AWP stands for Associations of Writers and Writing Programs. Every year they host a conference where authors and people who work in the publishing industry gather to talk about books. It’s basically a writer's/reader's dream come true. There is also a book fair that runs the entire time the conference does. This year the conference took place in Washington D.C., and I had only been there once before in my life.
All kinds of publishers gather and hold booths that display recently published books. Some booths even had advanced reader copies that buyers could choose from. Advanced reader copies are essentially galleys, or uncorrected proof copies of books that won’t be released in bookstores until later in the year. I picked up a book called White Fur by Jardine Libaire that isn’t released until May 2017, but I think it’ll be worth it. Just the first couple of pages have been intense.
But back to the conference. It was pretty surreal to see so many authors that I either know of or have read work by them. Some of the panels were smaller so it was a more personable experience. One of my long time favorite authors, Nova Ren Suma, moderated a panel that focused on talking about what it means to write a book from your heart and how that can clash with what publishers and media might currently want due to trends. This was additionally exciting for me because although Nova Ren Suma read from her novel Imaginary Girls, which was a book that really influenced me not only as a reader but as a writer. This book stands out in my mind as one of the most unique young adult books that I’ve read still to this day. I never thought I would ever get to hear her read something from one of my favorite books but I think this was one of my favorite panels just because of the huge nostalgia factor it held for me.
Another highlight of AWP is the fact that I got to see one of the keynote speakers talk and read from their books. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie spoke as a keynote speaker and read from her book Americanah. This panel was exciting because there was actually overflow. If you didn’t make it to one of the rooms on time the guards made extra people go into the next room to watch her on screens. She has a really beautiful reading voice and although I have not read anything by her, I am putting a priority on buying her book as soon as I have the extra funds to.
The one thing that was a little difficult about the conference was that it was so confusing. More than once I would get lost in circles. Since the conference was connected to a hotel it was difficult to find your way back. More often than not we ended up in the lobby of the hotel. At one point we found a really intense gymnastics competition that took up a part of the basement of the hotel.
Besides the confusing layout of the conference center the panels that I attended were extremely well curated. I was informed of new and upcoming books that I would not have known about if I had not attended AWP and for this I am grateful to be adding more books on my ever growing to be read pile. Will there ever be enough time to read all the books I want? Probably not but I am going to try like hell to read as much as I can. This conference refueled my love for reading and writing and for this I am grateful.
