REPORT FROM AWP 2005
REPORT FROM AWP 2005
THE ANNUAL Associated Writers Programs (AWP) conference was held in Vancouver, BC this year, just a hop-skip-jump for Seattle-area publishers like Margin to attend. Four of us from Margin partook in this year's festivities, using the event to ring in our anniversary with style. Margin Poetry Editor Kelli Russell Agodon stayed right at the convention hotel with her family; managing editor Susan Deefholts, a former Vancouverite, haunted a relative's home in nearby Surrey; consultant-at-large Bruce Taylor and I commuted across the border daily from my vacation home in Blaine, a five-minute drive from Canada, and (usually) a 45-minute drive into the city. (Bruce negotiated and eventually mastered the SkyTrain commute from a station not far from the border off King George Highway, while I drove in and paid too much for hotel parking.)Holding the conference in Vancouver was an excellent choice made by AWP's programming directors, not only because it brought the AWP nucleus to the West Coast (which is really the Southwest Coast to Canadians and the Northwest Coast to Americans!), but because it was a welcome intersection of Canadian and American literary communities. Frequently I overheard comments conveying surprise and delight at discovering the rich literary communities of one's neighboring country. How is it that American writers/editors/publishers are unaware of the literary treasures north of our border? Canada produces some amazing magazines and has a tremendous, state-supported literary arts community that American authors and publishers ought to admire and maybe even envy. And Canadian participants were equally sad that they weren't more versed in American literary markets and were gracious and attentive around their American counterparts during readings, panels and other related events.
One of the things that was noticeably absent (and I was glad for it) was the feeling of pretense that sometimes insinuates itself into such events. I credit the amiable and generous climate provided by west coast writers, both Canadian and American. If I may say so, we are a friendly bunch, with less hangups about competition and marketing and more positive energy for collaboration and networking than I've experienced in other parts of the US. Maybe it's all the yoga, organic food and independent bookstores. (Maybe? Probably.) There was a good vibe constant throughout the conference that I happily credit to Vancouver's vibrant arts community and the artistic temperaments of West Coast writers in general.
There were the expected and lengthy Customs delays, mostly for the AWP contingent flying into the airport, though I had an hour holdover at the truck crossing into Canada, which is an unusual wait for someone who crosses frequently enough to know that 15 minutes in line is more typical. But generally, the international trip from the US to Canada seemed relatively problem-free for most Americans attending. Bookfair salespeople set up dual banks to cover purchases in both currencies, and cash machines inside the hotel made exchanging currency easy for guests. The convention, held between the Hyatt Regency and Fairmont hotels in the heart of Vancouver, was a good choice for location. The weather was typical, with sunbreaks and drizzle, but Easterners appreciated the greenness, the parks, the flowers and trees already in bud that marked the early spring they weren't enjoying back home.
I cannot express how productive and energizing it was for Margin to have participated in this year's AWP. What follows are highlights from our experiences at the conference. We regret that budget constraints will prevent us from attending the next two conferences (in Austin in 2006 and in Atlanta in 2007), but for those interested, we do plan to attend the AWP in 2008 in New York City (where a significant number of our contributors reside, and where a successful Speculative Fiction Fair runs monthly), and when the conference returns to my old stomping grounds in Chicago in 2009, you can be sure we'll be there as well.
A MARGIN STAFF (RE)UNION
We can't rightfully call it a reunion because the fact is, never before has the active Margin staff occupied the same physical space at the same time. Kelli Russell Agodon, Susan Deefholts, Bruce Taylor and I met the first day of the bookfair, though even then I'm not positive we were ever all at the Margin table simultaneously during any one point in the conference. But Bruce and Kelli and Susan all got to meet one another in the flesh, and that was satisfying and wonderful for me. I felt like the matron of a large family, since flung to all four corners, suddenly coming together at Christmastime.CLMP BOOKFAIR
Last year at the Chicago AWP, our table consisted of grabbies and guidelines, candy and me. This year we went all out, as any publication celebrating "Five Fabulist Years" would, decorating our table in a luau theme to convey festivity and giving away lots of toys pencils and bookmarks. We offered a healthy selection of titles at our first-ever book sales table. Our focus was to bring attention to those MR works our contributors had published; after all, while our first mission at Margin is to explore modern magical realism, our second mission is to give modern magical realists some quality exposure. Those books at our table written or edited by folks participating in the conference naturally fared better than others, but it was a delight to see people perusing all of our titles with genuine interest.Book sales constituted about a quarter of our time at the bookfair. I'd say half our time was spent generally promoting Margin and, more specifically, our reading event, "A Night of Magic (Realism)," plus selling copies of Periphery as a fundraiser, and making contact with previous contributors and other editors with whom we've corresponded in the past. The rest of the time, each of us regularly vanished to catch a panel or to troll the bookfair in search of new leads and to make contact with other publishers and editors.
