The Association of Writers & Writing Programs’ Conference & Bookfair begins this week! UNCW’s creative writing programs, including our imprint Lookout Books and magazine Ecotone, will be represented at the nation’s largest marketplace for independent literary presses and journals. Please stop by tables 417–419 for giveaways and deals on our catalog of books and issues of the magazine, as well as to meet our faculty and student staff.
Many of our authors, advisory board members, and faculty editors will be reading and speaking throughout the conference, so we’ve rounded up what are sure to be some of the biggest literary happenings in Los Angeles this week.
Thursday, March 27 / 9–10:15 a.m.
The Personal Archives: Room 503, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: Aisha Sabatini Sloan, Mary-Kim Arnold, Erica N. Cardwell, Athena Dixon, Moderator: Maddie Norris
Creative nonfiction exists on a spectrum from internal to external, from “I” to “eye,” but what happens when we fit these together, when we approach the internal as external, turn the “eye” toward the “I”? These writers dig deep into life’s archives to find the truth of emotion, showing us the unique value of personal research. As panelists, they’ll discuss the practicalities of researching the personal, the ethics of doing so, and the craft involved in relaying the emotional truths unearthed.
Thursday, March 27 / 9–10:15 a.m.
Hell-Bent Hope: Poets Holding Fast During This Time of Ecological Crisis: Concourse Hall 152, Level One, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: David Baker , C Marie Fuhrman, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Matthew Olzmann, Moderator: Nickole Brown
Now is a time of ecological crisis and mass extinction, so even if you don’t consider yourself a “nature” poet, all of us need to ask ourselves what the writer’s task is in this climate-changed world. Equally important is how to cope with despair, which can be incapacitating, threatening to silence us under its weight. Together, we’ll discuss how to bear witness to these coming storms and how to define hope in a way that might allow one to move forward with courage, awareness, and yes, even joy.
Thursday, March 27 / 10:35–11:50 a.m.
Birthing Books & Babies: Navigating the Double Bind of Caregiving & Writing: Room 515B, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: Natashia Deon, Camille Dungy, Marie Mutsuki Mockett, Daniel Tam-Claiborne, Moderator: Kaitlin Solimine
The double bind of caregiving and artistic pursuit can feel incongruous—yet why does the metaphor of “birthing a book” exist, and is that what publishing is like? Are parenting and writing in competition with one another, or can both identities exist simultaneously and, dare we consider, fruitfully? Published authors at diverse stages of child-rearing and the publication journey share their experiences and provide new frameworks for conversation and engagement on this nuanced subject matter.
Thursday, March 27 / 12:10–1:25 p.m.
Afterwards: Veteran Writers Reflect of Reintegration, Mental Health & Healing: Room 405, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: Jacqlyn Cope, Lauren Kay, Michael Ramos, Ricardo Ruiz, Moderator: Bronson Lemer
Feelings of isolation and a missing sense of belonging have become familiar to many during the COVID-19 pandemic, as have challenges around reintegrating back into “normal” society. Join five veterans as they discuss writing about what comes after life-changing experiences. Panelists reflect on surprises and difficulties in writing about mental health, advocating for well-being through storytelling, how these issues intersect and clash with cultural norms, and the myriad forms healing may take.
Thursday, March 27 / 12:10–1:25 p.m.
Twenty Years of Reimagining Place: An Ecotone Anniversary Reading: Room 501ABC , Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: Geoffrey Brock, Rebecca Makkai, Patricia Smith, Jennifer Tseng, Moderator: Oindrila Mukherjee
Ecotone was founded in 2005 with a mission to reimagine place. Over the past twenty years, the magazine has created a welcoming space for a wide range of place-based writing and art. To celebrate this milestone, contributors will read from their work, and contemplate the value and the responsibilities of a magazine of place and environment in a time of climate crisis.
with former Ecotone contributors: Geoffrey Brock, Rebecca Makkai, Oindrila Mukherjee, Patricia Smith, and Jennifer Tseng.
Thursday, March 27 / 12:10–1:25 p.m.
