With 11,000 creative writers about to descend upon Boston for the 2013 Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) annual conference, it's not surprising that some of those writers have written online posts providing guidance and advice. I've collected a few below. If you're planning on attending this year's AWP from March 6-9, feel free …
Category: AWP
The Role of the AWP Conference in a Creative Writer’s Evolution
I've booked my flight and hotel for this year's Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference in Boston, Massachusetts. I'm in Beantown from Wednesday, March 6th to Saturday the 9th, a very short time to take in all of the workshops, readings, receptions, and of course, the massive trade show floor with just about …
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MFA Nugget: The Social Life of a Residency
"You should write about what the social life is like here. That was the thing I was most afraid of before coming." One of my fellow students at my Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA residency made that suggestion last night, and so I'm going to take that on here. Now the first question is, …
Lit Journal Nugget: Ep;phany
Awhile back I had an epiphany; as I studied literary journals I would run reviews on this site. I then had a further epiphany; I would invite readers to submit their own. I'm pleased to feature the first guest post in the Lit Journal Nugget series, a review of Ep;phany by Jennifer (Jenna) McGuiggan, a great …
Lit Journal Nugget: fugue
Today we'll take a look at the literary journal fugue, which like e.e. cummings eschews capitalization. I discovered this journal last year via NewPages, and picked up a copy last month at AWP. It is edited by university graduate students, and given its quality, it appears no worse the wear for lack of a permanent …
Lit Journal Nugget: AGNI
I probably exceeded United Airlines' carry-on weight limits recently when I returned from the AWP Bookfair in Chicago with dozens of literary journals. Given that I plan to spend the next few months reading them and getting a better sense of what they're all about, I thought I should share what I find with you. …
AWP Nugget: 9 Tips for a Successful AWP
I'm back from Chicago and in recovery mode from the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference. I posted every day from the conference; now I'm wrapping up the series with a list of tips I'll remember for next year's AWP in Boston: Favor the Bookfair: It's tempting to attend panel after panel. But …
AWP Nugget: Finding the RIGHT Voice(s)
AWP, CHICAGO: "As a beginning writer I was told to find my voice," as if it were something lost, Sue William Silverman said at a Friday AWP panel titled "Containing Multitudes: Shifting Voices in Fiction and Creative Nonfiction." "Was it under the bed?" Then Sue--author of the best-selling memoirs Because I Remember Terror, Father, I …
AWP Nugget: Margaret Atwood on Art and Craft
AWP, CHICAGO: Margaret Atwood’s books are works of art built though painstaking craft. The same can be said of the remarkable Auditorium Theatre at Chicago’s Roosevelt University, the setting for her keynote address here at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference Thursday night. The Auditorium Theatre is from another age, a gilded …
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AWP Nugget: Selling Out Everyone You Love (in Brevity)
AWP, CHICAGO: Does a writer of memoir--or even a fiction writer painting true stories in camouflage--invariably sell out friends and loved ones? Five nonfiction writers wrestled with that topic here at the first day of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference. I summarized the panel for the Brevity blog; you can find …
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The Artist's Road 