AWP Part 2: Meeting with Editors and Fellow Writers, My Moon City AWP Reading on YouTube, and Down Days

Tresha, Lelsey, Kelli and I (and right beyond the pic, Roxane Gay!

AWP LA Part II: Meeting with Editors and Fellow Writers

Last week I wrote a Part 1 of AWP post and promised a second. My web site has had issues, and I myself had a few down days—after the excitement and travel, my body decided it didn’t want to do much and made sure I stayed in bed for much of the last week.

But, back to AWP LA days 3 and 4. On the 3rd day I got to meet and talk to editors of literary magazines and presses I admired, or had published me, or a combination of the two. The bookfair was massive, and attendance was 10,000—not the biggest, but not the smallest either. The best thing about the bookfair is accidentally running into friends—and that happened outdoors as well. This picture at the top was a happy accident waiting for Glenn to pick me up at the “accessibility” drop off location, where I happened to run into friends Tresha Faye Haefner, Lesley Wheeler, and Kelli Russell Agodon. And Roxane Gay was right there too, right beyond the picture. Did I mention her keynote was worth listening to? I mean, not every keynote is useful, but Roxane is so real about the writing life—she described her first AWP as “being surrounded by people with interesting glasses and stiletto heels”—I remember being equally daunted at my first AWP, which was even longer ago, back in 2003, when they had a “huge crowd” of 3000 attendees. Ha ha ha ha.

Anyway, I should have made more time for parties, lunches, dinners, and other events, but I was usually burned out after about four hours. My energy levels aren’t what they used to be! (More on that later.)

I did get to have a coffee and a bite to eat with Lesley Wheeler, whose new book Mycocosmic just dropped from Tupelo Press. This trip to AWP was a last minute decision on my part—I had decided not to go a long time ago—but I felt that with having to be out of the house anyway (with the ongoing disability renovation) and having felt a bit down since the beginning of the year (and Trump’s re-presidency) it would prove encouraging, and it did. Even getting a bit of a break from Seattle’s cold and dreary spring (everything bloomed after we left!) was nice. If AWP is a bit physically and mentally exhausting—and it is—it also reaffirms you as a writer—a writer some people have actually read—and part of a community—whose books you actually read.

My Moon City Reading

Glenn was a bit late to catch the into from Mike or the beginning of the first poem, but this gives you a brief taste of the Moon City Press reading. Here I read California-themed poems from Field Guide to the End of the World, Flare, Corona, and my manuscript in progress. Hope you enjoy! It’s almost like you were there…

Anyway, besides having to spend a few days in bed, there have been cherry trees blooming here in Seattle and art shows to visit, which I’ll talk about next week. Until then, may your writer days and ways be lucky and supported.