The AWP Annual  Conference & Bookfair is but a week away! Catch BOA authors, staff, and books throughout the weekend at the following times: Thursday, March 1: 9:00 A.M.-10:15 A.M. R102. On Being a Jewish Poet: Writing and Identity (Patty Seyburn, Jacqueline Osherow, Emily Warn, Yehoshua November) Astoria, Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor In the 21st century, what does it mean to be a Jewish poet? What is a Jewish poem? Some Jewish poets resist a fixed Jewish identity. Jewishness for C. Bernstein is “a practice of dialogue... an openness to the unfolding performance of the everyday.” Others write poetry rooted in Jewish tradition. M.L. Rosenthal writes, “A Jewish poem is a poem written by a Jew.” Marina Tsvetaeva goes so far as to say, “Every poet is a Jew.” Five Jewish poets discuss how poetry relates to identity. R105. Ten Years of the Poulin Prize: A Poetry Reading (Peter Conners, Dan Albergotti, Janice Harrington, Keetje Kuipers, Ryan Teitman) Continental B, Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level A poetry reading celebrating the first ten years of the A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize sponsored by BOA Editions. Four previous winners of this prestigious first-book award will read from their work: Dan Albergotti (The Boatloads), Janice N. Harrington (Even the Hollow My Body Made Is Gone), Keetje Kuipers (Beautiful in the Mouth), and Ryan Teitman (Litany for the City). The poets will also read from the work of the other previous Poulin Prize winners. BOA publisher Peter Conners will moderate. 10:30 A.M.-11:45 A.M. R132. Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll II: Handling Tough Subjects in the Workshop (Wendy Barker, Fleda Brown, Catherine Bowman, Jacqueline Kolosov) Lake Erie, Hilton Chicago, 8th Floor This is an expansion of the 2011 panel’s lively discussion on difficult social issues in workshops. We’ll offer examples of typical legal institutional guidelines and then consider our own moral compasses as creative writing teachers. Looking back to Virginia Tech and Tucson, we wonder, where do we draw the line in our classrooms when the law or university regulations are silent? What are our own personal limits? Do they have to do with taste? Tact? What is decency to us? Why does it matter? 12:00 Noon-1:15 P.M. R154. In the Mirror of Translation: Perspectives on Creative Process (Helene Cardona, Willis Barnstone, Dennis Maloney, James Ragan, Betty De Shong Meador) Continental C, Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level How does one capture the essence and music of a poem in translation and remain faithful to the original? Working with Greek, Chinese, French, Spanish, Czech, and Sumerian, this panel’s poets, translators, and scholars discuss their role as technicians, intermediaries, and magicians working between languages to create inspired texts that reflect the human psyche, giving both cultures the opportunity to see one another through a different lens. R166. Writing the Middle East, Crossing Genre, Crossing Borders (LeAnne Howe, Matthew Shenoda, Jim Wilson, Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, Hayan Charara) Wiliford C, Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor Crossing West to East into landscapes of olives and almonds, Arabian deserts and mountains, love affairs and war zones, green lines, religions, and concrete walls that divide, this panel explores how translation and transliteration play a role in writing the Middle East. Five writers with different experiences in the region give insights on how their particular genre: poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction, shapes their narratives of Egypt, Jordan, Israel/Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. 1:30 P.M.-2:45 P.M. R185. Out of the Stacks and onto the Market: The MFA Poetry Thesis Gets Serious, and Faculty Members React (Erika Meitner, Beth Ann Fennelly, Carmen Giménez Smith, Mary Biddinger, Alan Michael Parker) Marquette, Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor Autobiographical treatises, project books, greatest hits of the workshop—MFA faculty (who moonlight as press editors and book-contest judges) discuss pedagogical issues on advising MFA poets at the culmination of the degree. What makes for ideal thesis advising? Is an MFA thesis meant to be a book? We will explore the range of ways to shape a first collection, transcend conventions and clichés, and best advise students on balancing their development as poets with their professional goals. 3:00 P.M.