EWN'ers at AWP

Not too surprisingly, there were many an EWN member at last weekend's AWP Writer's Conference.  I sent out an email to those that I knew attended asking them to help me fill my blog here.  I lobbed the following at them:

Was the trip and experience worthwhile in terms of monetary costs and whatever other arrangements needed to be made?  What was the best panel you saw and why?  Of all the new people you met, who was the one you'd say you were most excited about?  What was the best tip you received - be it for writing, editing, publishing, drinking, etc.?  Will you be going to 2007 AWP?

The first to reply was Ron Hogan, and he wisely pointed me to his Galleycat postings on the week (including a post on the biggest scandal of the weekend).

Next up was The Mumpsimus' own Matt Cheney:

"I'm not sure how to value something like a conference, exactly, but yes, for me personally it was valuable, because I got to hang out with good friends; to reconnect with people I hadn't seen in five, six, or even twelve years, many of whom I didn't even know would be at the conference; to see some excellent panel discussions and presentations; and to connect with editors and publishers I would not have otherwise either known about or gotten to chat with."

Best Panel?  "This is a tie.  A panel on 'The Surrealist Landscape' was extraordinary for the mix of approaches, the depth of discussion, and Patrick Lawler's extraordinarily entertaining and insightful presentation.  A panel on 'Arab American Novelists' was also excellent, because it was a subject I knew nothing about, and was presented so well that it both provided me with good places to begin learning more, and the strong desire to do so."

"Just one?!?" (This in regard to most excited person he met) "That's so unfair, Dan!  I guess I have to say Brian Evenson, because I've admired his work for a long time, and it was tremendously exciting to get to do a reading withhim and be on a panel with him.  An amazing person as much as he is an amazing writer."

Best tip?  "Save your money for the Bookfair on Saturday, when all the sellers want to get rid of stuff so they don't have to haul it home, and the deals are extraordinary."

Next in line was Booksquare's Kassia Krozser:

Kassia was the first of a few to respond in straight narrative form, not breaking things up per question specifically.

"Well, Dan, as a sneaker-into-AWP, I'd say it was a great conference <g>.  I attended (partially) one session on blogging.  Well blogging, listservs, and other forums, though they never got to the other stuff while I was there.  I'd say, wow, it's about time they were talking about this, but I came from a SXSW session that, honestly, wasn't more technically advanced than the AWP session.

I'm going to say that in reviewing the AWP workshops, it seems like a great conference.  Sure, given the fact that it was in Austin and overlapping SXSW, the book fair should have been wide open (I heard a lot of geekfest attendees lamenting the fact that they couldn't buy books ... you want people to get to books!).  In my fantasy life, the two organizations would have come up with a way to combine resources.   There is a lot of share interests.

As for meeting people, I met Ron Hogan, Matt Cheney, and Carolyn Kellogg of PInky's Paperhaus.  Also Kevin Smokler, whom I've previously met, is here at SXSW.  The face-to-face thing really makes a difference.  Sure we know each other, but now I know that when I email in response to something Matt says, I have a face.  It matters.

Then came in a reply from editor/author Felicia Sullivan:

"The experience was definitely a financial loss, however, absolutely worth it.  From meeting literary magazine editors with whom I've only corresponded with via email or phone - finally meeting htem and chatting and sharing ideas in person - to greeting a slew of former contributors I would have never otherwise met and congratulating them in person for sending me their wonderful stories and poems, to spending time with good friends in a warm friendly town with good barbeque, to realizing I have a great deal of work ahead of me in building awareness for Small Spiral Notebook, this was definitely an important trip.  It did cost a great deal, perhaps a bit more than it should, however, I would definitely do it again."

"I was glued to my table for the whole of the conference.  So, witht he exception of racing out for tea, necessary slices of pizza and tex mex, and speaking on my own panel, I hardly left my table."

"Kelly Link, although I probably gushed a little more than I should have.  I tend to get that way around writers I admire."

"An editor suggested we all do a cross-country lit mag tour - starting in New York with the legion of lit mags and then heading cross country, picking up lit mags along the way.  Sharing a table with the incredible and smart editors of Quick Fiction, I snagged some really good ideas about how to position my literary magazine to teachers and writing programs and ideas to build awareness of my journal.  On my DIY panel, Shanna Compton suggested giving out "samples" of story collections and lit mags as a little taste for prospective subscribers.  Most importantly, the conference reinforced a concept I already knew and had been preaching:  We need to stick together.  There is certainly strength in synergy and numbers with respect to lit mags."

Author/editor, Ander Monson was also kind enough to chime in with his experiences:

"Always." (worthwhile that is) "It's awful and fantastic in approximately equal amounts,and is, I think, not to be missed, if only to run into people I've only met online or through their work."

"I don't usually go to panels, but I did enjoy the Graywolf press reading quite a bit:  good work, and quite a spectacle, as it turned out, thanks to Kate Braverman.  Also fantastic was Whitney Pastorek and (I think) Christa Haxthausen performing a Journey Operetta.  Totally bad-ass."

"After trying to find her in the blitz of the conference, I finally ran into Kelly Link in the airport on the way back, which is pretty weird.  Her stories have been increasingly exciting me in the last few months."

And they each exclaimed they'd return in the future.

More to come later as authors Laird Hunt, Michelle Richmond and C.M. Mayo have all chimed in as has SMU Senior Editor, Kathryn Lang!

Comments

[felicia Sullivan]

This is fab, Dan. Thanks for contacting me.
Cheers, f.