Pain & Prose: Navigating Difficult Emotions in Storytelling: Room 503, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: Faith Adiele, Steve Almond, Moderator: April Davila
This panel explores how writers can effectively portray emotionally challenging scenes in fiction and narrative nonfiction. Topics include embracing vulnerability, finding emotional truth, and navigating ethical considerations. Panelists will share techniques for rendering emotions on the page while protecting their own mental health. This discussion offers practical advice and heartfelt insights for writers of all levels.
Thursday, March 27 / 1:45–3 p.m.
Obsidian at Fifty: Activating the Archive—Editors’ Roundtable: Room 408B, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Douglas Kearney, Sheree Renée Thomas Moderator: Duriel E Harris
Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora is marking its fiftieth anniversary of continuous publication. To celebrate the living legacy of Obsidian, editors past and present discuss their strategies for and experiences working with archival content as Black editors and writers/makers navigating publishing and artistic practice in contemporary climates of white supremacy as a means of activating past voices and blueprints of survival to create thriving, embodied presents.
Thursday, March 27 / 1:45–3 p.m.
Rewriting the West: Room 403B, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: Nina McConigley, Camille Dungy, Jennifer Sahn, Moderator: Taylor Brorby
This panel will explore the increasingly diverse writing of the American West with three multigenre writers as well as an editor from High Country News. Exploring the writing from the region, which has historically privileged the white, straight, able-bodied male gaze, this panel will reckon with the deeper history of the American West—its writing, and the opportunities that lie ahead for writers interested in the issues that face one of the most exciting geographies of American writing.
Thursday, March 27 / 3:20–4:35 p.m.
Losing Species: Integrating Conservation Science into the Writing Process: Room 403B, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: Ching-In Chen, Donika Kelly, Marco Wilkinson, Jane Wong
Moderator: Claire Wahmanholm
For those who want to write about biodiversity loss and extinction, engaging with scientific research can be an invaluable source of inspiration. A diverse range of writers across genres will discuss their process of integrating science into their contribution to Creature Needs: Writers Respond to the Science of Animal Conservation. They will present their work and explore what transpires when writers incorporate scientific research in all its complexity and precision.
Thursday March 27 / 3:20–4:35 p.m.
Holy F**k: Women, Faith & Sex in Fiction: Room 403A, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: Felicia Berliner, Candice Marie Benbow, Aaliyah Bilal, Dantiel Moniz, Moderator: Deesha Philyaw
Funny, offensive, or both—fiction that centers faith and sex breaks taboos on so many levels. For five authors writing about women and girls in various religious communities, the friction between religious beliefs and sexuality also offers a deeply generative context for revealing female protagonists’ identities. Panelists explore craft approaches to bringing the body and soul alive, together, on the page, and discuss strategies for navigating the public discourse about hot-button topics.
Thursday, March 27 / 5–7 p.m.
Celebrating 75 Years of Shenandoah and 20 Years of Ecotone: The Falls: 626 S. Spring St, Los Angeles
Join us for a celebratory reading, sweet treats, and meet-and-greet BINGO with past contributors DW McKinney, Brenda Peynado, Felicia Zamora, Hae-Raem Lee, Rajiv Mohabir, Mita Mohato, and more!
Friday, March 28 / 9–10:15 AM PDT
Black Words Are Black Wealth: A Lecture by Tayari Jones, Sponsored by IngramSpark: Petree Hall C, Level One, Los Angeles Convention Center
HBCUs have long been the incubator for African American literature, and also for robust debate. The gift of self-definition is the true endowment of our institutions. This lecture, part of the #AWP25 HBCU Fellowship Program, discusses this long legacy and also the route forward for Black writers who come of age at HBCUs—as students and as faculty members. This is about how we honor our proud past as we shape our meaningful and consequential future.
Friday, March 28 / 1:45–3 p.m.