-4:15 P.M. R200. A Tribute to David Young (Angie Estes, Bruce Beasley, Thomas Lux, David St. John, Lee Upton) Continental A, Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level A tribute to David Young’s lifelong commitment to poetry on the occasion of his 75th birthday and publication of his selected poems. One of the founding editors of Field, editor of Oberlin’s poetry and translation series, and author of eleven poetry books and twenty books of translations and criticism, Young’s work has shaped contemporary poetry for over forty years. Each participant will offer a personal and critical assessment of his literary achievements and his profound, enduring influence. R222. The Creative Writing Fulbright Fellowship Information Session (Erika Martinez, Summer Hess, Katrina Vandenberg, Jillian Weise) Wabash Room, Palmer House Hilton, 3rd Floor The Fulbright Program funds undergraduate and graduate students to study, conduct research, or pursue creative activities abroad for a year. This information panel is composed of past creative writing Fulbright fellows who will tell of the application process, the experience, and the professional, creative, and personal benefits of having received this prestigious award. They spent their Fulbright year in places such as Japan, Chili, the Netherlands, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, and Argentina, writing poetry, plays, memoirs, nonfiction, and novels. Friday, March 2: F104. Not with a Bang but a Whisper (Hannah Fries, Dorianne Laux, Elizabeth Bradfield, Joseph Spece, Lia Purpura) Continental A, Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level While some poets choose to be overtly political or to expound topically on issues of our day, many take a quieter, more artful route to literary activism. How can poems speak to issues in surprising and moving ways, even while not seeming to be about an issue per se? How do poets use the subtleties of language to engage our consciences and startle us to attention? Join four slyly subversive poets and the poetry editor of Orion magazine as we explore these questions and more. F121. Why Time Matters: A Discussion across the Genres (Fred Leebron, Andrew Levy, Brighde Mullins, Katherine Min, Alan Michael Parker) Red Lacquer Room, Palmer House Hilton, 4th Floor Our panel will focus on why time is the most crucial element in all genres of creative writing, beginning with how much time we choose to depict and extending beyond that to approach how we vary the treatment of time within each genre. While others might argue that character or point of view or narrative arc is the essential ingredient that shapes our work, we will argue that time is that ingredient. 10:30 A.M.-11:45 A.M. F125. Writing for Young Adults (April Lindner, Marilyn Nelson, Helen Frost, Curtis Crisler, Meg Kearney) Astoria, Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor Young adult literature is as diverse and ambitious as any literature. What is the appeal of writing for a younger audience, and what are the practical concerns of the author who writes literary YA poetry or fiction? A panel of poets and novelists will explore the vibrant world of YA literature and examine the many ways in which it literature can be relevant, experimental, traditional, and necessary. F144. Rewriting the Foreign: Toward a New Definition of Literature of the Americas (Peter Grandbois, Richard Burgin, Daniel Grandbois, Irene Vilar) Honoré Ballroom, Palmer House Hilton, Lobby Level Despite the fact that translations make up only 2.5% of all books published in the U.S., writers find a way to read across borders. The goal of this panel will be to discuss the very idea of foreignness. As editors of the forthcoming TTUP Americas Anthology of Contemporary Writing, we’ll discuss the need for a Pan-American anthology that uses language to forge a consciousness outside predetermined political, geographical, social, or literary boundaries. 12:00 Noon-1:15 P.M. F149. Ghostwriting the Eulogy: How to Survive and Make Your Name beyond the Academy with a Degree in Creative Writing (Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum, Kim Addonizio, Dana Gioia, Maggie Dietz, Simone Muench) Boulevard Room A,B,C, Hilton Chicago, 2nd Floor With the expansion of programs in creative writing, more and more degreed creative writers are overwhelming the academic job market, causing many of us to seek different ways to make a buck while continuing to write. Ghostwriting, editing, independent scholarship, running a workshop, writing for TV: you name it and the five poets and novelists on this panel have done it. They will share with us the creative ways they’ve found to make a living and some tricks they’ve learned along the way. F194. First Things First: What It’s Really Like to Win a Book Contest (Melissa Stein, Keetje Kuipers, J. Michael Martinez, Iain Haley Pollock, Nick Lantz) Red Lacquer Room, Palmer House Hilton, 4th Floor What actually happens after winning a first-book prize? Recent winners of five top poetry awards—the Walt Whitman, APR/Honickman, Bakeless, Cave Canem, and A. Poulin, Jr.