AWP 2013 ~ Day 2

Click here for Day 1.

Day 2

The snow was knee high as I chugged my way to the train stop. The night before, Sara and I had decided to catch the 8:05 train so we could attended the 9 o'clock panel. That was probably a mistake haha, but since the storm hadn't stopped once all night, the sidewalks were full and it was a legit journey to make it to the stop. I had to run to catch the train.

Because of the storm, there were less people on the train so it was easier to find seats together. On the way into Boston, we saw ice formed over some patches of swamp water. I'd never seen anything like that before, so it was kind cool to experience something new like that. The image of a ice chunks floating on bog water was creepy, cool and not something I want to forget. It was poetic. hahaha.

Any who, we got to the center at 9:15 so we were a little for the panel, "The Novel as Weapon: PEN Members on Book Banning & Censorship." Going in, I thought the panel would be about the dubious process of banning a book, but it was more "as a writer, you should do this..." kind of panel. I did get two pages of notes out of it though. The most interesting bits were beware of leaving out different opinions. Just because you support an issue - like no use of recreational drugs - doesn't mean you can't print something that's pro safe drug use. It's about finding a balance and letting the side be heard.

I did ask if the panels, a collection of editors and literary journal managers, if they had ever encountered something that they shouldn't be published and one of the editors said that once she read perfectly written but with questionable content; something that could have been rejected just to make her feel better. She then said she made sure to print it because it made her feel uncomfortable.

Next was poetry slam "Page Meets Stage." Poetry often gets treated like the red-headed stepchild of the literacy world, but these poets were amazing. Inspirational, funny, dirty, and all around amazing. Two stood on stage and recited poems to the audience, but almost as if they were talking to each other. It was breathe-taking and they stay in the room afterwards, taking photos and talking with us. I got a photo with Taylor Mali, Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz and talked with Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Martin Espada and Reginald Gibson were there as well, but I was not able to meet them.

Next was a panel about how to use Tumblr professionally. It gave some tips, but it was more useful in finding some single-serving tumblrs. After that panel was dinner where Sara and I shared a meal. A plate of sushi and a chicken teriyaki dinner.

Then it was time for speakers Alison Bechdel & Jeanette Winterson. Bechdel, whose most famous for her Bechdel test, was unable to make it due to the snow fall so it was just Winterson reading and discussing her memoir "Why be happy when you can be normal." She was really funny, a beautiful speaker and unfolded her story like it was a picnic blanket for all of us to share.

Some of the quotes I really liked: "When I break my leg, I go to the doctor. When I break my heart, I go to a poet; We live out some of our parent's failed lives; I told myself as the hero, like any shipwreck survivor; unhappy families are conspiracies of silences; For her, life was a pre-death experience; she was a violent philosopher; to be moved is to be fundamentally placed somewhere else; the newness of art throws us into the fire of discovery."

We were both tired so we hoofed it back to North Station. Sara had to stop and return her red box so we had to wait 5 minutes for her to find it. She eventually did and we walked the 35 steps to the train stop, only to see the train pulling away. Hilarious.

I trained home, then walked back to my apartment for sleep. Day was less note-taking and more just experiencing the conference for all its glory.

Love Always,
Joe

AWP 2013 ~ Day 1

AWP info booklet

Day 1

Waking up before 7 am for the first time in months was exhausting. But since the first panel started at 9 a.m. and Sara and I still need to get our badges, so it was a necessary evil. Of course, it was also the start of the two-day snow storm so just getting to the train stop was a journey in-of-itself.

The train was packed! The two-seat row was full, and the three-seat had people on the window and in the aisle seats, so whenever anyone had to sit you had to ask a person to move over. Because of this, Sara and I had to sit in separate seats, with me in a middle seat and Sara in an aisle seat. Since it was the first day of the conference, and because I had never been before, we're obviously going to talk. After the sentence sentence, the woman sitting next to me interrupts and asks if we're going to talk the whole ride.

Yes, of course we are. She then says she has a headache and wants to know if won't. I said that if she didn't mind, she could switch seats with Sara. That way we could still talk and it wouldn't bother her. The woman just huffed, zipped up her L.L. Bean jacket and went back to her book. Rude much. And then, the whole time Sara and I talked, she kept sighing.

But whatever. Sara and I got to Hynes Convention Center, and since I preregistered, I got my badge in five minutes. Sara however had to go wait in this super long, slow moving line. The next panel became at 10:30, and since Sara still hadn't gotten to the front, I left her in the line. I went to "Being a Good Literary Citizen." It was interesting, took about a page worth of notes and a lot of it was about having good manners, but it was a good way to kick start panels.

Next was "The First Five Pages," and it was packed! People were sitting on the floor in the aisle, along the wall, in the doorway, in each other's laps. The women all around had their knees pulled up to their chests, just so other people could sit down. This panel was super-informative about getting your book published and the importance of a great Query Letter and how to write one. Two super helpful tips were to personalize to the agent - "Hey, I love your podcast. Read my book!" - and keep your book to yourself until it's ready to be sent out. She said that one of her writers had given an unfinished version to a friend who gave it to an Editor and that burned a bridge with a press.

One thing that made me gave me pause was a comment about the dangers of self-publishing. They said that if you self-publish it makes them think "are you a great writer who is getting overlooked, or do you just want to be able to say "I published a book!"?" Kind of a throwback to how self-publishing used to be called "vanity printing." Yet, earlier in the panel, the agent said she literally rejects hundreds of manuscripts a day. Self-publishing can be vanity-driven, but it can also be a way to get your stuff out there. If you're a nobody, it's so much harder than someone who has a platform - a following, which is needed to publish in more traditional routes.

The last panel we attended was "Launching the Literary Journal." This was also extremely helpful and full of tips and tricks to use. Again some it was all about manners and respecting your readers and writers, but there was a good tidbit about establishing a connection with local galleries and artists to have access to art. After the panel, we walked around the bookfair and I went to the one of the guys from "Launching the Literary Journal" just so I could grab a copy of he's journal. He gave me a deal and I got a t-shirt too!

Eventually, we had dinner and then went to a reading by David Starkey and Marsha Pomerantz. Pomerantz was amazing! Her poem "Roy G. Biv Appears to Mebetween Two Clouds" was my favorite of the night. We also got to meet this professor from Minneapolis who spent time with a Swedish circus. It was super cool! I gave him my business card, so I hope you connects me. Just so when can be FB friends or something.

And the last event of the night was the Keynote speakers, Seamus Heaney & Derek Walcott. Before it began, Sara and I talked with a woman who was just about to start her PHD. She was really interesting, and again I gave her my card so I hope she emails me. Both poets were wonderful and it was lovely hearing them read their poems and then talking about the craft. After that, we had to go home cause we were almost falling asleep during the talk. haha.

It was an amazing day, and a great way to launch the conference.

Love Always,
Joe