For writers, walking into a room full of renowned authors is like a child walking into Disneyland; the awe is palpable. This week, several CCU graduate students will travel across the country to have just that experience.
Five students in the Master of Arts in Writing program at Coastal Carolina University will be attending the 2023 Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference and Bookfair in Seattle, Washington later this week. The Association of Writers and Writing Programs (A.W.P.) is a community-based organization created to provide networking opportunities for writers. The official A.W.P. website expands on this by discussing how the mission of the association is to provide support, advocacy, and resources to writers, providing a great opportunity for students interested in creative writing to visit Seattle.
The four-day annual conference is a gathering of creative writing professors, students, teachers, writers, editors, and publishers to exchange ideas and discuss within the writing community. The event will feature speakers, panels, and a bookfair. The bookfair is used to promote graduate schools, literary journals, publishing houses, and a multitude of other programs and job opportunities aimed to assist creative writers. Manny graduate students attend to scout for jobs, further education, and even to discover new authors.
Joe Oestreich, the associate dean of the Edwards College at CCU, has been a frequent flyer at the A.W.P. conferences since 2004, when he attended his first conference as a graduate student with Ohio State University. Oestreich says he was initially intimidated by the size of the convention, but when he went back the next year he quickly came to the realization that “the creative writing world is a beach, and this is the whole beach.” He is also excited for students to be able to attend this year to connect with other writers, editors, and publishers working in the same field. Oestreich believes the A.W.P. conference is a great opportunity for graduate students to network and make connections that, in his personal experience, can last a lifetime.
One current CCU M.A.W. student, Lilith Yurkin, plans to attend the conference and is looking forward to seeing the panelists and meeting new people in the field. Yurkin says they are most excited to see panelists Stephen Graham Jones and Silvia Moreno Garcia, two speculative authors speaking at the conference. They also said, based on the conference’s offerings, the event is “much more diverse than [they] had expected” and includes a wide range of events consisting of “people talking about anything from AI technology to writing as a queer person.”
An aforementioned author attending the conference, Stephen Graham Jones, has published nearly 30 books ranging in genres of horror, crime, and experimental fiction. Jones is a Blackfoot Native American author who leans on his experience in cultural identity in his recent novel, The Only Good Indians. Silvia Moreno Garcia is a Mexican Canadian novelist, most notably known for her TikTok famous novel, Mexican Gothic, which was published in 2020. Along with these two reputable authors, there will be thousands of other creative writers in attendance at this year’s convention.
Catie Zimmer, a current M.A.W. student who plans to attend the conference, says she’s looking forward to seeing Keetje Kuipers and Jericho Brown, two award-winning poets who will be attending the conference. Zimmer has admired these poets from afar but is especially excited to see them in person. Kuipers is going to be discussing poetry in terms of motherhood, trauma, and sexuality in a year of political turmoil and change. Brown is scheduled to discuss his personal experience as a black writer and poet. Zimmer will also be working at the bookfair to promote CCU’s Master of Arts in Writing program.
While many famous, world-renowned poets and novelists will be in attendance, some of Coastal Carolina University’s own professors will be presenting their works in front of larger audiences. For example, Dan Albergotti, Amira Hanafi, and Oestreich will be signing their own works of creative fiction during the bookfair portion of the convention.
The M.A.W. program has provided for students to attend the A.W.P. conference for 10 years now and has received positive feedback from excited participants.
