Hi everyone!

With the help of my literary magazine, earthwords, the Magid Center for Writing, and the University of Iowa Undergraduate Student Government, I was able to go on a trip to Los Angeles, where I attended the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference. I was able to watch a handful of panels, browse the bookfair, and explore the city of Los Angeles, so for this post, I wanted to shine some light on all the cool things I did on this trip!

To start off strong, my team and I (five other girls who are also members of earthwords magazine) had an early morning flight on Wednesday, where we flew to Charlotte (that’s right, we went in the opposite direction) before we hopped on our second flight to Los Angeles. Upon arrival, we were picked up by a shuttle and brought to our absolutely beautiful Airbnb! With the rest of the afternoon in front of us, we walked around downtown Los Angeles, explored the shops of Little Tokyo, and ventured inside the famous bookstore called The Last Bookstore. For those of you interested, The Last Bookstore is a multi-level bookshop with hundreds of used books for sale, gift shops full of literary trinkets, a coffee shop for relaxing, and plenty of spots for aesthetic photos to add to your social media! After walking through the bookstore, we met up with a couple of other Iowa friends, where we enjoyed dinner, caught up, and finally decompressed before the conference.

Ready to learn, the girls and I got up early and went to the closest coffee shop, which had the most amazing breakfast sandwiches. I can honestly say that it was the best breakfast sandwich I’ve ever had (if you’re wondering, it’s Birdie’s in DTLA!), and once we were fueled up, we were ready to head to the convention center and enjoy the fun!

For the first day, I decided to start my morning by walking to the book fair. At the bookfair, I had the opportunity to meet with editors from magazines around the world, writers who are working to get their master’s in graduate schools, and publishing companies that are currently publishing new books across multiple genres! There was also so much free stuff to take home, which is always a plus for a college student. And of course, a bookfair wouldn’t be complete without having thousands of books for sale! By the end of the convention, I had seven new books to read!

Later in the afternoon, my friend Katie and I went to a series of writer panels where we had the chance to listen to well-known published authors discuss craft, technique, and ideas across the literary spectrum. The first panel we attended was about ChatGPT and writing, the second was about writing an opening hook for your novel, the third was about writing humor, and the fourth was about how to deconstruct patriarchal worldbuilding. The nice thing about AWP is that they truly have a panel for everyone!

The second day of the convention was super similar to the first. I explored the bookfair and I went to two panels: one about writing mixed race characters and the other about how to revise a manuscript. But later in the afternoon, I went with my friends, Katie and Sophia, to attend an AWP off-site event. Not only does AWP have events inside the convention center, but they also do multiple events across Los Angeles! The off-site event we attended was about love stories, and it was open mic style, so we were able to sit back, relax, drink tea, and enjoy cookies while we listened to writers read from their novels. I’ve always loved off-site events, and this one was no different!

For the final day of the convention, I ended up purchasing my seven books to take back to Iowa City. The trick is to wait until the last day of the convention, because all of the books will be discounted! I ended up getting a great collection of memoirs, poetry collections, fiction novels, and more. I genuinely can’t decide what to read first because my collection is so stacked, but when I do, I know it’ll be amazing.

Overall, the convention was absolutely amazing and if any of you are interested in being a writer, working in the publishing industry, or you just absolutely love books, I would definitely recommend attending the conference! Next year, the conference will be located in Baltimore and who knows?! Maybe I’ll see you there!