Columbia Writers Flock to Baltimore for AWP 2026

From Wednesday, March 4 to Saturday, March 7, Baltimore, MD will be transformed into the epicenter of the US literary scene.

Literary magazine editors—MFA students of the Columbia Journal included—will be found presenting their wares in a bustling convention center; writers, scholars, teachers, and publishers will take the stage in 315 panel discussions, readings, and conversations, covering pertinent topics like diasporic writing and reimagining the publishing industry; and not one but two ballrooms will be reserved to accommodate the audience for keynote speaker, John Waters. You heard it here first: the 2026 AWP Conference & Bookfair is coming up, and Columbia writers will be in attendance. 

Each year, thousands of writers, teachers, students, editors, and publishers from around the world come together for an immersive four days of literary community and celebration hosted by the Association of Writers and Writing Programs. Distinguished MFA Writing Program students, alums, and faculty will present on literary publishing as a means of community building, how to resist AI in writing and teaching, the presence of aunts in Asian American narratives, and more.

Offsite, writers will head to local venues to celebrate their favorite literary magazines and independent presses with stacked reading line-ups. Our own Executive Assistant to the Deans and Manager of Academic Administration Sarah Congress will join Feels Blind Literary's Lucky #13 Launch on Friday, March 6, at M8 to read from her full-length horror/comedy play, Delulu, to be published in issue #13 of the Baltimore-based magazine—the first time the magazine will publish a full-length play.

Check out the schedule below to discover just some of the panels, offsite events, and Bookfair booths where you’ll be able to catch our Columbia writers at #AWP2026.

This year’s conference will take place at the Baltimore Convention Center at 1 W Pratt Street. Registration is open and includes admission to all events, readings, panel discussions, meetings, the bookfair, and public receptions.

Bookfair

Columbia Journal
Booth T1277

Columbia Narrative Medicine - Masters of Science
Booth 329

A Public Space
Booth T956
Editor Professor Brigid Hughes

Oversound
Booth T1174
Editor Samuel Amadon '07

PEN America
Booth 1073
Literary Programs and Emerging Voices Director Jared Jackson '20

Pen Parentis
Booth T734
Founder M. M. De Voe '01

Transit Books
Booth 739
Cofounders Adam Levy '12 and Ashley Nelson Levy '12

Thursday, March 5

Little Magazines in Urgent Times: Editing for Community & Change
9 AM, Room 307, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Carlie Hoffman '16

Literary Podcasting & the Critical Conversation
9 AM, Room 309, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Jordan Kisner '16

Collaborative Translation: Creativity & Praxis, Sponsored by ALTA
9 AM, Room 314, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Mary Jo Bang '98

Auntie, Outsider
9 AM, Room 318-319, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Nina Sharma '16 

Craft Lessons from Yiddish Poetry
9 AM, Room 327, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Yerra Sugarman '81

"Inspired by a True Story": Fusing Fact & Fiction from Headlines to History
10:35 AM, Room 310, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Writing student Asha Lemmie 

More than Memory: The Art of Jewish Storytelling in Creative Nonfiction
10:35 AM, Room 314, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Michael Black '79

A Psalm for the Wild Teacher: Building Genre Fiction Workshops That Inspire
10:35 AM, Room 317, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Snowden Wright '09

How to Resist AI in Writing & Teaching, Sponsored by the Authors Guild
12:10 PM, Room 310, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Umar Kazi '16

Alternative Nation, or Whatever: Gen X Perspectives on the Writing Life
12:10 PM, Room 317, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Adjunct Associate Professor B.K. Fischer '97

Books That Refuse to Behave: Readings in Autotheory
12:10 PM, Room 325, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Sarah Rosenthal '21

After the Debut: Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst 
1:45 PM, Room 317, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Aaron Aceves '20

God-Wrestlers: Jewish Poets on Poetry as Prayer
1:45 PM, Room 325, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Yerra Sugarman '81

ADHD & the Writer: Strategies to Harness Your Superpower
3:20 PM, Room 328, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Christina Chiu '00