It was an exhausting but gratifying experience; I can say from my time spent at the table and wandering the bookfair that it was a pleasure to run into fans and supporters of Margin who I had never met before. I spend so much time holed up in my office working solo (though in concert virtually with my staff) that sometimes it's hard for me to gauge just what kind of reputation, if any, Margin has developed. The positive reinforcement at this year's AWP made the entire trip worth it.
I also had the extreme pleasure of meeting these Margin contributors live and in person for the first time: Ruth Knafo Setton, Adrianne Harun, Ewing Campbell, Robin Hemley, John Briggs, upcoming author Jason Lee Brown and future feature subject Karen McelMurray. I also saw some familiar faces from the Margin rolls, including Marjorie Rommel, Marjorie Manwaring, Wayne Ude, Bruce Holland Rogers and Hermine Meinhard.
This trip to AWP confirmed for me that our efforts are absolutely not in vain, that people are reading our pages, using our reading lists and links, and referring us to their friends. I know that my staffers also found the bookfair hugely rewarding and informational as well.
I wish to thank the fine folks at the Council of Literary and Magazine Publishers (CLMP) for making the bookfair at AWP one of the most important aspects of the conference. It's because of the efforts of folks like Jeffrey Leppendorf and Thom Didato, and the active editorial members of the council that this bookfair has become one of the premiere resources for writers, educators and students in North America.
A NIGHT OF MAGIC (REALISM) @ OUR TOWN CAFE, or HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!
Okay, so I was late to my own event. Some crossed wires and a wrong turn at Albuquerque (well, actually, at Kingsway and Broadway) meant I was a little breathless (and rain-drenched) as I first took the stage at the Our Town Cafe in Vancouver with co-host and local literary arts organizer, Johnny Frem, to present "A Night of Magic (Realism)." Our featured readers did an amazing job of presenting the kaleidoscope of images, voices and narratives that represent magical realism.Pauline Holdstock of Sidney, BC opened with a lovely and haunting selection from her novel House which, read out loud in her lilting British accent, made for an hypnotic entrée into the event. I can still imagine the sound a necklace of bones evoked from a passage she read. She may bless Margin with an account of her otherworldly process while writing this novel, which involved surrendering to various rooms inside a house and letting them take on their own "lives."
Karen McelMurray of Milledgeville, GA followed with a distinctly different story and accent. In rich Southern tones she related a vivid scene of faith healing from her book, Strange Birds in the Tree of Heaven. John Briggs, editor of Connecticut Review and author of the new collection, Trickster Tales, mixed it up a bit with some short selections from his book, including one of my favorites, a piece about a bow tie with a life of its own. Believe me, the story was not as silly as one might imagine; in fact, Briggs captured well the subtle nuances of familiarity, mutual respect and devotion that long-time married couples experience.
We then returned to the South, to the wonderful twang of Ewing Campbell as he read his sometimes funny, sometimes scary, sometimes tragic depiction of a major political figure from Texas "walking the line" for the highway patrol. The piece had a poetic quality, swinging between moments in time, using language that effectively captures the state of mind of a drunk person long past the point of good judgment. Ewing assured me that if he had it his way, he'd rip out his tongue for his Texan drawl, though the rest of us truly enjoyed the pleasing sound of his voice as he read aloud for us.
