As a self-taught poet and artist, I lack the history of connection with homies, sistas, bros, colleagues, and mentors/teachers that often draws people to AWP. I'm not ashamed of this fact, but it tends to place me in a marginal zone (a term I borrow from science) that I experience acutely when in large themed groups like AWP. I feel your FOMO, which I know from experience is a real thing but seriously, other than a few days of drinking, schmoozing, and spending money there are other ways to chat with friends about writing and poetry, promote your new book, and Poet-to-Poet interviews give you a great way to check out trends. And there is always another AWP...
I went to AWP last year, after a long absence, and I'm skipping this year. Partly it's because the people I'd hoped to see there, none of whom live in my home town, dropped out one by one. But also I have, like you, some issues in my personal life that would keep me from going even if I'd decided to go without my friends. I agree that there are moments of serendipity at AWP, but overall I find it dispiriting and nothing concrete has ever come out of my attendance. I am also a translator, and the annual conference of the American Literary Translators Association is very different--attendance in the hundreds rather than the thousands, and a community that actively supports each other. I have made friends there and I've come away with leads that led to publication. The panels and roundtables are more engaging, more interactive. At AWP, I feel like pond scum, though I've published several books; at ALTA, I feel welcomed as a colleague.
I suffer from AWP FOMO as well, but like you, I have no subsidy or stipend to attend. I only go when it's on the east coast and I can drive to the venue. That makes it much easier to carry back all the lit mags I pick up. I found the topics usually repeat so attending each year makes no economic or even literary sense. I learned to set up meetings with friends when I do go and plan which sessions I'll attend in advance. In the past, the 2012 conference in Chicago when I stayed with a friend outside the city, inspired me to write a novel in verse. The last conference I attended in person was in DC. Would have attended in Philly if not for COVID. Given my semester schedule, it's difficult for me to take the time off, too.
Hi Radha, I am in Kansas City attending the AWP for the first time. As I am new in the US, a friend recommended it to me, to get out of my cave and meet people who are writing and publishing. Sorry to hear that you couldn't make it, I send you warm thoughts from Kansas City. Warm regards, rozumari
PS. & I hear you. Life keeping you from going is very hard. & Not being part of a university or institution subsidizing my attendance is challenging. Radha, perhaps I will see you there in 2025.
Hi Dear Radha, I understand your FOMO. I am not going to AWP this year for a number of reasons. I have just finished a major move to a new apartment with my partner and am simply exhausted on many levels. Also, I don't have a book this year, but hope to attend in 2025 after my forthcoming book from Glass Lyre Press is released. About AWP: I am rather shy & find it, at times, difficult, but I also find it exhilarating. As long as I don't regress and become the kid I once was / not part of the cool kids :) / I really am happy seeing so many lovely poets and friends. The trick is to give oneself silent times. So yes, I will not be there this year and find it a bit disconcerting, but there is always next year.
KC will be my ninth in-person AWP. Over the years it's become half writing conference, half writing retreat. It's a time to escape my weekly grind and immerse myself in reading, writing, listening, and me time. It's not cheap, but it's my yearly gift to myself.
My FOMO isn't the social stuff because I suck at that part. It's mostly missing out on everything I'm not learning and unearthing- Writers I'm not seeing, discovering, and sometimes meeting (that I wouldn't otherwise).
The years I don't attend AWP, I generally stay off social media for the weekend, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
The last time I attended AWP was approximately 20 years ago when I was in grad school (so 2003 or 2004). I can already tell that a lot is different now than it was then. I don't remember there being so many readings and events outside of the main conference venue, so that seems like a fun improvement. I am even reading at one of them! One thing that is always a little bit of a bummer about conference travel (I regularly attend a few other academic conferences) is that I leave having no sense of the place where I was because I spend all of my time in a hotel listening to panels and speakers--so the many opportunities to get out in the city is very welcome on my end. My biggest motivation for going is the opportunity to connect in person with poets from all over that I have met (and only known) in Zoom workshops. I am sad that I will miss you there, Radha! I am sure I will have some thoughts to share when I return.
There will be a central vacuum at this year's AWP.
Radha Marcum will not be there.
Her absence will affect everything.
Some attendees will have a low dishonest response to Radha Marcum's absence. They will drown their sorrow in their curdled envy of Radha Marcum's freedom to mope on her couch, her privilege of not packing her brand-new thrift-store blazers.
