Daily #AWP20 Updates
March 7, 2020
8:30 a.m. CST
#AWP20 Welcomes San Antonians with $5 All Access Entry
The Association of Writers & Writing Programs is pleased to announce a $5 Saturday all access pass and a Book Flash Sale, which will take place Saturday, March 7, 2020, noon to 4:00 p.m. at the Henry González Convention Center. The Book Flash Sale will support the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP).
Publishers and presses who were unable to attend are encouraging AWP to sell books that had already been shipped to the Convention Center. In addition, hundreds of the exhibitors in attendance will offer a variety of specials at their individual exhibit spaces.
“It is our hope that CLMP will use our donation to assist magazines and small presses to participate in future conferences,” states Cynthia Sherman, Director of Conferences.
Please direct all media requests to bookfairservices@awpwriter.org.
About Association of Writers & Writing Programs, provides community, opportunities, ideas, news, and advocacy for writers and teachers of writing. To make donations to AWP or for more information, visit http://awpwriter.org.
About Community of Literary Magazines and Presses ensures a vibrant, diverse literary landscape by helping small literary publishers work better. We communicate the art of literary publishing to readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, educators, funders and other literary stakeholders, and work to bring all of these communities together. CLMP carries out this mission so that essential literary voices from all corners can make their way from writers to readers.
#AWP20 attendees, don’t miss these must-see events on our livestream!
12:10 p.m. to 1:25 p.m.
Lila Cockrell Theatre, Henry B. González Convention Center, Street Level
R206. Donna Hemans, Aimee Liu, and Ellen Meeropol in Conversation with Kristen Young, Sponsored by Red Hen Press. (Kristen Young, Donna Hemans, Aimee Liu, Ellen Meeropol) Four powerful female authors read their work and discuss their shared themes of families torn apart by history and war. Each work quests to find lost siblings and daughters and sons, each story a heartwrenching tale of the strength of family against life's cruel obstacles. These four women discuss the importance and necessity of telling these stories, and the impact these stories have on our lives right now, in the real world.
1:45 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Lila Cockrell Theatre, Henry B. González Convention Center, Street Level
R240. 10 Years of CantoMundo: Founders, Faculty, and Fellows. (Deborah Paredez, Celeste Guzmán Mendoza, Rigoberto González, Malcolm Friend) Join CantoMundo for a discussion on contemporary Latinx letters, the history of CantoMundo, and what’s ahead for us. Each poet will also do a short reading.
8:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Lila Cockrell Theatre, Henry B. González Convention Center, Street Level
R295. #AWP20 Keynote Address by Helena María Viramontes, Sponsored by Texas State University. Helena María Viramontes is the author of The Moths and Other Stories (1985) and Under the Feet of Jesus (1995), a novel. Her second novel, Their Dogs Came with Them (2007), published in paperback by Washington Square Press, focuses on the dispossessed, the working poor, the homeless, and the undocumented of East Los Angeles, where Viramontes was born and raised. Her work strives to re-create the visceral sense of a world virtually unknown to mainstream letters and to transform readers through relentlessly compassionate storytelling.
Visit our website for daily updates online conference schedule.
#AWP20
March 4
12:20 p.m. CST
A Special Message from AWP's Board & Staff
The AWP board and staff, and the city of San Antonio, are eager to welcome attendees to the 2020 Conference. We’re looking forward to hosting 200+ panels, readings, and presentations, as well as a lively bookfair with 550+ exhibitors. While circumstances have presented challenges, we look forward to celebrating the art, craft, and teaching of writing, and offering the opportunity for our community to network, build bridges, tell our stories, and share our passion for the written word.
We’re excited to welcome Helena María Viramontes, our keynote speaker, at 8:30 p.m. Thursday; and lively panels with Louise Erdrich, Donna Hemans, Aimee Liu, Ellen Meeropol, Kristen Millares Young, Ada Calhoun, Michael Nye, Naomi Shihab Nye, Luis Javier Rodriguez, John Philip Santos, Norma Elia Cantú, Gregg Barrios, Liliana Valenzuela, Jenny Browne, Jim LaVilla-Havelin, Octavio Quintanilla, and Carmen Tafolla—among many hundreds of presenters attending in person or virtually. Please check back daily for updates here.
The AWP Board continues to be guided by information provided by the CDC, Texas Health Services, and numerous officials from the city of San Antonio, including the mayor’s office. All continue to state that the public is at low risk of COVID-19 infection from those who were quarantined on Lackland Air Force Base. Earlier this week, all quarantined were declared symptom-free. If you’re still concerned, read our up-to-date information.
For the most current programming information, visit our online conference schedule.
We're grateful to our members who have encouraged us to go forward with the conference—we’re excited to continue supporting our literary community and the community of San Antonio. See many of you soon. For those of you who can’t attend, we’ll see you next year!
