A Debrief of AWP 2015 Minneapolis

For me, AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) is usually a mix of excellence and exhaustion, so I give you a list of all the excellent I encountered at this year’s conference.

1. Welcome booth sponsored by Rain Taxi at the Minneapolis airport

2. Fun sights seen on my way from airport to hotel: giant mural of sheet music on a brick building, penguins from the film Madagascar peering out of an office window, statue of Mary Richards & a little boy in a batman costume.

3. Friendly helpful staff at the Millennium Hotel where I made my home for four nights.

4. A king sized bed. Hello.

5. Electronic AWP registration via email confirmation #

6. The AWP app.

7. The skywalk. YES.

8. A sturdy tote.

9. Dinner with Sam Snoek Brown

10. An absolutely amazing reading by the the Dark Noise Collective Thursday morning & purchasing The Break Beat Poets Anthology immediately upon leaving said reading.

11. Participating as contributor to “The Full Time Professorship: From Application to Hire to Continuing Life as Writer” panel.

12. The Two-Year College Caucus and networking with community college colleagues.

13. The book fair.

14. Attending the “The Bigness of the Small Poem” panel.

15. Seeing my former mentor & poetry professor from Allegheny, Christopher Bakken.

16. Buying books and having them signed by amazing poets.

17. Meeting folks face to face to that I know through Twitter & Facebook.

18. Attending the “Publishing Sucks, Even When You’re Good At It” panel. I laughed. A lot.

19. Meeting Marie, Kaylie and a bunch of previous contributors at the 30/30 Meet & Greet.

20. Walking the greenway through Loring Park on a beautiful, spring Saturday in Minneapolis.

21. Spending a few hours at the Walker Art Center & Sculpture Garden. Free admission!

22. Writing a 30/30 poem inspired by a sculpture in the Sculpture Garden at the Walker Art Center. I also drafted said poem sitting outdoors, in the sunshine at a picnic table when it was snowing the day before.

23. Attending the “Finding Voice” panel with Roxane Gay, Pablo Medina & Michael Thomas.

24. Attending the Kevin Young & Carolyn Forché reading. This was my final event at this year’s AWP and it was incredible.

25. Discovering a plethora of moose merchandise at the Minnesota gift shop at the airport.

I am now home, sitting on my couch while my dog sleeps on the love seat, my finches chatter from the kitchen and my husband types on his computer. I had a glorious time in Minneapolis but I’m glad to be home and I can’t wait to start working through the stack of books I brought home from the book fair. Below is a list of titles and books I picked up (complete with links):