Association of Writers & Writing Programs
The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) is a literary organization whose mission is "to foster literary talent and achievement, to advance the art of writing as essential to a good education, and to serve the makers, teachers, students, and readers of contemporary writing."
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[edit] Members
AWP comprises more than 500 colleges and universities, mostly in the United States, that offer degree-conferring programs in creative writing. Individual writers may also be members.
The official publication of AWP is The Writer's Chronicle, established in 1967, and annually AWP holds a conference for both members and non-members of the organization. AWP publishes a job list for writers, has a career services program that maintains dossiers for members, and sponsors annual contests for book publication in fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry. AWP hosts an annual award series contest for novel, short fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry. They also established Writers' Conferences & Centers (WC&C) a division of AWP designed to promote and disseminate information about writing conferences, centers, retreats, and festivals. In 2007 their AWP Official Guide to Writing Programs became its own free, searchable website.
The Writer's Chronicle reaches more and more people each year. Now with so many university presses and prizes plus the steadily increasing number of internet electronic magazines (ezines), also known as online magazines, there is a surge in interest. Although most ezines are the counter-culture to the academic press, the Writer's Chronicle is a resource for both.
[edit] History
The organization was founded in 1967 in Providence, Rhode Island by R.V. Cassill and George Garrett to support the growing presence of literary writers in American higher education. At that time, Departments of English were mainly conservatories of the literature of the past, and many scholars resisted the establishment of creative writing programs. Fifteen writers who represented twelve writing programs established AWP aiming to overcome this resistance, to give mutual support and to encourage new programs, and to provide publishing opportunities for young writers.
In 1971 the organization moved from Brown University to Washington College, in Chestertown, Maryland. In 1978 it moved to Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia. In 1994, the organization moved to its present headquarters, at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
[edit] Conferences
The AWP continues to grow and reach more and more people. In 2005, the first international conference was held in Vancouver, British Columbia.[1] AWP holds an Annual Conference in a different region of North America, featuring over 1600 presenters and 400 presentations, readings, lectures, panel discussions, book signings, and receptions. The 2009 conference was held in Chicago.[2] The conference attracts more than 9000 attendees and is the largest literary conference in North America.[3]
Future conferences include:
2012 Chicago February 29-March 3, 2012 Hilton Chicago & Palmer House Hilton
2013 Boston, Massachusetts March 6-9, 2013 Sheraton Hotel & Hynes Convention Center
2014 Seattle, Washington February 26-March 1, 2014 Sheraton Seattle & Washington State Convention Center
2015 Minneapolis, Minnesota April 8-11, 2015 Hilton Minneapolis & Minneapolis Convention Center
2016 Los Angeles, California March 30-April 2, 2016 JW Marriott L.A. & Los Angeles Convention Center
[edit] Awards
AWP sponsors an annual competition for the publication of new book-length works. The Donald Hall Prize for Poetry is an award of $5,000 and publication. The Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction is an award of $5,000 and publication. Winners in the novel and creative nonfiction categories receive a $2,000 cash honorarium and publication. AWP hires a staff of “screeners” who review manuscripts for the judges, who select ten manuscripts in each genre for each judge’s final evaluations.[4]
AWP also sponsors the WC&C Scolarship Competition, which provides scholarships for emerging writers who wish to attend a writers’ conference, center, retreat, festival, or residency. The 2010 competition was judged by poet Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, and the award winners were Chidelia Edochie for fiction, and Dilruba Ahmed in poetry.
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes
- ^ Semansky, Chris: The Oregonian, Section D01, April 10, 2005
- ^ http://wordworksdc.blogspot.com/2009/02/word-works-at-awp-chicago.html
- ^ http://www.awpwriter.org/conference/
- ^ http://www.awpwriter.org/contests/series.htm
