AWP 2016 (the conference for the Association of Writers & Writing Programs) in Los Angeles was la-la lovely. Marion and I flew out together, for the first time in all of these years of traveling to different cities. Our first bit of business? We discussed what our podcast from AWP would be about.
Literary Death Match? Could we ever have an experience close to the awesomeness of Mark Doty in Chicago? Tony Hoagland in Boston? Abraham Smith in Seattle? How about Chris Abani, Susan Orlean, Danez Smith, and Kirsten Valdez Quade in L.A.? And since it’s LA, let’s throw in some celebrities like, I dunno, Martin Starr, Lena Waithe, Michaela Watkins, and Zach Woods.
The Stars at the Literary Death Match
Sure, hot enough, but basically, we wanted to sit back and enjoy the show, and then immediately have umbrella drinks on the rooftop, so…what else could we talk about?
How crowded it was? Negative and boring.
How expensive it was? Negative and boring.
AWP Ladies and Gentlemen!
Should we interview our Uber drivers? Not a bad idea. But, when we thought just that much longer, probably about when we were flying over Wyoming, we thought about the AWP conference and everyone’s expectations, how overwhelming it can be to have so many choices, how undone one can become even when all of those choices are great, we thought about the bookfair.
We thought about how much we enjoy “camping out” at the bookfair, letting the attendees and our far-flung friends come to us, doing laps ourselves when we need to stretch. Yes. We’d hang out and the boofair and talk to people about…
Writing. What else? Tune in and hear what people are working on when they’re not swimming in the riches of the AWP conference.
John-Michael Peter Bloomquis, the founder and director of Poetry for Trash talked to us about his organization. Poetry for Trash goes to public parks and forests, installing stations where passerby can read a poem. The reader decides how much trash the poem is worth, and places the litter they find inside a trash bag. Poetry really is making the world a better place!
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Read on!
-KVM
Kathy Graber and Kazim Ali
Episode 67: Poprocks and Monocles
Episode 66: What If Hansel and Gretel Had a Cage Fight?
Episode 65: Cowboys and Baristas and Co-ops, Oh My!
The Skink, The Witches, and the Ghost of Tim Fitts
Episode 63: Tripletime!
Episode 62: Six Degrees of Separation
Episode 61: Welcome to The Petri Dish
Episode 60: Line of Apogee
Episode 59: Emi's Barbaric YAWP!
Episode 58: Gobsmacked is my Mantra
Episode 57: Smitten with Sakura
Episode 56: Mox Nox
Episode 55: Prison Whiskey and Big Brother
Episode 54: The Sex Tape
Episode 53: Lost In Time
Episode 52: The Klingon Council
Episode 51: Hello Neighbor
Episode 50: An Excuse for a Buffet
Episode 49: Pixie Dust and Sparkles
Episode 48: Paper Cranes and Zebras
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