—candidly discuss surprises and challenges and how publication changed (and didn’t change) their lives and their relationships to their writing. With all the benefits of 20/20 hindsight, they’ll share experiences with—and tips on—manuscript submission, the revision process, cover design, and the mysteries of book promotion. F195. God at Every Gate: Dialogues with Silence (Katherine Towler, Gregory Orr, Kazim Ali, Jericho Brown, Alicia Ostriker) State Ballroom, Palmer House Hilton, 4th Floor Faith is not a word often heard in conversations about literature. It seems to have become a word American authors try to avoid, one claimed by the political right wing. The five acclaimed poets on this panel come from different faiths and backgrounds, but they all share a willingness to reclaim the word faith and to discuss its relationship to literature. 3:00 P.M.-4:15 P.M. F199. Twin Muses: The Shared Literary Histories Between Poems and Songs (Charlotte Pence, Kevin Young, David Daniel, Claudia Emerson, Wyn Cooper) Boulevard Room A,B,C, Hilton Chicago, 2nd Floor This discussion seeks to untangle the highly connective web between songs and poems. They will examine how poems and songs share a literary history by addressing topics as varied as modernism, sonnet structures, oral variability, and radio hits. The panelists are part of a newly released landmark book, The Poetics of American Song Lyrics, which locates points of separation and synthesis between poetry and songs. Saturday, March 3 12:00 Noon-1:15 P.M. S151. Ethos, Logos, Pathos: Or, Who’s the Speaker Here? (Kathleen Graber, Jason Schneiderman, Laura McCullough, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Kazim Ali) Continental C, Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level Aristotle identified three means of persuasion: ethos, logos, pathos; character, reason, emotion. Obviously a great poem compels us in all three ways, but we rarely hear anyone talking about these purely rhetorical allegiances (as different from but not unrelated to the grammatical/syntactical choices and strategies) of the poetic speaker. This panel will explore all three categories in relation to voice, authority, and the trustworthiness of a poem’s speaker and how they make an impact on the reception of a poem by the reader. S160. BOA Editions 35th Anniversary Reading (Peter Conners, Dorianne Laux, Michael Waters, Craig Teicher, Wendy Mnookin) Waldorf, Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor Now in its 35th year as a celebrated independent publisher, BOA Editions commemorates this major milestone with a reading that will feature writers who represent the significant body of work and diverse voices published by the press. The event will be moderated by publisher Peter Conners. 1:30 P.M.-2:45 P.M. S174. Using “Fraudulent Artifacts” to Teach Fiction Writing (Matthew Vollmer, Arda Collins, Joseph Salvatore, David Shields) Continental B, Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level Panelists will present strategies for teaching and writing fraudulent artifacts—i.e., stories that masquerade as other texts. Special attention will be given to how the study and creation of stories as letters, instructions, glossaries, and personal ads—as well as a host of other genres—can inspire student experimentation and thus energize classrooms, as close examinations of these artifacts will produce—as a matter of course—vigorous discussions about structure, form, and voice. 4:30 P.M.-5:45 P.M. S227. Homage to Édouard Glissant (1928-2011) (Ishion Hutchinson, Christian Campbell, Kwame Dawes, Matthew Shenoda, Laila Pedro) Lake Michigan, Hilton Chicago, 8th Floor Édouard Glissant, born in Martinique in 1928, was one of the great originals in Francophone and world literature, particularly because of his contribution to postcolonial discourse, not only as a theorist but as poet, novelist, and dramatist. Five writers will read from his work—in French, Creole, and in English-- and their own. A discussion of Glissant, the writer and the man, his influence on the panelists’ work, will follow.