Swirl & Vortex: A Celebration of Larry Levis
3:20 PM, Room 318-319, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Mai Der Vang '14

Jewish Writers Caucus
3:20 PM, Room 307, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Lauren Grodstein '01

Friday, March 6

Why Do We Write? A Multidisciplinary Exploration of Our Initial Drive to Write
9 AM, Room 317, Level 300
Sigrid Nunez '75

The Third Book of Poetry
10:35 AM, Room 326, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Adjunct Associate Professor Monica Ferrell '02

Prose, Poetry & Play: Game Design as a Literary Practice
12:10 PM, Room 302, Level 300
Adjunct Assistant Professor Nat Mesnard

Translating the Dead, Sponsored by ALTA
12:10 PM, Room 320, Level 300
C. Francis Fisher '23

Debut Poets Speak: Five Writers on Bringing Their First Books into the World
12:10 PM, Room 327, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Isabella DeSendi '17

Home, Belonging & Agency in Diasporic Fiction
1:45 PM, Room 326, Level 300
Elysha Chang '11

Traversing Genre: A Nightboat Books Reading
1:45 PM, Ballroom II, Level 400
Monica de la Torre '95

A Writer’s Place Is in a Union
1:45 PM, Room 310, Level 300
Daniel Felsenthal '15

"Bullet in the Brain": Creative Writers on Book Criticism
1:45 PM, Room 323, Level 300
Adjunct Associate Research Scholar at the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race Marie Myung-Ok Lee

Half of the Birdsong: Poetry Working Toward Personal Truth, Sponsored by Copper Canyon Press
3:20 PM, Ballroom II, Level 400
Gabrielle Calvocoressi '00

Beyond Good Intentions: Community-Engaged Teaching & Learning
3:20 PM, Room 318-319, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Raffi Wartanian '21

Queer+ Ekphrasis: Investigations & Celebrations
3:20 PM, Room 315, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Brenda Shaughnessy '98

Feels Blind Literary's Lucky Issue #13 Launch Party
6:00 PM, M8 1399 S Sharp St, Baltimore, MD
Executive Assistant to the Deans and Manager of Academic Administration Sarah Congress

Saturday, March 7

Writing Into Our Ancestors’ Voices for a Twenty-First-Century America
9 AM, Room 302, Level 300
Sophie Cabot Black '84

Going It Alone: Paths to a Book Contract Without an Agent
9 AM, Room 310, Level 300
Bonnie Chau '15; Nathan Osorio '16

From Short Story to Novel
9 AM, Room 317, Level 300
Aaron Aceves '20

Mining the Past: Creative Nonfiction in the Archives
10:35 AM, Room 315, Level 300
Heather Radke '19; Sasha Bonét '16; Jordan Kisner '16; Kristen Martin '16; Harrison Hill '19

Keeping the Love Alive: Tips & Tricks for Editing the nth Draft of Your Novel
10:35 AM, Room 317, Level 300
Elysha Chang '11

Story Game Presses: Pitching, Submissions & Publishing
10:35 AM, Room 323, Level 300
Adjunct Assistant Professor Nat Mesnard

The Overturning Anthology: A Reading of Fiction, Creative Nonfiction & Poetry
10:35 AM, Room 324, Level 300
Mary Jo Bang '98

The Tenderness of Truth: Writing About Loved Ones in Memoir
12:10 PM, Room 301, Level 300
Nina Sharma '16 

Where Ya at? “Home” in BIPOC Graphic Novels
12:10 PM, Room 316, Level 300
Adjunct Assistant Professor Quincy Scott Jones

Poetics, Politics & Ethics of Memory, Imagination & Mourning in the Elegy
1:45 PM, Room 315, Level 300
Diana Khoi Nguyen '12

The Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University: An Eightieth-Anniversary Reading
1:45 PM, Room 325, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center
Adjunct Associate Professor Michael Dumanis

Are you a Columbia alum presenting at AWP? Let us know at [email protected].