The next morning, John wrote to say he was stuck in Texas due to snow. One inch of snow in Texas is a big deal and evidently shuts down airports. (Yes, a Chicago person laughed at that.)

The Grist Magazine folks from Tennessee were nice to have as tablemates. Sharing a table makes me happy. It saves money, certainly, but I like how it forces us all to talk to people we might not meet otherwise. Our table, by the way, was within 20 feet of poles covered with ripped insulation, leading many people to speculate rats had been at work.

During the one panel I attended, the speakers claimed not to know they were supposed to talk as well as read. (Oh, no, another “reading” panel.) However, they did talk and one guy was able to pull a talk from a previous event out of his pocket. NOTE: If you do not know you are supposed to talk, should you mention that to the audience? I took notes on my mobile using Evernote–noticing that many others still use paper–and wondered if everyone thought I was a texting fool. I took digital notes on my phone in order to experiment with how I liked it, if Evernote trumped paper, etc.

On Thursday night, I was back at The Lebanese Taverna (we had reservations but it did not seem to matter) for dinner with a bunch of people. The host did not seem to take people in order, so one had to keep asking. He said the customers were taking a long time and lingering over coffee, so I asked him if he needed me to rough people up. He smiled, but humor did *not* get me a table. What got me a table was J., who managed to ask at the right time. The host looked confused, asked her if she was me, and then said we could have a table that had recently been cleared.

Meander. Meander. I spent a lot of time meandering and not as much as you might think at the 32 Poems table. I stopped and chatted with Eduardo Corral, caught a book signing with January O’Neil, met Kelli Agodon, walked around with Martha Silano (and bought her book), picked up a copy of Birmingham Poetry Review (with my poem inside), and bought books by various 32 Poems contributors. I also chatted with Melissa Stein (check out her new book Rough Honey), Dan Albergotti, Dan Nester (bought his book How to Be Inappropriate), Randall Man, and many others.

By the way, January O’Neil blogs her AWP “Confessions.”

Josh Corey talks book buying at AWP and blames Coffee House Press.

Jeannine Hall Gailey discussed how to survive NOT attending AWP.

Collin Kelley gives good reasons for not attending AWP on his Modern Confessional blog.

Kelli Agodon shares the open letter from Claudia Rankine.

Tin House shares the #AWP11 Twitter feed.

*****

Dear friends,

As many of you know I responded to Tony Hoagland’s poem “The Change” at AWP. I also solicited from Tony a response to my response. Many informal conversations have been taking place online and elsewhere since my presentation of this dialogue. This request is an attempt to move the conversation away from the he said-she said vibe toward a discussion about the creative imagination, creative writing and race.

If you have time in the next month please consider sharing some thoughts on writing about race (1-5 pages).

Here are a few possible jumping off points:

- If you write about race frequently what issues, difficulties, advantages, and disadvantages do you negotiate?

- How do we invent the language of racial identity–that is, not necessarily constructing the “scene of instruction” about race, but create the linguistic material of racial speech/thought?

- If you have never written consciously about race why have you never felt compelled to do so?

- If you don’t consider yourself in any majority how does this contribute to how race enters your work?

- If fear is a component of your reluctance to approach this subject could you examine that in a short essay that would be made public?

- If you don’t intend to write about race but consider yourself a reader of work dealing with race what are your expectations for a poem where race matters?

- Do you believe race can be decontextualized, or in other words, can ideas of race be constructed separate from their history?

- Is there a poem you think is particularly successful at inventing the language of racial dentity or at dramatizing the site of race as such? Tell us why.

In short, write what you want. But in the interest of constructing a discussion pertinent to the more important issue of the creative imagination and race, please do not reference Tony or me in your writings. We both served as the catalyst for this discussion but the real work as a community interested in this issue begins with our individual assessments.

If you write back to me by March 11, 2011, one month from today, with “OPEN LETTER” in the subject heading I will post everything on the morning of the 15th of March. Feel free to pass this on to your friends. Please direct your thoughts to openletter@claudiarankine.com.

In peace,
Claudia
openletter@claudiarankine.com

Weather
Our weather is unpredictable, but one thing you can be sure of is that it will be unbearable. Be sure to pack the following:

Sweaters
Umbrellas (2–1 will fail due to high winds and/or be stolen)
A swimming suit or board shorts
A parka
A light cardigan/tank top set
A warm hat
Sunscreen
Crocs (just kidding–are you even reading this?)