Landing Literary Funding & Letting Go of Scarcity: Concourse Hall 151, Level One, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: Robin Miura, Stephen Motika, Khalisa Rae, Emily Louise Smith, Bernardo Wade
How do you contextualize your publishing program or literary festival in one thousand compelling characters? Five arts leaders, publishers, editors, and writers representing Blair Publisher, Griot & Grey Owl Conference, Lookout Books, Nightboat Books, and Obsidian journal share their approaches to grants and fundraising. Learn best practices for identifying state and national opportunities, evaluating guidelines, preparing strong narratives and budgets, and collaborating with partners to build support.
Friday, March 28 / 3:20–4:35 p.m.
Goin’ B(l)ack Home: Exploring Notions of Home, Migration & Return: Room 502B, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: Marci Blackman, Deesha Philyaw, Sanderia Faye Smith, Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, Moderator: M Shelly Conner
From “going down south” to going to the Motherland, Black writers have often been tasked with the discourse of home and belonging. But home has as much to do with place as it has to do with people—“who all over there?” Five contemporary Black writers place their work in conversation with Toni Morrison, Audre Lorde, and other Black canonical writers to examine narratives of leaving, returning, and (un)belonging in home spaces—and home as a contested space for queer and marginalized bodies.
Friday, March 28 / 3:20–4:35 p.m.
Beyond the Slush: Engaging Students in Literary Publishing: Room 503, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: Emily Everett, Gerald Maa, Dora Malech, Anna Lena Phillips Bell Moderator: Paul Jaskunas
College-based literary journals have traditionally tasked students with reading the slush pile, but there are alternative, and perhaps preferable, ways that students can contribute to the enterprise. How can journals better serve students, allowing them to develop diverse skills and interests? How can faculty work with student staff to inject fresh vitality and new perspectives into their publications? Hear from five editors who are working with students in innovative, interdisciplinary ways.
Saturday, March 29 / 9:00 – 10:15 a..m.
To Speak with Silence: Writing the Unsayable: Room 403B, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: Lilly Dancyger, Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum, Cameron Dezen Hammon, Sonora Jha, Moderator: Kristen Millares Young
Writing requires that the writer locate a narrative voice and plumb its depths like a divining rod, pursuing the story it has to tell. But what about pursuing the silences, portraying the voiceless, and revealing the unspeakable? Five writers will discuss their experience of imbuing silence with meaning. Considering both fiction and nonfiction, they will share practical strategies for structure and technique while also revealing their intuitive work to uncover the mysteries held in the silences.
Saturday, March 29 / 10:35–11:50 a.m.
Saying the Unsayable: Writers & Editors on Experimental Forms: Room 406AB, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: Michelle Donahue, Michael Ramos, Jason Daniels, Felicia Zamora, Kate Gale
Writers often reach for experimentation when conventional forms cannot contain their work, when something more—or less—is needed to convey the tangled, traumatic, and expansive. In this panel, editors and writers across genres will discuss strategies and techniques to use experimentation to get at the unsayable in creative work, and how certain topics—like the climate crises, sociopolitics, trauma, and complicated identities—lend themselves to experimental approaches.
Saturday, March 29 / 12:10–1:25 p.m.
But It Wasn’t Written in English: Translated Literature in the CW Classroom: Room 501ABC, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: C Dylan Bassett, May-lee Chai, Jennifer Tseng, Moderator: Bonnie Chau
What happens when creative writing syllabi include texts not originally written in English? What new dimensions does translated literature add to conversations about writing process, craft, language, and revision? This panel’s writer-teachers discuss the meaningful insights that emerge when questions about translation are invited to the college creative writing classroom. They address concerns about teaching non-English texts, share advice, and reflect on what translation brings to their writing and teaching.
Saturday, Mar 29 / 3:20–4:35 p.m.
Words That Sing: Room 402AB, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
Presenters: Samiya Bashir, Melissa Studdard, Arisa White, Todd Boss, Moderator: Taylor Brorby
Think you’re not a lyricist? Think again. Writers often limit themselves to publishing on the page, when, in fact, there’s an exciting, lucrative world of performance holding its doors open to literary writers. Five poets whose libretti and lyrics have led them to the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Grammy Awards, and beyond will discuss topics such as breaking into writing for musical composition, best practices for musical teamwork and collaborative revision, how to manage contracts, and more.
We look forward to seeing you there!
