Columbia Writers Head to AWP24
Every spring, the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference & Bookfair is the must-attend destination for writers, teachers, students, editors, and publishers of contemporary creative writing, and this year is no exception. With thousands of attendees, hundreds of events and Bookfair exhibitors, and four days of essential literary conversation and celebration, AWP has always been a place of connection, reunion, and joy. This year, a host of Columbia writers, alumni, and faculty will be stealing the show as the conference takes over Kansas City, Missouri.
Columbia writers will share their insights on a myriad of fascinating subjects, such as crafting flash fiction, structuring a debut story collection, and determining the pros and cons of going for a doctorate. Writing Professor Margo Jefferson will take center stage in the Grand Ballroom to discuss the future of contemporary cultural criticism, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary year of the National Book Critics Circle. Later, alum Parul Kapur '89 will be honored as the winner of the AWP Prize for the Novel for her masterful debut, Inside the Mirror (University of Nebraska Press, 2024). And don’t forget to visit Columbia University School of the Arts, Columbia University Press, and Columbia Journal at Booths 922 and 924.
Check out the schedule below to discover the full list of panels, offsite events, and Bookfair booths where you’ll be able to catch our Columbia writers at AWP24.
This year’s conference will take place at the Kansas City Convention Center at 301 W 13th St #100. Registration is now open and includes admission to all events, readings, panel discussions, meetings, the Bookfair, and public receptions.
Bookfair
Columbia University School of the Arts, Columbia University Press, and Columbia Journal
Booths 922 and 924
Oversound
Booth T1833
Editor Samuel Amadon '07
The Paris Review
Booth 1545
Engagement Editor Camille Jacobson '22
Transit Books
Booth 1645
co-founders Adam Levy ’12 and Ashley Nelson Levy ’12
PEN America
Booth 716
Literary Programs and Emerging Voices Director Jared Jackson '20
Wednesday, February 7
VIRTUAL: Shame, Fear, and Rage in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
9:00 am, Virtual
Emily Simon '21
Assistant Professor Lynn Xu
Thursday, February 8
Where the Living Sit Talking About the Dead
10:35 am, Room 2103A
Diana Khoi Nguyen '12
Slackers, Stoners, and Screw-Ups: APIA Writers on the Margins of the Margins
12:10 pm, Room 2210
Jean Kyoung Frazier '18
The Page Blinks Back :: Image, Text & Screen
1:45 pm, Room 2101
Diana Khoi Nguyen '12
Snap, Crackle, Prose: Telling Our Stories in 300 Words or Less
1:45 pm, Room 2215A
Devi Laskar '96
Reimagining Kansas: Anarchy, Islamic Hope, Family Dysfunction, and Godly Plains
1:45 pm, Room 2502B
Farooq Ahmed '06
Independent for Life: The Value and Benefits of Publishing with an Independent Press
1:45 pm, Room 2505AB
Adam Levy '12
Beyond the Signed Copy: Lessons from Writers who are also Booksellers
3:20 pm, 2103B
Casey Plett '12
Thinking Beyond the Page: Reaching and Creating Community
3:20 pm, Room 2104A
Christina Chiu '00
Lightning-Fast Readings: Four Way Books & Friends
6:00 pm, Torn Label Brewing Co., 1708 Campbell St
Stephen Massimilla '95
Wave Books and Phoenix Poets
6:00 PM, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 4420 Warwick Blvd
Professor Timothy Donnelly '98
Adjunct Assistant Professor Edwin Torres
Rodney Terrich Leonard '18
Zoolarkey: A Reading
6:30 pm, Zoo Bar, 1220 McGee St.
