Hi everyone!
I just returned to Iowa City from one of the most exciting trips I’ve had in a while and I knew when I came back that I had no choice, but to write about it! This past weekend, I attended the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Convention (also known as AWP) and had the opportunity to listen to panels with authors/industry professionals, network with MFA programs, buy plenty of discounted books, and of course, get so much closer to my amazing earthwords magazine team! For this post, I’m going to walk you through the entire trip and some of the cool opportunities I found while wandering the convention.
On Thursday morning, it was an early wakeup for me and the rest of the team as we lugged our bags to the parking lot at 4:oo in the morning. Luckily, the drive proved to be quick, easy, and beautiful as we watched the sunrise on our way to Kansas City, Missouri. We were starstruck by all the Superbowl decorations since this weekend happened to be the weekend where the Kansas City Chiefs faced off against the 49ers, so we were a bit overwhelmed with city spirit as we drove up to our hotel and stretched our legs after the long drive. But upon arriving, we wasted no time in booking it to the convention to attend panels and get a feel for the book fair as our official first day as attendees.
I was astounded by how massive the convention center was and the number of people, booths, and paneling rooms available to all the attendees. The possibilities were endless and even though I would have loved to explore more than I was capable of, I created a tight-knit schedule for myself beforehand which started at a panel about the ethics of writing fiction based on fact.
With a couple earthwords friends, we sat in as three authors talked and discussed the challenges of writing about the people we know, whether or not we should give loved ones a heads up before certain pieces come out about them, and the harm/good that can happen when new perspectives take on a story. It was an incredible panel to kick off my AWP experience and as someone who regularly writes about the people I know, I found it really informative to my writing process!
But there was no time to waste because I quickly left for my second panel which featured a handful of literary agents who talked about the dos and don’ts of querying novels, the ins and outs of the publishing industry, and how agents take care of their clients and the work that they do. This panel provided great insight into the first aspect of getting a book traditionally published and how authors can better their odds when querying their debut novels to agencies.
After this panel, it was time for lunch, so my friend, Fareeha, and I, settled on some ramen which ended up being delicious! Afterward, we had some time to kill before our next panel, so we walked around the book fair, took pictures of books we wanted, chatted with small literary magazines/presses, and won fun prizes like stickers, magnets, and pens before heading back to the panels.
This final panel featured a handful of small booksellers who spoke about ways that authors can build better relationships with indie bookstores and the local community. In all honesty, it was a bit on the boring side for me, but I still got some great notes for it if there comes a day that I drop everything and open a quaint bookstore later in my life.
Once the excitement of the first day was over, the rest of the earthwords team got dinner at a bar and grill where we sat at a long table, talked about our experiences, and ate our fill. I’m sure I can speak for everyone that our first day was absolutely exhausting, but overall, it was a great way to kick off such a memorable experience for the rest of the weekend!
The very next day, Friday, is what I considered my “busy day” because of how many panels I ended up going to! I started the morning strong at a 9am panel about social media and how reviewers online play a massive role in book sales today. On this panel, the social media influencers spoke about their roles, their relationships with authors/readers, and the balance between a full-time job and reviewing new titles day-to-day. Even though I’m not much of an influencer, it was really cool to hear about the effects of BookTok through the eyes of the people running it.
Next, I rushed to a panel called, “Draft, Draft, Goose” which was all about revising writing projects. This room was filled to the brim with people, and I felt so engrossed in each author’s presentations as they stood in front of the crowd, displayed their messy first drafts, and then walked us through how they edited/revised them into their final version. Not only was I so impressed by each writer’s process, but also by the fact that they had the guts to show hundreds of people their unedited work! I’m not sure I could ever be convinced to do something like that and I have so much respect for the authors who put themselves in front of the crowd to do something so daunting!
After this panel, a lunch break was very much needed, so Fareeha, Sophia, and I got tacos and chatted for a bit before we split off to go to our afternoon panels.
