AWP16 War Writing Preview

The Association of Writers and Writing Program conference—AWP for short–is the year’s largest gathering of literary fiction, non-fiction, memoir, and poetry authors; small and big publishing house managers and editors; MFA program directors and students; and writing acolytes of unaffiliated stripe. This year’s AWP is in Los Angeles this coming Thursday through Saturday, March 31-April 2. Among the several hundred offerings are at least 11 events focused on writing about war or featuring authors of prominent war literature works. I’m fortunate to be part of two of them, and I’m excited about attending as many of the others as I can. Below I’ve listed the events featuring war writing  of which I am aware and include links to as many authors’ (war-writers and those on panels with war-writers) webpages as I could find. Let me know if you spot any mistakes, omissions, or changes from the official program.

1. Iraq Veteran-Writers 10 Years Later: Words After Words After War. Peter Molin, Colby Buzzell, Kayla Williams, Maurice DeCaul, Ron Capps. 
Thursday 1:30pm. Room 408 A, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level.

2. The National Book Critics Circle Celebrates Award-Winning Authors Phil Klay, Héctor Tobar, and Amy Wilentz. 
Thursday 3:00pm. Petree Hall, LA Convention Center, Exhibit Hall Level One.

3. Blood and Water: Poets Pouring into Nonfiction. Laura McCullough, Benjamin Busch, Kelle Groom, Michael Klein.
 Thursday 4:30pm. Room 407, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level.

4. Unsung Epics: Women Veterans’ Voices
. Lauren Halloran, Vicki Hudson, Mary Doyle, Mariette Kalinowski, Jerri Bell. Friday 12:00pm. Room 407, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level.

5. Beyond Combat: Nontraditional War Stories. Lauren Halloran, Olivia Kate Cerrone, Qais Akbar Omar, Mariette Kalinowski, Elana Bell.
 Friday 4:30pm. Room 506, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level.

6. Veteran Poetry Reading. Jeb Herrin, Karen Skolfield, Vicki Hudson, Soul Vang.
 Saturday 9:30am. Room 513, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level.

7. Equal Voices: Evolution of the Modern War Memoir. Adrian Bonenberger, Kayla Williams, Brian Castner, Angela Ricketts. 
Saturday 10:30am. Diamond Salon 6&7, JW Marriott LA, Third Floor.

8. Women Soldiers and Veterans Writing Their Lives. Sonya Lea, Warren Etheredge, Suzanne Morrison, Maggie Shartel, Kelly Dickinson. Saturday 12:00pm. Room 512, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level.

9.  Helping:  A Tribute to Robert Stone.  Marlon James, Roxana Robinson, David Ulin. Saturday 12:00pm. Diamond Salon 6 &7, JW Marriott LA.

10. New Directions in Contemporary War Fiction. Peter Molin, Matt Gallagher, Andria Williams, Jesse Goolsby.
 Saturday 1:30pm. Room 510, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level.

11. Inheriting the War Anthology Reading: Poetry and Prose by Descendants of Vietnam Veterans and Refugees. Cathy Linh Che, Philip Metres, Laren McClung, Monica Sok.
 Saturday 3:00pm. AWP Bookfair Stage, LA Convention Center, Exhibit Hall Level One.

12. Peter Ho Davies, Joyce Carol Oates, and Roxana Robinson: A Reading and Conversation. Sponsored by the Author’s Guild, Ecco, and Kundiman. Saturday 8:30pm. Concourse Hall, LA Convention Center, Exhibit Hall Level One.