AWP is a common acronym within writing and publishing circles. In my publishing classes, I have constantly heard the phrase of this omnipresent organization that has a hand in so many literary events. This culminated in my latest FUSE (Forum for Undergrad Student Editors) meeting, where it was announced that we would be planning a trip to AWP’s upcoming writing conference.
AWP stands for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs. The organization provides support and community to different writing programs and colleges nationwide. One such source of community is the AWP Conference, a four-day convention and book fair attended by thousands each year. This year, the conference was held in Philadelphia, a lucky twenty minutes from my home.
Even though the event took place from Wednesday to Saturday, I was a Saturday-only attendee. Despite it being the last day of the convention, the writers who attended were livelier than ever. The first thing attendees were met with was a free tote bag and T-shirt, a trend that was present throughout the fair. By the time I left at 5:00 pm, I had accumulated two tote bags full of freebies.
The main event I attended was the book fair, which hosted over 500 publishers, booksellers, and writing programs. Even though it was open from 9:00 am-5:00 pm, it took almost the entire day to comb through it. Some exhibitors were well known within the book community—Coffee House, Milkweed, Kenyon, and Iowa among others. Many exhibitors were emerging presses, hidden gems within the book industry. I received information from different MFA programs, writing contests, and presses with open calls.
The book fair was paired with different conferences and sessions pertaining to writing and publishing. Specific panels included scholarly publishing, short story collections, agent-finding, flash fiction, and pitching nonfiction. I attended the final session of the conference: Reclaiming the Collection. The panel was hosted by three emerging short story writers who described their experiences writing and publishing their short story collections. It was filled with inside information on selling collections, tying short works together, and finding MFA programs (did you know that agents will frequently scout MFA programs for new talent?).
Overall, FUSE sent 10 students to Philadelphia for the conference. Susquehanna students were in addition to the 7,000 attendees who frequented the event. It was a successful four days of literature, community, and plenty of book shopping, and I highly recommend attending if you’re ever given the chance.