AWP 2012: Chicago

 

I have printed my boarding passes.  I have packed sweaters, pens, camera, iPad, a copy of my book, lipstick, and even calling cards.  I have prepared myself for the onslaught of 9500+ writers/editors/agents/grad students converging around the Hilton on S. Michigan Ave. (where I’m staying) in various stages of  chatter, drunkenness, eagerness, and trying to light cigarettes against the brutal wind off Lake Michigan.  It’s that time again, kids: AWP!

 

For the uninitiated, here is a good break-down of  what AWP is actually about.  I haven’t been to AWP since it was in New York, which might as well have been a thousand years ago.  I’ve graduated my MFA program since then, published two books, got a teaching gig.  I’m ready to go back.  I love/hate the madness that is AWP.  I love, love the bookfair and the off-site readings.  I make long lists of panels I want to go to, but for some reason rarely make.   I really plan to make a few this year: the ones I have chosen (below) are either panels put together by really smart, talented friends, or directly speak to my own writing plans/goals.

 

Here’s where you can find me amid the lovely chaos:

 

Thursday, March 1

 

7-9 pm: My Reading w/Zone 3 Press, The Fine Arts Building, 410 South Michigan Ave, Suite 733

 

 

Zone 3 Reading

 

8:30 pm: Gulf Coast/Indiana Review Reading, Buddy Guy’s Legends

 

Friday, March 2

 

10:30-11:15 am: @ the Bookfair/Alison Pelegrin book signing @ University of Akron Press table (@ 11 am)

 

1-2 pm: My book signing @ Zone 3 Press table

 

2pm: Lacy Johnson/Joseph Campana signing @ Iowa Press booth

 

3-4:15 pm: New Prose from Northwestern University: A Reading; International Ballroom South, Hilton Chicago, 2nd Floor

 

4:30-5:45 pm: Writing & Selling Adoption Panel; Lake Ontario, Hilton Chicago, 8th Floor

 

11pm: Screening of Nick Flynn’s film, “Being Flynn”; ShowPlace ICON Theatre, 150 West Roosevelt Road [I feel SO lucky that I was able to get tickets for Jeff & me as they sold out a little over a day after I reserved them!] NOTE: You MUST have an AWP pass + ticket confirmation + arrive @ 10:45PM to get in.

 

Saturday, March 3

 

10:30-11:45 am: In White: White Poets and Race Panel (Tess Taylor, Jake Adam York); Continental C, Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level

 

4:30-5:45 pm: Hybrid Bodies: Poets Negotiating the Fractal Geographies of Trauma and Identity (Addie Tsai, Kelly Moore, Shane McCrae); Astoria, Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor

 

7-9 pm: My Reading w/Gigantic Sequins/Rose Metal Press; Beauty Bar, 1444 W. Chicago Ave.

 

 

When I’m not at the above, I will either be circulating the bookfair, sleeping, eating, live tweeting, or at the hotel bar.  I can’t wait to be back @ AWP and see old friends and meet new ones!

 

For those of you attending AWP, don’t forget to check out Daniel Nester’s 2012 AWP Bingo Card.  It’s pretty amazing.