AWP 2012 | Creative Writing in the Real World

Creative writing class-fine arts center (402690951) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Is it April already? I meant to write a ton of compelling blog posts about all of the sessions I attended at the March 2012 APW Convention in Chicago, but I didn’t get past describing the first session. Although I’m a bit behind, I think a lot of the lessons I learned at the convention are essential. So today, I’ll take a peek backward and tell you about the second session I attended, titled, “Out There and In Here: Creative Writing in the Real World.”

This session was presented by Abby Bardi, Rick Kemp, Janice Meer, and Adeena Reitberger in the Astoria room of the Hilton Chicago. The AWP’s official description of the session follows:

AWP 2012 | Now That’s a Novel Idea: Marketability (Gasp!) and Creative Writing Programs (Part 1)

publish #01 (Photo credit: mediamolecule)

It’s been more than a week since I attended the 2012 Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference and Book Fair in Chicago, IL. So far, I’ve only barely scratched the surface of the convention. Today I’d like to dive into my notes and talk about one session I attended, which was titled, “Now That’s a Novel Idea: Marketability (Gasp!) and Creative Writing Programs.”

Chicago Restaurant Reviews: The Tamarind and More

Miso soup: I am not a fan. - Image via Wikipedia

I was in Chicago last week for the AWP 2012 Conference and Bookfair, where I had the opportunity to check out a couple of different downtown restaurants.

Friday evening I went out to eat with a professor and one of her friends at the Tamarind, which serves a variety of Asian dishes. Located at 614 S Wabash, the Tamarind was a convenient walk from the Hilton Chicago where the majority of the AWP Conference events and the book fair were located.

AWP 2012 Overview

This looks exactly like some of the rooms where I spent last weekend! | Chicago 8 (Photo credit: penmanila)

I had to miss class Saturday morning to make it to the 2012 AWP Conference and Book Fair in Chicago. My Narratology instructor encourages students in our professional writing program to attend such events, so he was okay with a few of us missing class just this once. However, he asked that we each write a review of the conference and discuss what our biggest takeaways were so we could share the experience with our classmates who couldn’t make it.

I thought my review, with a few revisions, would make a good blog post for today considering I’m always short on writing time on Wednesdays (I teach 2 classes on Wednesdays.) Enjoy…

AWP 2012 Conference – Chicago

The lobby of the Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago - Image via Wikipedia

Well, I returned safely from my quick two days at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs’ 2012 Conference and Book Fair in Chicago. The conference was a whirlwind of activity with over 10,000 attendees filling ballrooms at both the Chicago Hilton and the Palmer House Hilton in downtown Windy City.

I came home with a good 10 – 15 pages of notes on the sessions I attended at the conference, so there’s no way I will hit it all in one blog post. But I do have a lot of useful information I’d like to share with my readers, so I think I will just touch on some of the surface fluff for today and then do a series of posts discussing the down and dirty writing stuff I picked up.

Since I wasn’t able to make it to Chicago until Friday afternoon (I was teaching a class Friday morning,) they were all out of AWP tote bags and conference programs by the time I arrived. So, I was a little disoriented trying to find my way around. By the way, I’d love to get my hands on a program still, so if you went and happen to have an extra one, I’d gladly take it off your hands!

I went to a couple of sessions Friday and then went out to eat with a professor and one of her friends at the Tamarind (I’m planning a restaurant review blog post too, so stay tuned for more info on that) before heading back to my room for the night. 

Windy city-bound today

I’m off to the Windy City today for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs’ (AWP) 2012 Annual Conference and Book Fair. This year’s conference includes a variety of readings from published authors, a keynote address by author Margaret Atwood (pictured at right,) and a plethora of educational sessions. There are so many options to choose from, I’m having a hard time deciding which to do. But here’s a quick-list of a few sessions I’m hoping to hit today:

I need a hotel room

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I’m going to a convention in Chicago in a few weeks, and I need to get a hotel room. Of course, I’ve waited too long, and now the Palmer House Hilton, where the convention is being held is all booked up. So, what next? I’ve been looking at rooms online, and there are just way too many options. And way too many questions.

For example, where do I park my car that isn’t going to cost me $40 a day? Am I going to have to park my car someplace and just leave it? Am I going to end up walking several blocks from my hotel room to the convention on the 2 days I’ll be there? Could I take a train into the city? If I do that, where do I leave my car then? And how the heck do I figure out what train to take to get where I need to be?