Socializing with the locals
You can identify most DC residents easily, as they begin conversations this way:

“Hello! I am [DC Resident's name].”
“Hi, nice to meet you.”
“Yes, it is. What do you do?”

Recommendation: do not reveal you work in the arts, are an artist, enjoy art, or advocate for arts funding. Instead, say, “I am a lobbyist.” This will make most people vanish into thin air.

Be sure to visit Charlie’s blog.

Date: Friday, February 4 · 8:00pm – 11:00pm
Location:The Biltmore, 1977 Biltmore St., DC (5 minutes from AWP)

With performances by Daniel Nester, Don Share, Ander Monson, Lia Purpura, Melanie Henderson, Patrick Rosal, Garret Socol, DeLana Dameron, Bernadette Geyer.

32 POEMS is just that—a journal of thirty-two poems, one to a page. They’re available in print biannually, for a total of 64 poems a year.

DRUNKEN BOAT is one of the oldest online arts journals, dedicated to exposure of literary, visual, digital, and cross-media work from around the world.

DEFUNCT is a twice-annual publication featuring writing on all things defunct. New issues appear in April and October.

BORN MAGAZINE is an experimental venue marrying literary arts and multimedia.

How can you take this once-a-year opportunity and make the most of your time at the awp Conference in Washington, d.c. this coming February?

Turn Virtual People into Real People: Through my blog (blog.32poems.com), I’ve begun conversations with poets from around the country. In 2006, a poet-blogger arranged a happy hour in Austin, tx, so a group of online acquaintances could actually meet in person. I suggest attending at least a few group events like these, because you get to meet more people in a limited time.

Consider Attending Outside Parties: At a conference, I was invited to a party at a poet’s house. Although I was tired, I forced myself to attend. I barely knew anyone, yet the poets welcomed a stranger. I immediately felt at home and met several interesting people. Who knows what, if anything, will come of these chance encounters? Sometimes, you just need to get out from behind your computer screen to socialize.

Work a Table: If you run a press or magazine or know someone who does, volunteer to work at their table at the book fair. The organizer will probably be happy to have your help. One grateful graduate student volunteered at the 32 Poems table in Chicago. Several times, she mentioned how glad she was to have this table as an anchor since she was attending the conference for the first time and felt completely overwhelmed. Since the conference presented a sensory overload, by representing the magazine, she was able to put her bookbag down for an hour or two and have some sustained conversations in one spot.

Review Your Choices: Enter the conference with a strategy. Check through the entire list of panel presentations to see what you want to attend. Since interesting panels can overlap, you’ll probably have to make hard choices. Narrow these down as best you can and then allow for some unexpected plans. You may have in mind to attend a panel and see a friend in the hallway and decide to have lunch instead. Similarly, check out the list of exhibitors at the book fair. Which tables will you want to spend time visiting? There’s value to serendipity—but set your targets too.

Maybe the new person you meet will become a friend. Maybe you’ll work on a book together. You might get an idea for an outstanding class to take or good advice on agents. In some cases, you might get nothing beyond having a good conversation with someone at a party. The only way you’ll know is to attend AWP and network. 

Deborah Ager’s poetry collection, Midnight Voices, appeared in 2009. Ager founded 32 Poems Magazine in 2003. Many poems first appearing in 32 Poems have been honored in the Best American Poetry and Best New Poets anthologies and on Verse Daily and Poetry Daily.

This article originally appeared in the Winter/Spring issue of The Writer’s Center’s Workshop & Event Guide.

AWP Report: Political Poetry

Mary Doty luxuriates and examines the psychological boot camp

How Oliver de la Paz Ruined My AWP Experience

Best thing overheard yesterday:
“I don’t really know what they do here, but I know they all look like they are in pain. I think they are all writers.”
–Convention Center person answering question from a participant of the Auto Show next door

Adam Rubenstein gets dramatic.

The Colorado Convention Center does not believe in hydrating its guests. You will find no water available in the halls — unlike previous AWPs — because this convention center wants you to buy expensive bottles of water from the various cafes inside the hall. And you need water in Denver since it’s so dry there.

On the good side, I would be happy to have the conference in this space every year for the rest of my life. Although Denver proves to be a haul from DC, we had space to breathe and move. In 2003, all the panels took place in the main hotel where the majority of the people stayed. The elevators could not keep up with demand. People tried using the stairwells and got trapped if they were not guests with passcards. A Big Mess.

