Dispatch from AWP 2023

Earlier this month, several of our staff members headed to Seattle to attend the Association of Writers & Writing Programs conference! AWP is the annual destination for writers, teachers, students, editors, and publishers of contemporary creative writing. 

As expected, Sarah Coolidge, Kelsey McFaul, and Stephanie Nisbet returned with a collection of beautiful, unique books and journals from our friends at other small presses across the country, and plenty of good memories to share.

It was so great to be back at AWP. I hadn’t been since the surreal March 2020 conference in San Antonio, where we were bumping elbows and no one was wearing masks (we didn’t know how Covid was spread yet!). I missed getting to talk to folks one-on-one about our books, meet translators I’ve worked with and admire, and catch up with fellow editors from indie presses.

I always like to get a recommendation straight from a press staff member. I picked up a copy of The Blue Book of Nebo(opens in a new tab) by Manon Steffan Ros (Deep Vellum), an apocalyptic story set in Wales and translated from Welsh into English by the author, as well as the Dalkey Archive book The Strangers(opens in a new tab) by Jon Bilbao, tr. Katie Whittemore, featuring UFOs along the Cantabrian coast. I also grabbed an issue of Mizna magazine featuring comics translated from Arabic(opens in a new tab) and other small, interesting books I’m looking forward to digging into.

Additionally, I managed to walk (uphill) to peruse Elliott Bay Book Company(opens in a new tab), eat spicy Szechuan noodles that left my mouth numb at Plenty of Clouds(opens in a new tab), and attend the insightful panel on Swahili literature with three translators from No Edges. Already looking forward to the next one.

After working with the translators of No Edges: Swahili Stories for over two years, I was so happy to meet several of them in person for the first time! We had a wonderful panel conversation with Munyao Kilolo, Idza Luhumyo, Richard Prins, and Jay Boss Rubin, where we discussed the future of Swahili literature and celebrated their work. I also loved working the book table and meeting old and new fans of the press. 

My book haul included Drinking from Graveyard Wells(opens in a new tab) by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu (University Press of Kentucky), To love an artist(opens in a new tab) by Valerie Hsiung (Essay Press), and Rose Quartz: poems(opens in a new tab) by Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe (Milkweed Editions).

This was my first year attending AWP, as well as my first time visiting Seattle, and I loved every minute of it. There was so much energy and creativity radiating throughout the conference, as well as a real sense of community among us book people. I went to a few panels, and it felt like being back at school (in the best way possible), getting ready to workshop someone’s latest story or discuss current publishing trends.

Some highlights for me included our dinner with four of the translators who worked on No Edges; teaching people about Two Lines Press and selling books at our booth; attending an early-morning yoga class on the top floor of the Seattle Convention Center (imagine thirty-something people in downward dog with panoramic city views); and experiencing Elliott Bay Book Company(opens in a new tab) for the first time, complete with a turmeric latte from Little Oddfellows(opens in a new tab). True to form, I picked up as many books as I could possibly stuff into my carry-on suitcase home— I’m currently about a quarter of the way through Alexander Chee’s The Queen of the Night(opens in a new tab) and am looking forward to working through the rest of my new TBR additions.