On Not Going to AWP (Associated Writing Programs annual conference)

It's all razzmatazz in the metaphor and slowslide down a jetlagged wall, the grunge and flash, the hugging, seeing, seen through windowpanes, and rapt, unwrapped, slapping silences after the end of the poem or the most absurd statement. And that's why I will miss it -- again.

Mostly I don't go to conferences and workshops. I loved the AWP I went to and swore never again. I made so many friends I still have and met ones I only had virtually before. And they always have it somewhere in deadest winter. Why not Hawaii? After receiving tons of kind invitations I have to decline I remembered why I'm not going. I have nothing to sell, only things to get published and write. Those things require silence and time.

For those of us staying home at our own private AWP's, here's a NON-AWP party Julie Brooks Barbour started on Facebook. Come on over and join in!