Others will feel Radha Marcum's absence more obliquely. Renowned poets will stumble through their standing-room-only readings. Fluorescent lights will flicker in unison. Posters declaring Radha Marcum missing will be taped to elevator walls, and torn down. Candidates for tenure-track positions will sob openly during job interviews in cramped overheated hotel rooms with garish curtains. Whole panels will walk off their respective stages without knowing why.
Thanks, Radha. I came to your substack through the recommendation of my dear college poet friend, Rosanna Oh. I won't be attending, I never have -- I actually didn't know about it until reading your post today! I would love to go, but have young children, it's cost prohibitive, etc. Do they do any kind of online streaming or digital gathering? It would make a lot of sense, considering so many of us are aspiring writers with all the sacrifices that takes ;) Perhaps you have the power to suggest it! Love your substack... grateful for these resources as I launch back into the writing life... much obliged...
Coming from a non-academic literary background (which kinds means *no background*) I have wondered lots about the cost/benefit ratio of attending AWP. I can see going when I can drive and maybe stay with friends, but if you're an "independent" writer, rather than a writing program instructor or hopeful, I can't see attending every year. Of course that's just my own view and being a retired guy, the idea that I'll "make it" in today's highly opinionated literary world flew by my shoulder many moons ago. The positives I can see are; 1) having an ms. to shop around face to face, and 2) meeting face to face with all the poet/writer friends you socialize with on the web, 3) craft talks. I look at some of my friends social media and they have a whole list of readings, etc. and my reaction is "how cool is that" so perhaps a veteran can clue me in. Are there sign ups on the meeting web site for off-campus readings? One thing that has amazed me as someone (I know, I know. I repeat this over and over, but it's a good benchmark <g>) who published his first poem in 1995 is how social media has brought so many writers together. This was impossible back in the last century. So for me, if I want to contact someone I can typically find them on social media (FB despite the poo pooing of the internet hoi polloi, still holds literally thousands of publishing poets), or somewhere else on the web. I'll definitely go to one AWP when it's cost effective, but I can't see going every year.
As a self-taught poet and artist, I lack the history of connection with homies, sistas, bros, colleagues, and mentors/teachers that often draws people to AWP. I'm not ashamed of this fact, but it tends to place me in a marginal zone (a term I borrow from science) that I experience acutely when in large themed groups like AWP. I feel your FOMO, which I know from experience is a real thing but seriously, other than a few days of drinking, schmoozing, and spending money there are other ways to chat with friends about writing and poetry, promote your new book, and Poet-to-Poet interviews give you a great way to check out trends. And there is always another AWP...
I went to AWP last year, after a long absence, and I'm skipping this year. Partly it's because the people I'd hoped to see there, none of whom live in my home town, dropped out one by one. But also I have, like you, some issues in my personal life that would keep me from going even if I'd decided to go without my friends. I agree that there are moments of serendipity at AWP, but overall I find it dispiriting and nothing concrete has ever come out of my attendance. I am also a translator, and the annual conference of the American Literary Translators Association is very different--attendance in the hundreds rather than the thousands, and a community that actively supports each other. I have made friends there and I've come away with leads that led to publication. The panels and roundtables are more engaging, more interactive. At AWP, I feel like pond scum, though I've published several books; at ALTA, I feel welcomed as a colleague.
I suffer from AWP FOMO as well, but like you, I have no subsidy or stipend to attend. I only go when it's on the east coast and I can drive to the venue. That makes it much easier to carry back all the lit mags I pick up. I found the topics usually repeat so attending each year makes no economic or even literary sense. I learned to set up meetings with friends when I do go and plan which sessions I'll attend in advance. In the past, the 2012 conference in Chicago when I stayed with a friend outside the city, inspired me to write a novel in verse. The last conference I attended in person was in DC. Would have attended in Philly if not for COVID. Given my semester schedule, it's difficult for me to take the time off, too.
Hi Radha, I am in Kansas City attending the AWP for the first time. As I am new in the US, a friend recommended it to me, to get out of my cave and meet people who are writing and publishing. Sorry to hear that you couldn't make it, I send you warm thoughts from Kansas City. Warm regards, rozumari
PS. & I hear you. Life keeping you from going is very hard. & Not being part of a university or institution subsidizing my attendance is challenging. Radha, perhaps I will see you there in 2025.