It was a special pleasure, then, to introduce Margin contributor Paulo da Costa, who now lives in Cortes Island, British Columbia. I had not, up to that moment, had the chance to meet Paulo in person, and as it was, he was sitting in a spot blind to my position near the stage, so even though I knew what he looked like (sort of), I still did not know where he was in the audience. So when he joined me on the stage, I was thrilled to welcome him and gave him a big hug. We've chatted off and on in email for several years now, so it was terrific to meet him in person, finally. Of course, being originally from Angola and Portugal, Paulo has a magical accent all his own, so his presentation of a "fish" story was lovely to listen to.
One regretful moment: Janice Eidus, though scheduled to read, had unfortunately suffered a case of laryngitis earlier in the day and bowed out of the event (most folks flying in from the East Coast were exhausted that night, still in the throes of jet lag). I was hoping she would read from her wonderful mermaid story set in New York's popular Orchard Beach. It's one of those pieces that stays with you years after you've read it. As an impromptu switch, Bruce Holland Rogers took to the stage. Bruce has lived in many places throughout the world, including Toronto, and the short piece he wrote was an improvised prose version of a poetic form (my memory is vague, but I recall it was either a villanelle, a sestina, or one of Bruce's signature forms.) Its repeating references to the conceptual landscape of the borderland illuminated an interesting theme, that words are not just ideas, but commodities worth smuggling within oneself in order to preserve one's sense of identity. Bruce's piece was perfectly tailored for our audience, not only as a form of magical realism, but as a story bridging nations. I'm sure it's the best thing I've ever heard/read of Bruce's, and I'm a big fan: his work always surprises me.
In between the readings we asked members of the audience to provide us with their own definitions of literary magical realism, and then we selected a few at each break and honored those folks with door prizes. I also had the pleasure of reading some of the definitions given to us by our contributors, as well as a took some time to honor my staffers and to discuss the whirlwind history of Margin before an attentive and enthusiastic audience. I'd like to note the presence of a few special guests at the reading, including Vancouver children's author Jaminie Hilton, Columbia College fiction department professor (and my former creative writing instructor!) Shawn Shiflett, and translation expert and publisher C.M. Mayo.
After the break, we engaged in a Midnight Liar's Fest, which was a casual event offset by two irreverently chosen props: a cream pie and an artificial flaming cauldron around which to tell our stories. It was late, so not everyone was able to stay, but folks did stay, bless 'em, and we enjoyed more work from some of our contributors, a piece from co-host Johnny Frem, and some yarns told by a handful of students in a local storytelling program out to earn their sea legs. Fortunately, no pies were flung, and we were able to ring in April Fool's Day in style.
My sincere thanks to Johnny Frem for his tireless efforts to help organize and promote the event, and to the baristas at the cafe for staying well past the late shift so we could have this wonderful celebration.
AWP PROGRAMMING
I was only able to attend two panels and one reading during the whole of AWP, but those I attended were absolutely terrific.My first event was the Columbia College open mic "Shortie" Fiction celebration hosted by the college's fiction writing department and featuring the staff at F Magazine. It was a great mixture of short-short writings; I had the pleasure of not only reading a short creative nonfiction piece, but of giving thanks and credit to my alma mater. While I acquired my degree at Columbia, I was studying journalism at that time; creative writing was intended to be a minor degree for me, though I never completed it. At any rate, I learned so much from John Schultz's Story Workshop program and especially from instructor Shawn Shiflett that it was the perfect opportunity to acknowledge what has become one of the most competitive and effective creating writing programs in the country. I wish I would have completed at MFA there back when I still lived in Chicago.
Bruce Taylor accompanied me to the Saturday afternoon panel entitled "The True World: When Consensual Reality Is Not Enough," chaired by author Adrianne Harun, whose collection of short stories, The King of Limbo, we reviewed favorably a few years back.
My AWP program book is marked excessively with notes from this event, especially in reaction to Adrianne's presentation about "the much-abused label, magical realism." Though Debra Magpie Earling was unable to sit on this panel as previously scheduled, Ann Pancake sat in her place instead. What a terrific, robust dialog on the relevance and need for, as well as arguments against, the narrative realities of magical realism! Gina Ochsner followed Adrianne with what I think has to be the most eloquent argument for the use of magical realism that I have ever heard. Geronimo Tagatac richly supplemented the argument from his perspective as a multicultural writer, and Ann Pancake did a knockout job of making the political argument for magical realism as a way to preserve the identities of communities that power centers (such as the Bush administration) would rather see disappear.
