The Grubbie Guide to AWP

Grub is taking a trip to DC! February 8-11, Grub staff and instructors will be at the AWP conference. If you're attending AWP, you can catch us on panels, at readings, and hanging out at our glorious booth, complete with board games, inflatable chairs, a red typewriter, and all your hopes and dreams (no, seriously). Plus, make sure to join us on Friday evening for cocktail hour at Rocket Bar, co-hosted by Post Road magazine. First drink is on us! See below for details.

Not going this year? Never fear! Follow all the booth antics on Twitter @grubwriters, #writethefuture

 

"Home" for the Weekend, AKA the GrubStreet Booth

GrubStreet's booth at the AWP bookfair is a space for busy conference-goers to take a break from the panel chaos and hang out with us! There will be board games, good conversation, and comfy places to sit. We'll be offering writers the opportunity to pledge a wish for themselves and a wish for the writing world. Seal your personal goals in an envelope, and we'll mail it back to you next year. Hang your public wishes on our board, where we'll be collecting everyone's hopes and dreams. Plus, if you ask us nicely, we'll tell you about our programs, our mission, and sign you up to our mailing list. Find us at booth number 979, along the lefthand wall, right behind the concessions stand. 

 

Hang Out at Rocket Bar (The First Drink Is On Us)

On Friday, February 10th, 6-8pm, hang out at Rocket Bar with fellow Grubbies and our friends at Post Road magazine. Rocket bar is just a few minutes walk from the convention center. Find a moment to unwind in the midst of AWP madness, and join us for a mid-conference tipple. Come celebrate our 20th anniversary with free drinks, and pool, and making out (I mean, maybe, I don't know your life). Drink tickets are limited -- arrive early to snag yours! To save the date and share with friends, check out the Facebook event page.

 

Onsite Literary Badassery

You'll find familiar names and faces sprinkled throughout this year's panel offerings. Here's a handy dandy guide to where and when Grub staff and instructors are to be found talking about important things:

Thursday, Febuary 9th

• PANEL: If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say: How to Write Stories People Don't Want Told
  Featuring Michael W. Twitty, Kristen Green, and Grub's Memoir Incubator Instructor Garrard Conley
  Liberty Salon L, Marriott Marquis, Meeting Level Four
  1:30 pm to 2:45 pm

• PANEL: The New New New Journalism: Reporting with the I
  Featuring Jennifer Percy, Chris Arnold, José Orduña, Kerry Howley, and Grub Instructor Alex Marzano-Lesnevich
  Marquis Salon 1 & 2, Marriott Marquis, Meeting Level Two
  3:00pm to 4:15pm 

• READING: From the Fishouse: A Bilingual Reading of Poets from Around the World
  Featuring Curtis Bauer, Piotr Gwiazda, Jesse Kercheval, Kristine Ong Muslim, and Grub Instructor Ani Gjika
  Room 204C, Washington Convention Center, Level Two
  3:00pm to 4:15pm 

• PANEL: Celebrating 50 Years of Southern Humanities Review 
  Featuring Rose McLarney, Jerald Walker, R.T. Smith, Chantel Acevedo, and Grub's Memoir Incubator Instructor Garrard Conley
  Room 102B, Washington Convention Center, Level One
  4:30 pm to 5:45 pm

Friday, Febuary 10th

• PANEL: Ethnicity & Craft 
  Featuring Nomie Eve, Soniah Kamal, Muse Presenter Anjali Mitter Duva, Grub's Neighborhood Program Fellow Jennifer De Leon, and Grub Instructor Adam Stumacher
  Archives, Marriott Marquis, Meeting Level Four
  9:00am to 10:15am

• PANEL: Dreaming the World Through Translation: International Perspectives on Creative Process 
  Featuring Hélène Cardona, Martha Collins, Jennifer Kwon Dobbs, and Grub Instructor Ani Gjika
  Marquis Salon 7 & 8, Marriott Marquis, Meeting Level Two
  9:00 am to 10:15 am
  