My third panel of the day was all about literary magazines and how writers can make their submissions stand out in the slush pile. If I’m being honest, this was a bit of a bleak panel since it’s hard to stand out when magazines are getting 10k submissions every season, but something I did learn was that submitting to contests is actually a lot more helpful than I first thought! Because of this panel, I feel a lot differently about the benefits of contests, so maybe I’ll consider submitting to a couple in the near future.
For the fourth panel of the day, Fareeha, I, and a handful of people on the earthwords staff met up to watch a panel run by all female writers who spoke about girlhood and coming-of-age stories including how to get those stories into an industry that is historically male. I was really impressed with the advice that these women were providing us and how honest their conversations were about their writing process, the querying process, and how they went about writing unconventional female characters. It was a great panel to end on and then Fareeha, Amritha, Maia, Kelsey, and I packed up our stuff, left the convention center, and headed to an off-site event in downtown Kansas City called, “Women Who Leave.”
One of the many wonderful things about AWP is that they schedule events around the city alongside events within the convention center! This allows attendees to still have the chance to partake in some literary magic while exploring some of the cool places in Kansas City. For the “Women Who Leave” event, I and everyone else went to Nighthawk (an old speakeasy located at the bottom of a hotel!) where we managed to find a seat at the very front of the stage.
We listened to four incredible female authors talk about their experiences with leaving romantic relationships and how that real-life event shaped their writing. It was such an empowering conversation about topics of love, money, womanhood, and happiness, that me and everyone else at the event were brought to tears multiple times! Afterward, it was pretty obvious that we all wanted to buy their books, and my friends and I were lucky enough to get our copies signed by the authors too! We were geeking out the whole time and it was by far my favorite event of the weekend!
Tired and hungry, I and half of the earthwords staff found a sushi restaurant to eat dinner. It took us a while to get on the waitlist, but luckily, we came across some live music that we got to sit around and listen to as we waited to be called in for a table. At dinner, we got to know one another so much better, and it was a great way to end our second day in Kansas City and prepare for our final day of panels.
The next day, Saturday, marked the last chance to see any panels/roam the book fair which was so sad to come to terms with! I know I wanted to stay at AWP forever, but unfortunately, we had plans to return to Iowa City that night.
I started that final day with a few others on staff as we attended a 9am panel called, if you can believe it, “Writing the Literary Sex Scene!” This panel was so unserious, so funny, and so informative, even though it was early in the morning. After that panel, me and Fareeha wandered the bookfair and spoke to some universities including the University of Baltimore, the University of Belmont, Columbia, Yale, Northwestern, Emerson College, and more! It was really cool to chat and network with some MFA students, alumni, and faculty, and then get their contact information to reach out at a later point. I definitely felt more confident in some of my choices on the off chance that I pursue an MFA someday.
Our book exploration had to take a pause though as me and Fareeha attended our last panel. This panel focused on debut YA authors and their experiences working in publishing. The authors were insanely transparent about the positives and negatives of being a debut author, how they found their agents, the struggle of a work/life balance, and what they would do differently if they could debut again. It was really insightful to see how these authors have handled being published and I definitely need to pick up their books sometime in the future after hearing them all speak!
Before finishing our day, Fareeha, Kelsey, Madeline, Lily, and I all got pizza for lunch before we toured the rest of the book fair and bought some last-minute books. By the end of the trip, I had seven books in tow which ranged from literary magazines to chapbooks, and to full-fledged novels. Currently, I’m reading one of the chapbooks I bought called, “Notes on Shapeshifting” by Gabi Abrao which I’m absolutely in love with!
Exhausted and in much need of coffee, me and Fareeha left the convention center for the very last time and trekked to a Cuban coffee shop where we got coffee, read, and waited for the rest of the team to join us before we all packed our things and made for the long drive back to Iowa City. The drive was filled with laughter, smiles, and shared experiences of all the things this incredible trip has taught us. I can say confidently that not a single person regretted the experience and every single one of us returned to Iowa City with fresh eyes and a whole new appreciation for the literary community.
That’s the breakdown of my trip! I appreciate you guys sticking around to listen to my experience and if any of you are interested in attending AWP next year, the convention will be held in Los Angeles, California. If you try it out, I can assure you that you won’t regret it!