Hi Dear Radha, I understand your FOMO. I am not going to AWP this year for a number of reasons. I have just finished a major move to a new apartment with my partner and am simply exhausted on many levels. Also, I don't have a book this year, but hope to attend in 2025 after my forthcoming book from Glass Lyre Press is released. About AWP: I am rather shy & find it, at times, difficult, but I also find it exhilarating. As long as I don't regress and become the kid I once was / not part of the cool kids :) / I really am happy seeing so many lovely poets and friends. The trick is to give oneself silent times. So yes, I will not be there this year and find it a bit disconcerting, but there is always next year.
KC will be my ninth in-person AWP. Over the years it's become half writing conference, half writing retreat. It's a time to escape my weekly grind and immerse myself in reading, writing, listening, and me time. It's not cheap, but it's my yearly gift to myself.
My FOMO isn't the social stuff because I suck at that part. It's mostly missing out on everything I'm not learning and unearthing- Writers I'm not seeing, discovering, and sometimes meeting (that I wouldn't otherwise).
The years I don't attend AWP, I generally stay off social media for the weekend, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
The last time I attended AWP was approximately 20 years ago when I was in grad school (so 2003 or 2004). I can already tell that a lot is different now than it was then. I don't remember there being so many readings and events outside of the main conference venue, so that seems like a fun improvement. I am even reading at one of them! One thing that is always a little bit of a bummer about conference travel (I regularly attend a few other academic conferences) is that I leave having no sense of the place where I was because I spend all of my time in a hotel listening to panels and speakers--so the many opportunities to get out in the city is very welcome on my end. My biggest motivation for going is the opportunity to connect in person with poets from all over that I have met (and only known) in Zoom workshops. I am sad that I will miss you there, Radha! I am sure I will have some thoughts to share when I return.
There will be a central vacuum at this year's AWP.
Radha Marcum will not be there.
Her absence will affect everything.
Some attendees will have a low dishonest response to Radha Marcum's absence. They will drown their sorrow in their curdled envy of Radha Marcum's freedom to mope on her couch, her privilege of not packing her brand-new thrift-store blazers.
Others will feel Radha Marcum's absence more obliquely. Renowned poets will stumble through their standing-room-only readings. Fluorescent lights will flicker in unison. Posters declaring Radha Marcum missing will be taped to elevator walls, and torn down. Candidates for tenure-track positions will sob openly during job interviews in cramped overheated hotel rooms with garish curtains. Whole panels will walk off their respective stages without knowing why.
Everyone will drink too much.
Thanks, Radha. I came to your substack through the recommendation of my dear college poet friend, Rosanna Oh. I won't be attending, I never have -- I actually didn't know about it until reading your post today! I would love to go, but have young children, it's cost prohibitive, etc. Do they do any kind of online streaming or digital gathering? It would make a lot of sense, considering so many of us are aspiring writers with all the sacrifices that takes ;) Perhaps you have the power to suggest it! Love your substack... grateful for these resources as I launch back into the writing life... much obliged...
Coming from a non-academic literary background (which kinds means *no background*) I have wondered lots about the cost/benefit ratio of attending AWP. I can see going when I can drive and maybe stay with friends, but if you're an "independent" writer, rather than a writing program instructor or hopeful, I can't see attending every year. Of course that's just my own view and being a retired guy, the idea that I'll "make it" in today's highly opinionated literary world flew by my shoulder many moons ago. The positives I can see are; 1) having an ms. to shop around face to face, and 2) meeting face to face with all the poet/writer friends you socialize with on the web, 3) craft talks. I look at some of my friends social media and they have a whole list of readings, etc. and my reaction is "how cool is that" so perhaps a veteran can clue me in. Are there sign ups on the meeting web site for off-campus readings? One thing that has amazed me as someone (I know, I know. I repeat this over and over, but it's a good benchmark <g>) who published his first poem in 1995 is how social media has brought so many writers together. This was impossible back in the last century. So for me, if I want to contact someone I can typically find them on social media (FB despite the poo pooing of the internet hoi polloi, still holds literally thousands of publishing poets), or somewhere else on the web. I'll definitely go to one AWP when it's cost effective, but I can't see going every year.