[Andrew Szilvasy]

Why should someone go? What are the benefits?

[Michael Juster]

It's a giant literary schmoozefest that feels a bit like a college reunion, but it can be lonely if you don't already know others who are there.

I actually like best the mammoth book fair (which is also for literary journals). I go from table to table and try to let the Irish part of my genetic heritage take over.

I am an introverted outlier, though.

[Andrew Szilvasy]

Thanks Michael,

So is the idea that you should either have something to sell or have a lot of "friends" going to make it worth it?

[Ned Balbo]

I do think it helps to go with low expectations & an open mind. The book fair is huge & there are hundreds of participants (thousands? It seems so, anyway) who attend the conference.

Panels range from the intellectually rigorous to, I don't know, maybe "not so much" is a good way to put it? There are readings, too, and many off-site events (at bookstores or bars or other venues in whatever city is hosting the conference).

I just found this link, which might prove helpful: https://www.awpwriter.org/awp_confer...edule_overview

How does it all stack up? I'd say it's a great place to renew old contacts & see old friends. Which means it's good to know in advance that you have a few friends coming, or that panels or book fair tables will be hosted by writers or editors you like/admire.

FYI Most writers who attend have one or both feet in creative writing academia. Literary styles & schools of all types are represented & celebrated, so you have to feel comfortable with that.

As Mike says, it helps to be extroverted or to be able to pretend to be so, at least during the conference. It can be overwhelming &, in a good way, humbling: there are so many of us writing & scrabbling along! -- which also means that lots of us love the written word & are joined in our common love of the art.

Hope this helps!

[David Anthony]

How does it compare with West Chester?

[Catherine Chandler]

Andrew,
Wish I could help you out here, but, as always, I'm in South America when this conference takes place; but from what I've seen online and heard from other participants, it would not be my cup of tea. Good luck!

[Susan McLean]

Andrew, if you are a formalist, you are probably much better off spending time at one of the formal-friendly conferences like West Chester, Poetry by the Sea, the Frost Farm Conference, etc. AWP is dominated by the free-verse contingent, and very few of the sessions focus on poetry in form, though a few formalists are always in attendance. I don't enjoy mob scenes, so huge conferences like AWP turn me off, and I like the personal contacts and friendships I have made at the smaller conferences, which have also taught me much more about how to write in form effectively.

Susan

[Ned Balbo]

I'd add Writing the Rockies to Susan's list of formal-friendly conferences.

[Andrew Szilvasy]

Thanks all.

I don't like titles, and while I certainly enjoy and write formal poems, I don't think of myself as a formalist (I do write a great deal of poetry I suspect some don't think is really formal even when it's on met. ). That said, given that I don't know many other poets and don't have a book yet to shop, it sounds like it may be best to not go this year.

But I do think I'm going to try to make Frost/Rockies/Poetry by the Sea at some point soon.

Side note: Writing the Rockies is run by Western State Colorado, which also runs Think. Any idea when that will open up to submissions again?

[Michael Juster]

In terms of scale, AWP is to West Chester what Woodstock was to Club Passim.