[Good news for Margin readers! I've secured Adrianne's presentation from the panel and have discussed the possibility of reprinting Gina's reading as well in what I hope to be a Point/Counterpoint feature here at Margin in Autumn 2005. I've also put out inquiries to both Geronimo and Ann with hopes we can find a way to introduce them in special features at Margin as well. I'll keep you posted.]
I completed my stint at AWP 2005 at a third Saturday panel after our bookfair table had been boxed up and tucked away that afternoon. After saying a fond adios to both Susan and Bruce, I sat in on an entertaining and optimistic discussion entitled "Genre Writing in Writing Programs: Walking the Fence between Literary and Pulp Writing." Naturally I was curious how this argument would play out in what is generally a full-scale literary event. Panelist Anthony Neil Smith did what I had hoped someone would do: he provided living proof that PhDs can still write genre work and get away with it! I was encouraged by news that creative writing programs are less inclined to steer their students away from genre writing in beginning classes, that the goal is still to write well, no matter for whom the writing is intended. This is a big wall to tear down; I'm glad to know there is evidence of cracks.
There was a lot of entertaining discussion about the balancing acts that genre-writing university instructors must perform (exactly how do female authors of erotica fit in at the water cooler, anyway?). I went away feeling even more confident that writing which crosses genre, or which falls into those nether regions between literary and genre categorization (magical realism, anybody?) has and will continue to have a following among readers, writers and academics. This is a positive trend for American literature, in my opinion.
"NETWORKING"
Okay, so a lot of people who attend the AWP (or any conference, for that matter) look forward to the receptions that follow in the evenings. Bruce, Susan and I had the pleasure of attending the Bookfair bash on the Wednesday night preceding the opening of the conference, where we spent a short while chatting and taking in the scene. While Bruce probed the bookfair exhibitors' crowd, Susan and I broke away from that event to catch another literary reading at Crush Lounge, where some pretty significant authors from both Canada and the US had assembled to perform. Unfortunately, a "short walk" from the conference turned into a 35-minute jaunt and we missed the entire event! But we met and joined in drinks and friendly conversation with Johnny Frem of Bolts of Fiction, who helped coordinate Margin's Thursday evening event, and Jaminie Hilton, a local YA author.[Crush Lounge, by the way, is a fabulous venue for literary readings. A narrow but long space decorated in lavish retro style, the entire space is dotted with large loveseats and comfy chairs that can be scooted around into nearly any arrangement. The sound system carries throughout the space, so readers can be heard clearly all the way to the back.]
I'm not sure if it was just bad timing, but other subsequent conference-related receptions did not make for great networking. My counterparts Kelli and Bruce sampled several of these events but did not convey to me any sense that they were "not to be missed."
I only attempted one such reception, the Poets & Writers party, where I'd hoped to meet Eliot Figman to thank him in person for quoting me in one of the magazine's Coda pages a few years back. A 15-minute, packed-like-sardines elevator ride to the suite floor spilled us into a huge human zoo. There were two bars but the influx of partygoers meant waits for refreshments were extremely long. Was there food? We didn't see anything but a few crackers and crumbs of cheese. And we arrived early! The claustrophobia of the event zapped any desire for us to stay, so we waited another 15 minutes for a return ride away from that mob scene. Instead, we partook in vittles found along the hip and multicultural Robson Street strip where every kind of cuisine imaginable can be found.
I had planned on another reception, sponsored by the Women's Poetry List (aka Wom-po; at AWP, you distinguished its members by the yellow Ws they'd written on their conference nametags). But by the time that Saturday night event arrived my brain was soft as scrambled eggs, I had lost five pounds from nervous tension (that's what 18-hour days can do to a body), and my capacity for articulating anything intellectual had vanished. Instead, I went back to the restorative and welcoming Robson Street and consumed a delicious, garlic-smothered feast of Chicken Parmigian, caesar salad, pasta aglio e olio and homemade spumoni redolent of rum and pistachio at Zeferelli's. I sat at the bar, said nothing to anyone, took in the interesting features and bustle of the restaurant, admired the sumptuous antipasti bar and took some well-deserved downtime. (With apologies to my galpals at Wom-po, but I was simply exhausted!)
