Erika Dreifus

In case you haven’t yet heard, the upcoming Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference, slated for the end of the month in New York, is now utterly and completely sold out. This is the seventh AWP I’ll be attending, and this has never happened before. (Nor have the other conferences anticipated as many as 7,000 attendees.) I’m lucky that I’ve already registered, but I have to say the idea the idea of finding a seat at any given panel or reading–when 7,000 other people will be doing the same–is a bit daunting.

I know that more than a few people had planned to buy their passes on-site. Now that that’s no longer an option, I’ll try to provide some alternative literary activities–taking place elsewhere in Manhattan–for their benefit. Look for a list-in-progress to be posted here tomorrow.

And everyone–those who’ll be in town but will be sans registration badges and those who hadn’t planned to attend in the first place–can get a glimpse into the goings-on. I’ll be blogging about the conference while it unfolds over at The Writer magazine’s Web site. Stay tuned for more info. on that, too.

Yes, it happens–I make mistakes! The Other Words conference dates. The 2008 “Other Words” conference in Tallahassee is not slated for January 25-27 (as you may have read in our newsletter). According to this announcement, it’s going to take place February 7-9. Apologies for any confusion!

It’s officially winter here in New York, which means that for a lot of practicing writers it’s time to start thinking ahead–to summer writing conferences.

Sometimes it can be hard to cut through the marketing copy and get a sense of what a given conference experience might really be like. That’s why I’m especially impressed by one recent discovery, concerning Summer Fishtrap (its hosting organization, Fishtrap, Inc., is dedicated to “promoting clear thinking and good writing in and about the [American] West”).

Rather than simply broadcasting testimonials from previous conferencegoers or praising itself to the skies, Summer Fishtrap has posted a letter responding to its 2007 conferees’ evaluations. Check it out.

I like a conference (or any writing organization/program) that admits to what may not have worked so well and talks about how it might improve even as it touts its strengths. I think this letter gives prospective participants a good glimpse into what they might expect–from meals to readings–should they attend.

(Look for a reference to Summer Fishtrap’s Fellowship program in our next newsletter–to be e-mailed to subscribers tomorrow!)

So last summer the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) rejected the panel proposal I helped organize. That doesn’t mean I’m not interested in the newly-posted conference schedule. If you’re contemplating attending the conference (which will be held in New York City at the end of January/beginning of February 2008), you’ll want to take a look at it, too.