North America's Largest Lit Conference Hits Twin Cities

You may not have heard of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), but next April it's taking over Minneapolis. AWP's annual literary conference (open to the public) goes down at the Minneapolis Convention Center (with lit stars from T. C. Boyle to Roxane Gay), and related events will be erupting all over town. Predictably, our Creative Writing Program is involved up to its eyebrows.

Attracting some 13,000 writers and readers, the largest literary conference in North America lands in the Twin Cities April 8-11. You can choose to attend the AWP conference itself (senior registration is only $75!), or freely enjoy the myriad of events taking place off-site. Tops in the latter is the Creative Writing Program's faculty reading at the Weisman Museum April 10.

Creative Writing Program celebration off-site at Weisman

"We're inviting current and prospective students, alumnae/i, faculty, friends and writers," says Professor Julie Schumacher, the program's AWP point person, "to celebrate almost 20 years of our MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Minnesota. On April 10, come to mingle, catch up with your peers, and hear Professors Patricia Hampl and Charles Baxter read from their work."
Rea Award in the Short Story recipient Baxter will be celebrating his first new story collection in 18 years (There's Something I Want You to Do, out February 3). Regents Professor Hampl (right) has a new book forthcoming from Viking, The Art of the Wasted Day, which she'll be previewing.

Since last year's AWP conference, Schumacher has been planning community collaborations around AWP with representatives from Minnesota literary organizations from the Loft Literary Center to Rain Taxi Review of Books. "Every organization wants to shine a spotlight on itself; but collectively, we want those who come to AWP to see what a terrific place Minnesota is, for arts and artists," says Schumacher.

Here is a list of the more than 40 conference panels that feature English professors and alumnae/i (MFA, BA, and PhD). Let us know if we've missed anyone! (Email sutt0063 at umn.edu.) Plus, here's a stab at a list of AWP offsite events with English alums and faculty; AWP compiles a general offsite overview here.

Professors lead--and star in--conference panels

One notable panel is "A Tribute to Charles Baxter" (Thursday 1:30 pm), put together by peers, colleagues, and former students of our Edelstein-Keller Professor in Creative Writing (who also taught at Michigan). "I knew nothing about the tribute until someone emailed to tell me that it had been scheduled," reveals Baxter (left), a generous mentor to students present and past. "When I heard about it, I felt a kind of queasy pleasure--something like a mixture of vaingloriousness and a dread that no one will show up. But I hope it's fun, too, with a few laughs."

Other Creative Writing professors participating on panels include Schumacher, Hampl, Peter Campion, Ray Gonzalez, Madelon Sprengnether, Michael Dennis Browne (Emeritus), Maria Damon (Emerita), and our brand new hire, the novelist V. V. Ganeshananthan. Another Thursday panel spotlights our former students: "Almost Twenty Years of Making Stuff Up: A Fiction Reading/Celebration by University of Minnesota Alumni" features Matt Burgess, Amanda Coplin (below), Liana Liu, Susan Meyers, and Shannon Olson. Coplin's the author of the award-winning novel The Orchardist. Burgess will read from his second novel set in Queens (after Dogfight), Uncle Janice, and Liu from her forthcoming young adult novel, The Memory Key.

Part of the excitement of AWP is the mix of writers, on panels and in the hallways, at all stages of their careers, from beginners to big names with barrels of publications. The keynote address this year will be given by Karen Russell, author of the novel Swamplandia! and the short-story collection St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves. Among other writers reading and speaking are poets Anne Carson, Rita Dove, Carolyn Forché, Ted Kooser, and Claudia Rankine and prose writers Eula Biss, T. C. Boyle, Louise Erdrich, Alice McDermott, Matt de la Pena, and (BA alumna) Cheryl Strayed.

"The AWP conference is the meeting and discussion forum for faculty, students, staff, and other friends and associates of creative writing programs," Schumacher stresses. "With AWP in Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota's MFA program has an opportunity to highlight its stature as a premier, highly selective, intimate, and supportive program in one of the most vibrant arts centers in the U.S."