FOLKS, FOLKS AND MORE FOLKS
(Where to begin…?) It was a pleasure meeting Erin Soros at Columbia University, writer Jeff VanderMeer (who I've known through the Storyville list for a while), Mike Czyzniejewski (and now I can pronounce his name! Can you?), Eric May from Columbia College, Agni's Bill Pierce, the poet Kim Addonizio (who I'd previously met at Whidbey in 2004), Rusty Barnes and Susan Henderson at Night Train, Rusty Morrison and Ken Keegan at Omnidawn and so many many others. I was equally sad to miss so many other great people, all who I'd hope to meet in persona during the conference, i.e. Debra Magpie Earling, Mary Anne Mohanraj of the Speculative Literature Foundation, Jessica Treat (also of Storyville fame), magical realism instructor extraordinaire Alberto Ríos, Ron Carlson, Cyril Dabydeen, Fred D'Aguiar, the inspiring Denise Duhamel (one of the first poets I ever paid attention to), Ursula K. Le Guin, Michael Martone, Michael Ondaatje. And there were more than a few constant Friends of Margin I was pleased to run into as well: Susan Rich, Allen Braden, Jeannine Hall Gailey, Nancy Canyon, Jennifer Culkin. (My apologies if I didn't include someone in this large list; there were so many good folks there!)A WEALTH OF LEADS
One cannot buy every book they want at the AWP bookfair unless they are independently and ostentatiously wealthy, so in many cases I took notes and hope to follow up these incredible leads courtesy of the conference: the poet Chris Abani; Dreams of a Robot Dancing Bee by James Tate; George Szanto's trilogy (The Underside of Stones, Second Sight, The Condesa of M); Damselfish by Susan Ouriou; Pauline Holdstock's House and story collection, Swimming from the Flames; featured reader Karen McelMurray's wonderful Strange Birds in the Tree of Heaven; Bruce Holland Rogers' new story collection, 13 Ways to Water; and Midwife of Torment & Other Stories, a CD of sudden fiction written and orated by Paulo da Costa (with jacket illustrations from his sister), which I can't wait to listen to (Paulo's performance voice is enchanting). I also came away keenly interested in work produced by BOA Editions, the efforts of Small Press Distribution, and the potential resources found at www.NewPages.com.Naturally, the day after the end of the conference, while I was sleeping in, recovering from the literary blitzkrieg, my laptop had other plans. Now, I know this is crazy, but I think when human beings are operating in overkill mode, they possess some pretty erratic energy, and if that energy in any way connects with the circuitry of a computer, watch out. I should've seen it coming.
My hard drive crashed.
Oh, no worries. I'm a relentless backer-upper. By Friday the 8th, I was booted up and ready to go with new drive installed (quite effortlessly, thanks to the drive replication products offered by www.drivesolutions.com). In the meantime, I did what I could to follow up my AWP adventure, including phone calls to the staff to make sure they had also survived the conference intact. Three and a half weeks after that event I'm still behind on our photo album, but at least I'm caught up with AWP notes, contacts and leads. I'm getting over the (inevitable, no?) cold virus I picked up a few days after AWP withdrawal, and now I'm preparing TO DO THIS ALL OVER AGAIN. (In miniature, anyway.)
IF YOU MISSED US AT AWP...
Come and see us at Seattle's Rainbow Bookfest on April 30, where we'll have—you guessed it—a sales table filled with wonderful magical realist titles. Kathleen Alcalá and Anjali Banerjee will be presenting at the event and should be found lingering at the Margin table if you want your books signed. And on Sunday May 1, make some space to hear a great afternoon of poetry at the Richard Hugo House on Capitol Hill in Seattle as part of the full weekend that is the Seattle's PoFest! At 1:15, you'll hear Marge Manwaring, Erin Fristad, Marjorie Rommel and myself as we make a concerted pitch for Magical Realist Poetry (and I'll read work from Mary Elizabeth Parker and Hermine Meinhard at that time as well). Stop by and say hi, if you can!Sincerely,
your dutiful servant,
Tamara Kaye Sellman
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