AWP outdid themselves choosing this space. Live and learn, I suppose. The panels mostly took place in the convention center, which left the hotels less crowded than they would otherwise be.

The MFA@UFL reunion was this afternoon. My fellow MFAers from the 1800s showed up. One person publishes a book every time I change my clothes. He’s one of the most productive people I know. A few of the current grad students arrived. I’d met with them about their poetry just the week before at The University of Florida in Gainesville (not Tallahassee, folks).

At some point, I attended the Craig Arnold tribute. I had some serious trouble deciding which panel to attend. It seemed the panels I most wanted to attend took place in the same slot. Other times, there was absolutely no panel that piqued my interest.

Husband attended several panels. I will be reviewing his notes.

Which panel was I most sad to miss? The Donald Revell/Tony Hoagland panel. Thankfully, January O’Neill took notes.

The breakfast at the Magnolia included a choice of eggs, sausage, oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, and cereal.

This year, 32 Poems did not have a table. That meant I could move around as I pleased. I surfed the bookfair and ran into lovely people such as Greg Fraser, Skip Horack, Erika Meitner, Roger Lathbury, Oliver de la Paz, and more and more. Should I use initials? I don’t know.

One Conversation:

OTHER PERSON: What is your involvement here?
ME: I am self involved.
OTHER PERSON: Ha, me too.

A Second Conversation:
OTHER PERSON: I can’t do anymore small talk.
ME: I can’t either.
BOTH: Deep sighs of relief.

On the plane, I ran into a friend (not associated with the Association W.P.) and the two hours passed quickly. We shared a taxi to the Palmer House, and her business paid. Thanks!

Then, I found out my reservation was not at the Palmer House. Lesson Learned: Chicago has two Hiltons within a few blocks of each other. At least, I was not the only one to make this mistake.

Another taxi ride later, I was inside the Chicago Hilton and eagerly wanting my room and a comfy bed. I’d been up since 0600.

The next morning, I worked the 32 Poems table and chatted with my table neighbors from New Sin Press. Jake Ricafrente showed up in the afternoon to help out.

After the day came to a close, I met some friends for dinner at a local bar. I had to get away from the mob of writers, so we went a secret location no one else seemed to know about. One friend regaled us with hilarious stories, and I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. My other friend and I continued the conversation in her room for another hour or so and then met one of her friends from California in the Palmer House lobby.

The lobby is gorgeous, no? They just re-did all the gold.

When my room produced near-Arctic temperatures, I thought it was just me. By the next day, I realized that the room temperature was NOT normal and dialed magic 5-0 (no, not the police) for help. An engineer confirmed the heater’s fan was broken. He said they’d see if a room change was possible. This took about 40 minutes to resolve and time was ticking. I had a party I wanted to attend, and I worked hard not to be cranky.

The room change was possible. I then lugged my heavy-as-heck luggage up to the 23rd floor.

Reaching the 23rd floor required going from floor 9 to floor 8 and then switching to an elevator that took me to 23. I wish I had a video to show you how silly it all was. You can’t switch at certain floors. Bizarre.

For freezing to death the night before, I was rewarded with lake views and a view of Grant Park and Q-tips and a phone in the bathroom. Ah, heavenly.

See the room.

I then headed off to a poet’s birthday party — having to take three elevators to reach the proper floor — and bumped into many poets I wanted to see. I drank bourbon and talked poetry. Good times.

32 Poems Table Visitors: Rebecca Wee, Kathleen Winter, Cheri Peters from Sewanee, Moira Egan, Traci O’Dea, Randall Mann (I heard they sold out of his book!), Reb Livingston, Judy Kerman, and many others. I visited some people I know from a poetry listserv and also some DC-area writers. It was great to meet some of these people in person after all these years!

If you’re attending the AWP Conference, be sure to look for the 32 Poems table. We’re giving away a free issue of 32 Poems. Free is good.

—————-

Are you going to the AWP Conference in Chicago next week? DC authors will be well represented there–show your support!

DC involvement includes the following (not a complete list!):

Book Fair Displays:
American University
Barrelhouse
Gival Press
National Endowment for the Arts
Orchises Press
Phoebe
Poet Lore
Potomac Review
Split This Rock Poetry Festival
So To Speak
32 Poems!
University of Maryland
The Word Works, Inc.