• PANEL: The Civics of Literature
  Featuring Colum McCann, Andrew Proctor, Muse Presenter Marjan Kamali, and Grub's Executive Director Eve Bridburg
  Room 204C, Washington Convention Center, Level Two
  10:30 am to 11:45 am

• PANEL: The Art of Perspective: How Narrative Strategies Reflect Contemporary Culture
  Featuring Lee Hope, Sunil Yapa, Marjan Kamali, Grub's Marketing & Community Engagement Manager Sarah Colwill-Brown and Artistic Director Christopher Castellani
  Liberty Salon M, Marriott Marquis, Meeting Level Four
  3:00 pm to 4:15 pm

• PANEL: Beyond Diversity: How to Run the Truly Inclusive Creating Writing Workshop
  Featuring Grub Instructor Matthew Salesses, Director of Programs & Marketing Alison Murphy, Programs & Advocacy Manager Jonathan Escoffery, Youth Programs Manager Eson Kim, and Head of Faculty & Curriculum Dariel Suarez
  Capital & Congress, Marriott Marquis, Meeting Level Four
  4:30 pm to 5:45 pm

Saturday, Febuary 11th 

• PANEL: Murder She Wrote: Women Writers on Writing Violence
  Featuring Robin Wasserman, Chinelo Okparanta, Reese Okyong Kwon, Nancy Rommelmann, and Grub Instructor Alex Marzano-Lesnevich 
  Liberty Salon  I, J, & K, Marriot Marquis, Meeting Level Four 
  9:00am to 10:15am 

• PANEL: Commiting to Inclusion: What Does It "Really" Mean?
  Featuring Grub's Assistant Director of the Muse Conference Sonya Larson, Programs & Advocacy Manager Jonathan Escoffery, Board Member Deborah Plummer, and Director of Programs & Marketing Alison Murphy
  Marquis Salon 6, Marriott Marquis, Meeting Level Two
  10:30 am to 11:45 am

• PANEL: A Tribute to Edmund White 
  Featuring Tom Cardamone, Alexander Chee, Patrick Ryan, and Grub Instructors Alden Jones and Alysia Abbott
  Room 204AB, Washington Convention Center, Level Two
  12:00 pm to 1:15 pm
  

• PANEL: If You Build It, Will They Come?
  Featuring Becka Oliver, Nora Comstock, Jennifer Dodgson, and Grub's Marketing & Community Engagement Manager Sarah Colwill-Brown
  Monument, Marriott Marquis, Meeting Level Four
  4:30 pm to 5:45 pm
  
  

Offsite Literary Badassery

And if that wasn't enough AWP awesomeness, make sure to check out grubbies' many offsite readings and events.

Wednesday, Febuary 8th

• READING: Waveform: Twenty-First Century Essays by Women
  Featuring Grubbie Alex Marzano-Lesnevich
  Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe, 1517 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC (Dupont Circle)
  6:30pm to 8:30pm

• READING: 32 Poems, Smartish Pace, & Quarterly West Reading 
  Featuring Hadara Bar-Nadav, Cortney Lamar Charleston, Rebecca Hazelton, Shara Lessley, J.C. Reyes, Marianne Villanueva, David Yezzi, Grub's Memoir Incubator Instructor Garrard Conley, and more.
  Sixth Engine, 438 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC, 20001
  7:00pm to 9:00pm 

Thursday, February 9th

• READING: World Enough, and Time: A Memoir Reading 
  Featuring Brandel France de Bravo, Richard Hoffman, and Grub Instructors Dorian Fox, Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, and Nicole Miller
  The Den Coffeehouse & Winebar, 5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC, 20008
  7:30pm to 9:30pm 

Friday, February 10th

• READING: The Cambridge Writers' Workshop
  Featuring Alex Carrigan, Rita Banerjee, Diana Norma Szokoyai, Jensen Beach, Anna-Celestrya Carr, Emily Nemens, Grub Instructor Alex Marzano-Lesnevich and Muse Presenter Tim Horvath 
  The Cambridge Writers' 
  Upshur Street Books 
  827 Upshor St NW, Washington, DC 20011
  5:00pm to 6:45pm 

• ← TOMORROW: Free Teen Session
• Best of Boston: What’s Happening in February? →