My Own Private AWP Boston
This is a distant view of a rainy Hynes Convention Center from the Prudential (a.k.a. "The Pru"). I was walking around last Wednesday thinking about poets and writers taking over Boston.
Can't believe it's almost here!
Inside entrance to Hines.
This is a photo of the walkway between the Hynes and the Sheraton. Get use to it; you'll be walking up and down this pathway constantly.
On a rainy Wednesday, the area was pulsing with activity, full of 9-5ers and locals darting in and out of restaurant and shops. I love being the local in the AWP city--can't wait to experience AWP in my adopted home. You, good people, will have a fabulous time here. Sure, there may be long lines waiting for coffee at Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts, but isn't that true of any AWP?
Heck, walk down Boylston or Newbury Streets and see a bit of the city. If you can, go to as many off-sites as possible. That's how you'll really see the area. Snap a few photos at Fenway Park. Take the T into Cambridge and walk through Harvard Square. Let one of the locals point you in the direction of the Grolier Poetry Book Shop, in operation since 1626. And, if you're willing, hop on the commuter rail and check out Salem, home of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival. We got it goin' on up here!
There's so much I want to tell you about the Boston area, but maybe the main thing is that this place will surprise you.
If you are around, find me. Here are a few places I know I will be:
Wednesday, March 6
8 p.m.
Race In Your Face
(Thomas Sayers Ellis, James Brandon Lewis, Kirun Kapur, David Mura, Mukoma Wa Ngugi, Rishi Reddi, Dawne Shand, Jerald Walker, Stephanie Powell Watts)
Boston Playwrights' Theater, 949 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, Massachusetts
Thursday, March 7
10:30-11:45 a.m.
Lessons from the Field: Poetry Festivals and Community Building
Massachusetts Poetry Festival and the Geraldine R. Dodge Festival
Room 200, Level 2
Friday, March 8
10:30-11:45 a.m.
Massachusetts Book Awards in Poetry
Room 203, Level 2
6 p.m.
Cave Canem Fellows Off-Site Reading
Linda K. Paresky Center, Simmons College
300 The Fenway, Main Building, 3rd Floor, Boston
I'm reading!
Saturday, March 9
8:30-11:30 a.m.
Salem State/Mass Poetry Booth #2902, Exhibit Hall D
3-4:15 p.m.
Kundiman Reading
Hynes Convention Center, Alice Hoffman Bookfair Stage, Exhibit Hall D
(Joseph O. Legaspi, Cathy Linh Che, Matthew Olzmann, Brynn Saito and Sharon Suzuki-Martinez)
Welcome to Beantown!
Can't believe it's almost here!
Inside entrance to Hines.
This is a photo of the walkway between the Hynes and the Sheraton. Get use to it; you'll be walking up and down this pathway constantly.
On a rainy Wednesday, the area was pulsing with activity, full of 9-5ers and locals darting in and out of restaurant and shops. I love being the local in the AWP city--can't wait to experience AWP in my adopted home. You, good people, will have a fabulous time here. Sure, there may be long lines waiting for coffee at Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts, but isn't that true of any AWP?
Heck, walk down Boylston or Newbury Streets and see a bit of the city. If you can, go to as many off-sites as possible. That's how you'll really see the area. Snap a few photos at Fenway Park. Take the T into Cambridge and walk through Harvard Square. Let one of the locals point you in the direction of the Grolier Poetry Book Shop, in operation since 1626. And, if you're willing, hop on the commuter rail and check out Salem, home of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival. We got it goin' on up here!
There's so much I want to tell you about the Boston area, but maybe the main thing is that this place will surprise you.
If you are around, find me. Here are a few places I know I will be:
Wednesday, March 6
8 p.m.
Race In Your Face
(Thomas Sayers Ellis, James Brandon Lewis, Kirun Kapur, David Mura, Mukoma Wa Ngugi, Rishi Reddi, Dawne Shand, Jerald Walker, Stephanie Powell Watts)
Boston Playwrights' Theater, 949 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, Massachusetts
Thursday, March 7
10:30-11:45 a.m.
Lessons from the Field: Poetry Festivals and Community Building
Massachusetts Poetry Festival and the Geraldine R. Dodge Festival
Room 200, Level 2
Friday, March 8
10:30-11:45 a.m.
Massachusetts Book Awards in Poetry
Room 203, Level 2
6 p.m.
Cave Canem Fellows Off-Site Reading
Linda K. Paresky Center, Simmons College
300 The Fenway, Main Building, 3rd Floor, Boston
I'm reading!
Saturday, March 9
8:30-11:30 a.m.
Salem State/Mass Poetry Booth #2902, Exhibit Hall D
3-4:15 p.m.
Kundiman Reading
Hynes Convention Center, Alice Hoffman Bookfair Stage, Exhibit Hall D
(Joseph O. Legaspi, Cathy Linh Che, Matthew Olzmann, Brynn Saito and Sharon Suzuki-Martinez)
Welcome to Beantown!
Comments
My panel is right next to yours on Friday morning -- right next door! Let's make sure we at least get a good hug before we start our gigs. I'm only around Thurs pm and Friday all day. Can't wait to hear more of what it's like to be in your own city for AWP. I get that next year. All best and see you soon, Susan
XO