PEN America at the 2023 AWP Conference and Bookfair

This March, PEN America is proud to be a part of the 2023 Annual AWP Conference and Bookfair, which is taking place from March 8-11 at the Convention Center in Seattle, Washington.

The AWP Conference and Bookfair is the annual destination for writers, teachers, students, editors, and publishers of contemporary creative writing. It includes thousands of attendees, hundreds of events and bookfair exhibitors, and four days of essential literary conversation and celebration.

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PEN America is thrilled to take part in this celebration of the literary community. Be sure to stop by Booth #927 to grab some swag and chat with staff! See below for the full schedule of events that we are participating in this year, as well as details about our featured event, PEN Presents: Kali Fajardo-Anstine and Leila Mottley.

Stop by Booth #927 for fun activities, swag, and to chat with our staff about the work PEN America does!

Event schedule

Those who can…TEACH, Sponsored by WITS Alliance
Participants: Peter Markus, Caits Meissner, Jessie Paddock
Rooms 335-336, Summit Building, Seattle Convention Center, Level 3
Friday, March 10, 2023
9:00 am to 10:15 am

PEN Presents: Kali Fajardo-Anstine and Leila Mottley
Participants: Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Leila Mottley, Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf
Ballroom 2 & 3, Summit Building, Seattle Convention Center, Level 5
Friday, March 10, 2023
10:35 am to 11:50 am

Through the Walls: Working Equitably with Incarcerated Writers
Participants: Arthur Longworth, Nicole Shawan Junior, Yukari Kane, Caits Meissner
Room 332, Summit Building, Seattle Convention Center, Level 3
Friday, March 10, 2023
3:20 pm to 4:35 pm

Evening Wind Down
Partners: Bookshop, PEN America,      The Word
999 3rd Avenue, Suite 700
Friday, March 10, 2023
4:30 pm to 6:30 pm

Stronger Together: Literary Coalitions for the Win
Participants: Jenn Dees, Jennifer D. Corley, Cati Porter, Hiram Sims, Phil Taggart
Terrace Suite I, Summit Building, Seattle Convention Center, Level 4
Saturday, March 11, 2023
10:35 am to 11:50 am

Black Thought Under Attack
Participants: Sabrina Adams, Cynthia Dillard, Fatima Shaik
Rooms 328-329, Summit Building, Seattle Convention Center, Level 3
Saturday, March 11, 2023
10:35 am to 11:50 am

First Impressions
Participants: Donica Bettanin, Yuka Igarashi, Crystal Hana Kim, Deesha Philyaw, Paul Reyes
Terrace Suite I, Summit Building, Seattle Convention Center, Level 4
Saturday, March 11, 2023
12:10 pm to 1:25 pm

Communities That Support Us: Fellowships, Workshops, and Residencies
Participants: Jenn Dees, Jared Jackson, A.L. Major, Jonah Wu
Rooms 445-446, Summit Building, Seattle Convention Center, Level 4
Saturday, March 11, 2023
3:20 pm to 4:35 pm

PEN Presents: Kali Fajardo-Anstine and Leila Mottley

Join us for a conversation featuring American Book Award winner Kali Fajardo-Anstine and Booker Prize nominee Leila Mottley moderated by Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, PEN America’s Chief Program Officer of Literary Programming.

In their debut novels, Fajardo-Anstine’s Woman of Light and Mottley’s Nightcrawling, both authors center the experience of teenage girls and womanhood while weaving complex and multifaceted stories of survival, testimony, and triumph. Together they will discuss writing about the communities they love and the people they call home, and characters navigating a life shaped by love, personal loss and small joys.

participants

Kali Fajardo-Anstine is the nationally bestselling author of the novel Woman of Light (One World, 2022) and the widely acclaimed short story collection Sabrina & Corina (One World, 2019). Her work has been nominated for the National Book Award, the PEN/Bingham Prize, the Clark Prize, the Story Prize, the Saroyan International Prize, and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. Fajardo-Anstine is the winner of a 2020 American Book Award and is the 2021 recipient of the Addison M. Metcalf Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She is the 2022 – 2024 Endowed Chair in Creative Writing at Texas State University.

Leila Mottley is the author of the novel Nightcrawling, an Oprah’s Book Club Pick and New York Times best seller. She is also the 2018 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate. She was born and raised in Oakland, where she continues to live.