This morning I got back from the 2019 Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) conference in Portland. It was a fantastic time! I saw some authors that I love and encountered some new writers whose work I cannot wait to check out.
As usual when I go to conferences, the bookfair was a highlight of the trip. AWP’s gigantic bookfair is legendary. It is, frankly, overwhelming, even for a hardcore bibliophile/book-buying addict such as myself. I acquired 17 books. I was able to get Awkward-Rich’s, Berggrun’s, Chee’s, Chen’s, Davis’s, Dawn’s, Dentz’s, and Tedesco’s signed. Note that all of the books except Chee’s are published by small independent presses, which are more important to support than ever. I bought most of the books from the publishers themselves, but I got Awkward-Rich’s, Chee’s, Chen’s, and Smith’s from the Powell’s display at the center of the fair. Powell’s handed out free commemorative tote bags and pins with purchases from their booth, both neat souvenirs.
I also bought a Walt Whitman Brooklyn Poets t-shirt–I couldn’t resist. I also wanted to get the Audre Lorde shirt, but they were a bit pricey ($25.60 each) so I will have to get it another time.
Awkward-Rich, Cameron. Sympathetic Little Monster. Los Angeles: Ricochet Editions, 2016.
Berggrun, Chase. Red. Minneapolis: Birds, LLC, 2018.
This book is an erasure poem created from Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula.
Chee, Alexander. How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays. Boston: Mariner Books, 2018.
Chen, Ching-In. The Heart’s Traffic: A Novel in Poems. Los Angeles: Arktoi Books, 2009.
Dangarembga, Tsitsi. This Mournable Body. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2018.
Davis, Todd. Some Heaven: Poems. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2007.
Dawn, Amber. How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler’s Memoir. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2013.
Dentz, Shira. the sun a blazing zero. New Orleans: Lavender Ink, 2018.
Hopkinson, Nalo. Report from Planet Midnight Plus…. Oakland: PM Press, 2012.
Jih, Tristan Allen, and Adam Vines. Day Kink: Poems. Greensboro, NC: Unicorn Press, 2018.
Le Guin, Ursula K. “The Wild Girls” Plus…. Oakland: PM Press, 2011.
Sato, Hiroaki. On Haiku. New York: New Directions, 2018.
Scenters-Zapico, Natalie. Lima:: Limón. Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2019.
Smith, Danez. Don’t Call Us Dead: Poems. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2017.
Soto, Christopher, ed. Nepantla: An Anthology for Queer Poets of Color. New York: Nightboat Books, 2018.
Tedesco, Adam. Mary Oliver. Fruita, CO: Lithic Press, 2019.
This is a book of poems about Oliver. Meta!
Tovar, Virgie. You Have the Right to Remain Fat. New York: Feminist Press, 2018.
