Sunday, April 11, 2010

AWP 2010 Highlights

Erin Elizabeth Smith, Gina Myers, Sandy Longhorn, Dana Sonnenschien, Jake Adam York, Simmons Buntin, Mary Biddinger, Jay Robinson, Alison Hawthorne Deming, Rigoberto Gonzalez, Emma Trelles, Francisco Aragon, Maria Melendez, Margo Berdeshevsky, Kyle Semmel, Janel Carpenter, Blas Falconer, Reb Livingston, Deborah Poe, Randall Horton, Ravi Shankar, Ana Bozicevic, M. Scott Douglass, Deb Ager, C. Dale Young, Peter Murphy, Doug Goetsch, Max & Kate Greenstreet, Steven Schroeder, Brent Goodman, Stacey Lynn Brown, Steve Fellner, Sheryl Luna, Richard Siken, Brian Turner, Charlie Jensen (!).

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Sandy Longhorn is fabulous and sweet, I enjoyed our dinner together and attending the Diode/Makeout Creek reading with her. The reading rocked. Mary B. read! Not only is she a great reader she has great clothes. Mary is also fabulous and sweet. And by the way did you pick up your copy of Barn Owl Review 3 yet? Beautiful, beautiful journal. I'm so pleased to have a poem in this issue.
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I was loopy for most of the conference. The altitude did not agree with me. I am very grateful for my awesome roommate, Dana, who was kind enough to keep from walking into traffic, not once, not twice, yes, several times on the second day. Denver you're a beautiful and dangerous city. As well as eerily clean.

If you met me and I seemed high it's because I was high. High on the rarefied Denver air. Crazy.
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The book fair was so well organized! It was all on one floor, the map key made sense, and there was plenty of room between aisles. Good on ya, AWP organizers.

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The Terrain/Hawk & Handsaw reading rocked. The Tivoli room at UC Denver is beautiful, the whole campus is beautiful. I'm a fan of Alison Hawthorne Deming and it was pretty cool to be reading with her. She's an awesome person in addition to an amazing writer.

It was SO good to see Simmons again! I can't wait to read his next book, Bloom, which is coming out from Salmon this fall. The thing is, whenever I see him I tend to get a strong desire to also see his landscape in Arizona. I hope I can somehow read out there someday. On the way back from the reading to the hotel all the environmental lit writers spied a fox. I suspect there will be a lot of fox in Denver poems written, but I don't know for sure.
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"OMG Charlie Jensen!" Suzanne Frischkorn upon seeing Charlie Jensen in the Hyatt Lobby.

We ran into each others arms. Yes, we did. All that was missing was a field of wild flowers. I love Charlie and always love spending time with him.

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Did I mention that the staff at The Writer's Center, Kyle Semmel & Jenel Carpenter are awesome and amazing and kind, and sweet and generous, and have a permanent place in my heart? They are and they do.

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I signed books with Steve Fellner. He's so nice. And he thinks I smell nice. I'm looking forward to reading his memoir.
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The Con Tinta gathering was great. Rigoberto is so gracious and handsome and always impeccably dressed. I was so happy to see him and chat with him. I'm in the middle of his powerful memoir, Butterfly Boy. Did I mention he's one of my favorite writers ever? I also caught up with Blas Falconer who always makes me laugh and laugh and laugh. I adore him too. It was packed, there were many amazing poets & writers gathered there, if the altitude hadn't already made me loopy I would have found it intoxicating. I missed Eduardo.
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It was great catching up with Francisco Aragon and meeting Emma Trelles in person at last. The best news I had in Denver was that she won the Andres Montoya Prize!
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I walked the book fair with those handsome fellows Steve Schroeder & Brent Goodman. I met my publisher and his amazing wife. I met people I had only read before. I met people I already knew. I met bloggers. I traded a ton of books. I even sold a few. I will list them soon.

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I think my ambition to work with youth at risk might be realized. I kept meeting people at panels and even on line for coffee who would be able and willing to share their knowledge for that path. I'm excited. I've decided that these serendipitous meetings are sign that it's the right path for me.

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I wish I had some snarky gossip for you, but the truth is everyone I ran into either for a chat on a lawn, or a talk over coffee, even for a quick hello again, or a nice to meet you, was nice and friendly. I had some wonderful conversations.
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Today I have to find a remedy for my blisters, catch up with my mail, and head down to Cornelia Street for a reading. How jet-setting!



8 comments:

Anne Haines said...

So glad you had a great time! It really is possible to have a snark-free, drama-free AWP. I keep telling people this and they don't believe me. ;) Wish I could have been there - maybe next year!

Patricia Lockwood said...

I always get loopy in Colorado. I saw so many AWP hangover updates yesterday, and it finally occurred to me, oh man, the altitude! I bet a few people didn't realize that you get drunk a lot faster on top of a mountain.

Radish King said...

Suzanne everyone was nice because you are lovely and gracious.
xo

Wendy Wisner said...

Sounds lovely! Hope to make it one of these years. I can't believe I missed the NYC one, but I had a newborn and just couldn't figure it out. Loser!

Mari said...

I'm happy to hear that you had a positive experience in Denver. I'm sorry I had to miss it this year (secretly or not so secretly, I'm waiting for AWP to host a conference on the west coast -- what's up with that?!). As for working with youth at risk, it's a necessary and rewarding path and there's so much need. I think you'd be great, from what I've gathered about you on FB. Thanks for the AWP skinny!

Sandy Longhorn said...

You are so sweet, Suzanne. Thanks for the mention, and especially thanks for helping me launch AWP 2010 with that fabulous dinner on Wednesday night...loopy and all.

Matthew Thorburn said...

Sounds so great, Suzanne. I'm making plans already (mentally, at least) to be at AWP in DC next year. Hope your reading yesterday was equally great. Maybe I will see you at the Emily D. reading!

Francisco Aragón said...

It was nice catching up with you too, Suzanne. I, too, am looking forward to TROPICALIA (University of Notre Dame Press, 2011) by Emma Trelles !