware of the growing number of people gathering in the bar area to relax and discuss their thoughts about the day. The reality would likely be that the previous panel got me to thinking so much that I would want to go find Jack Kaulfus and talk to her about it.  She always has smart things to say about, well, everything, really.

6:00 P.M. - 8:25 P.M.

Boston skyline, 

from Wikipedia

Since this is the first night after a full day of events, this is typically when the attendees congregate in the lobby/bar area and meet up with old friends and meet new people.  Plans for dinner are made, and Boston night explored.  Those with real stamina may attend more off-site events.  


8:30 P.M.-10:00 P.M.

Keynote, 

A Conversation Between Nobel Laureates Seamus Heaney and Derek Walcott, 

Moderated by Rosanna Warren

Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Level 2

Summary: Self-explanatory

Why I would attend: This will likely be the only time I would ever hear Heaney read in person, and when I was in Dublin, I heard just fantastic things about his recitations.

*

Stay tuned for selections for the Friday, March 8th AWP schedule.

Until then, what AWP event on Thursday seems most interesting to you, and why?

Good News: Pushcart Prize Nomination, "Winter's Wooden Sparrows"

Greetings!  I wanted to share the good news that my story "Winter's Wooden Sparrows" has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by the fine people over at the literary journal Lake Effect.  The story came out in Spring 2012.  You may remember.

To read the story, you can order a copy of the issue at the Lake Effect website.

To preview the story, visit this other part of the Lake Effect website.

"Winter's Wooden Sparrows" is one of the stories in my next book, How The Sun Burns.

From Lake Effect

A Humane Christmas to You, Too

Misha, Hiberian Husky ready for a home
(Photo by Dogtown Artworks)

Last Spring, I highlighted the dignified photographs of shelter animals from Tuscola, Illinois that my brother and sister-in-law had begun taking as volunteers.

Like a holiday refrain, and like the animals at the shelter near where you live, the animals at the Douglas County Animal Control and Shelter keep arriving.

Since there's already a public campaign warning people against adopting bunnies at Easter since the gifts are usually dumped, I'm not suggesting that you should go adopt a dog without wanting a dog, but even visiting the shelter this holiday and giving the animals a walk or a pat on the head would be a lovely gift.  Some shelters, like the Austin Humane Society, take online donations that would help go toward veterinary care, food, care. . . and often, the prevention of euthanasia.

To learn more about the photographs of shelter animals done by the Pringle photographers, please see: Inside Their Eyes: Shelter-Dog Portraits

In Review: The Summer Library Series

The first time I tried to check out a book from the library, that is, a book with no pictures, I was in first grade.  The book was A Vote for Love.  Evidently, I had been roaming on the other side of the children's section and found the metal racks where the teenage romance novels were kept.  When I took the book to the circulation desk, the librarian eyed the book then eyed me, and wanted to know if I realized the book had no pictures.  I was terribly insulted.  Yes, I knew it had no pictures.  Obviously, it has no pictures.  Maybe she even dared to ask me to get my mother's permission.

. . .

Forgive me.  I want to go on, but only because I need another library story to read.  It is Friday, after all.  And dedicated reader, you've been following What She Might Think, so you know what every Friday has meant all summer: a visiting poet or fiction writer has appeared to share a new, original essay on his or her childhood experience at the library. More than 1,000 readers know what Friday means here at What She Might Think, for that's how many readers came to read library essays this short summer.

But the wind is busy pushing summer backward in order to allow autumn to do what autumn has always done best: signal the end of warm, good things.  The Summer Library Series is over.

Editing the series has been, for me, one of those experiences that, while it's happening you both know you don't want it to end and that it absolutely will.  The essays themselves will not stay on What She Might Think forever.  It is, after all, each writer's work, and this website is no library archive.  Every writer wrote out of interest in the project and, I would say, a generous understanding of generosity.  Because of that, we must give them back their work.  Even the grasshopper knew that the ants' generosity had its limits.  So it is not just the end of summer, but nearly the end of our time to read the essays, too.

But now is now, and so reflections are here for only now, and they're artful, beautiful, strange, beating things:

Children reading in New York Public Library, circa 1920

Once upon a time, in a library, Owen Egerton smuggled horror novels into the children's section and "wished to God [he] could read!"  Matthew Brennan's mother was a painter, and her paintings hung in a library long gone.  Jack Kaulfus rode her bike almost every day one summer in Texas to air-conditioning, to a library, to a man who never questioned why she was choosing the books that she did, only her thoughts about them.  Dan Powell waited for a van of books to stop so that he could climb up the stairs to one of the most traveled vehicles that came through Colwich. Laura Ellen Scott's desk was empty at school because she was busy walking four miles to a library where there were enough books that she never encountered a nurse romance if she didn't want to.  The library discarded what came to be TJ Beitelman's favorite book, and he took care of it so that he could return it to the library, not knowing that they wouldn't take it back. John Kenny's library was a toyshop. Juliet E. McKenna just read and read read and read. Heather Anastasiu's town took place at her library. David Hadbawnik became David Hadbawnik over the course of reading in libraries while in Van Nuys, California, a little girl named Kathryn L. Pringle, fell in love with a statue outside her library and then decided to become an archaeologist.  Steinbeck killed Stacey Swann's pony in Sealy, Texas.  And then the library ended on a Saturday in Cincinnati for Stona Fitch.    

The series is over, but autumn is lovely, with the leaves how they change, and the air on your cheeks.  It is just the weather for a long walk that leads to a library. All our library authors are there, too, waiting for you in the shelves.

Warm Regards,

Erin Pringle-Toungate

THE SUMMER LIBRARY SERIES

LIBRARY AUTHORS

• In a Town With No Bookstores by Owen Egerton
• Buildings and the Love of Books by Matthew C. Brennan
• A Kind of Beacon by Jack Kaulfus
• The Library That Delivered by Dan Powell
• A Truant in the Stacks by Laura Ellen Scott
• The Mother of Libraries by TJ Beitelman
• My Regrettable Non-Relationship with Libraries by John Kenny
• All Sorts of Freedom by Juliet E. McKenna
• Library as Locus by Heather Anastasiu
• From Branch to Main and Back by David Hadbawnik
• On Raising an Ontological Architect by kathryn l. pringle
• Then Steinbeck Killed My Pony by Stacey Swann
• Library Days by Stona Fitch

Special thanks to the photographers who gave permission to What She Might Think expressly for this project. Many of the photographers were librarians themselves.