LJ Pemberton '10
Leaning Toward Light Anthology Reading
7:00 pm, Linda Hall Library 5109 Cherry St
Sophie Cabot Black '84
Friday, February 9
Diasporic Poetics: Reading by Debut Asian American Poets
9:00 am, Room 2210
Jimin Seo '10
Jay Gao, PhD candidate, English and Comparative Literature
Latina/o/x Narratives: Including Diverse Experiences from Our Community
9:00 am, Room 2505AB
Nathan Xavier Osorio '16
Amplifying Ukrainian Voices in the English-Speaking Literary Environment
9:00 am, Room 2102A
Olena Jennings '07
When Every Word Is A Spoon: Disabled Writers on the Accommodations We Need
10:35 am, Room 2103B
Jess Silfa (CC '15)
Duck, Duck, Goose: The Thinking Behind Revising
10:35 am, Room 2105
Sarah Perry '13
Inside Out, Outside In: How teaching in Prison Affects Creative Pedagogy
12:10 pm, Room 2104B
Ravi Shankar '00
Crafting Unforgettable Characters—a Writer’s Guide to Storytelling
12:10 pm, Room 3501CD
Assistant Professor Matthew Salesses
Book signing: After the Eclipse
1:00 pm, American Literary Review, Booth 1107
Sarah Perry '13
Book signing: Cooking with the Muse
2:00 pm, Tupelo Press, Booth 742
Stephen Massimilla '95
Book signing: Frank Dark
3:00 pm, Barrow Street Press, Booth 936
Stephen Massimilla '95
Where Is Literary Criticism Headed?, Sponsored by the National Book Critics Circle
3:20 pm, Grand Ballroom B
Professor of Professional Practice Margo Jefferson
AWP Award Series Reading & Celebration
4:45 pm, Ballroom D, Level 2
Parul Kapur '89, Winner of the AWP Prize for the Novel
Off-site Reading with A Dozen Nothing
5:00 pm, Vulpes Bastille 1737 Locust St.
Kate Greene '20
Pen Parentis National Writer-Parent Meetup Reception
(in collaboration with the Sustainable Arts Foundation)
6:00 pm, 12th Street Room at the Marriott Kansas City Downtown
Christina Chiu '00
M. M. De Voe '01
Yetzirah Kabbalat Shabbat & Reading
6:00 pm, Unity Temple on the Plaza, Temple Space, 707 W 47th St.
Adjunct Assistant Professor Lynn Melnick ’97
Yerra Sugarman ’81
Readings and Community-Building for Saint Julian Press Poets and Kick off for Mnemosyne Books
6:30 pm, Cakewalk Event Space, 1701 McGee Suite #800 (in the alley)
Elizabeth Cohen '90
Saturday, February 10
Vision & Re-Vision: Teaching Revision in University and Community Workshops
9:00 am, Room 2101
Assistant Professor Matthew Salesses
A Cat's Belly: Structuring Your Debut Collection through Place and Movement
9:00 am, Room 2105
Meghan Maguire Dahn '14
Tiffany Troy '22
Loisa Fenichell '23
Ryan Patrick Cook '23
Rebel Voices Only
9:00 am, Room 2209
G'Ra Asim '18
To Doctorate or Not? Creative Writers on Earning a PhD
9:00 am, Room 2502B
Nathan Xavier Osorio '16
Erika Luckert '16
Start Here (Or There): Teaching First Drafts in the Creative Writing Workshop
10:35 am, Room 2103C
Alexandra Kleeman '12
Writing Trauma: Nonlinear Challenges of Survival. A Perspective of Women Writers
10:35 am, Room 2215C
Devi Laskar '96
Perspectives on the Caregiving Memoir
10:35 am, Room 3501CD
Elizabeth Cohen '90
When the Old Names Fail Us
12:10 pm, Room 2502B
Adjunct Assistant Professor Lynn Melnick '97
A Reading by Suji Kwock Kim, Sara Daniele Rivera, & Nicole Sealey, Presented by the Academy of American Poets
12:10 pm, Grand Ballroom A
Ricardo Maldonado '08
The Art of The Believer Interview: Twenty Years of Artists In Conversation
3:20 pm, Room 2210
Assistant Professor Anelise Chen
Adjunct Assistant Professor James Yeh '09
Resurrection Not Erasure: When Poets Talk Back to History
3:20 pm, Room 2502A
Associate Professor Shane McCrae
Writing and Translating the War in Ukraine
3:20 pm, Room 2104A
Olena Jennings '07
Memoir as Detective Novel: Writing the Investigative Memoir
3:20 pm, Room 3501AB
Sarah Perry '13
Are you a Columbia alum exhibiting or presenting at AWP? Let us know by filling out this form.