Panels:
Many former and current authors from DC participating. Look for panels featuring: Kim Addonizio, Rosellen Brown, Carole Burns, Regie Cabico, Cornelius Eady, Carolyn Forche, JoAnne Growney, David Kipen, Toni Asante Lightfoot, Haki R. Madhubuti, Mark McMorris, Honor Moore, Lisa C. Moore, Valzhyna Mort, Linda Pastan, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Carly Sachs, Ravi Shankar, Susan Richards Shreve, Joshua Weiner, Mary Kay Zuravleff.

Readings:
February 12 at 1:30 pm, “Another World Instead: Readings from The Early Poems of William Stafford, 1937-1947.” (Fred Marchant, Linda Pastan, Kim Stafford, Jennifer Barber, Kevin Bowen, Mary Szybist)

February 12 at 7:00 pm (off-site)
“From Chocolate to Chi: DC Poets in Chicago”: Poetry reading by Kim Roberts, Sarah Browning, Regie Cabico, Sage Morgan Hubbard, John Murillo, and Melissa Tuckey
Insight Arts, 1545 W. Morse Ave., Roger’s Park neighborhood, Chicago, IL (773) 973-1521. Half a block from the Morse station on the Red Line. Free.

February 12 at 7:30 (off-site)
TinFish Press & friends with Tom Orange, Craig Santos Perez, Ric Royer, Tyrone Williams, Meg Withers
Links Hall, 3435 N. Sheffield Ave., near the Belmont station on the Red and Brown lines. $5 admission.

February 13 at 4:30 pm, West Chester University Poetry Conference 15th Anniversary Reading. (David Yezzi, Molly Peacock, David Mason, Kim Addonizio, Andrew Hudgins)

February 13 at 4:30 pm, Pitt Poetry Series Reading. (Ed Ochester, Stephanie Brown, Nancy Krygowski, Jeffrey McDaniel, Afaa Michael Weaver)

February 13 at 4:30 pm, “The Country They Come From: Polish-American Writers Read about the Midwest and Poland.” (John Guzlowski, Anthony Bukoski, Linda Foster, John Minczeski, Leslie Pietrzyk)

February 13 at 8:00 pm (off-site)
Red Rover Series “Experiment #26: A Small Press Showcase” with Action Books, Effing Press, Flood Editions, Futurepoem books, Les Figues Press, Slack Buddha Press, Switchback Books, Ugly Duckling Presse. Readings by: Jessica Bozek, Amina Cain, Marcella Durand, Gloria Frym, Bill Fuller, Kim Hyesoon, Alta Ifland, Nancy Kuhl, Dan Machlin, Don Mee, Hoa Nguyen, Mel Nichols, Kathleen Rooney, Susan Schultz, John Tipton, Ronaldo V. Wilson
Links Hall, 3435 N. Sheffield Ave., near the Belmont station on the Red and Brown lines. $5 admission.

February 14 at Noon, “WritersCorps: A Reading from a New City Lights Anthology Celebrating 15 Years.” (Chad Sweeney, Jeffrey McDaniel, Thomas Centolella, Elissa Perry, Ishle Yi Park)

Book Signings:
February 12 at 10:30 am
Sarah Browning signs Whiskey in the Garden of Eden at the Word Works table (#792)

February 12 at 11:30 am
Patricia Gray signs Rupture at the Red Hen Press tables (#522-526)

February 13 at 10:00 am
Elizabeth Oness signs her novel set in DC, Twelve Rivers of the Body at the Gival Press table (#514)

February 13 at 1:00 pm
J.D. Smith signs Settling for Beauty at the Word Works table (#792)

February 13 at 3:00 pm
JoAnne Growney signs Strange Attractors: Poems of Love and Mathematics at the Word Works table (#792)

February 13 at 4:00 pm
Patricia Gray signs Rupture at the Red Hen Press tables (#522-526)

February 14 at 10:00 am
Gregg Shapiro signs Protection (poems set in Chicago, Boston, and DC) at the Gival Press table (#514)

February 14 at 10:00 am
Karren L. Alenier signs Winners, A Retrospective of the Washington Prize at the Word Works table (#792)

February 14 at 10:30 am
Kim Roberts signs The Kimnama at the Split This Rock table (#309).

Poet Lore, celebrating its 120th year in print, invites all poets published in the magazine to stop by Book Fair Table #238 to sign issues for their archives. They will be serving birthday cake, too.