AWP Recap

I started this post yesterday flying from Denver to Boston. Sat next to J.D. Scrimgeour on the way back and we wrote a collaborative poem to pass the time, which I’ll post as a NaPoWriMo poem later tonight.

Saturday, the last full day, was a whirlwind of activity. I managed to attend two sessions. The first was called Black Goes Green, a panel that discussed natural world from the African American perspective. The panel also was in support of Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry. Featured was G.E. Patterson, Cyrus Cassells, Greg Pardlo, Janice Harrington, and Amber Flora Thomas. The session was so well received that the University of Georgia Press sold out of the anthology at the conference. Edited by Camille Dungy, Black Nature is on sale at the UGA Press’ Web site and I for one am ordering a copy.

Next, I attended a session on New Media: Online Literary Journals and Web Sites in 2010. This session was moderated by Dan Albergotti and focused the site Waccamaw and other related sites. I was looking for a broader discussion of digital media and how new technologies have influenced how we publish, so my expectations were a bit off. Still, it was a great presentation and now I know of a few more places to submit my work.

Later, I went to Kate Rushin’s reading at the Cave Canem booth.

I have to give Cave Canem a lot of credit—and I don’t know why more sponsors and publishers don’t do this—but CC sponsored a reading for us at the booth. Since my publisher was not at this year's AWP, it gave me an opportunity to read in a very public spot. Also, it was a nice opportunity for CC fellows to be seen at AWP.

Patricia Smith and me.

In the evening, I attended the book launch and reception for Brian Turner’s new book, Phantom Noise. Powerful, powerful work. Alice James Books hosted the party and sold out of the 100 books they brought for the event. I finally picked up a copy of Here, Bullet. Brian was just as nice as he could be, signing books and speaking to as many party guests as possible.

Photo of Robert Hass from his evening reading with Barbara Ras.

And then, after hours ... I’ll post pictures tomorrow for Confession Tuesday.