Comments on: Didn’t-go-to-the-AWP blues…

By: KateBB

KateBB — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:30:10 +0000

Couldn’t walk there due to sciatica flare-up
Couldn’t afford the bus fair
Felt fat
Lost my voice
Scared I’d be a “wallflower at the orgy”
Scared period
Don’t really “get” it
Am a nonacademic snob
Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded

By: Collin Kelley

Collin Kelley — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:53:51 +0000

Hi Alicia,
I also didn’t go to AWP, and here’s why:
*Couldn’t afford it.
*To much po’biz makes me want to stop vomit
*Couldn’t afford it.
*I’m definitely going to Chicago in 09, so saving my money
*Couldn’t afford it.
Hope all is well in Greece. We miss you in Atlanta.
CK

By: Anna

Anna — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 01:56:12 +0000

I really wanted to be there too. I had just graduated with my MFA from the low-residency MFA Program at Bennington, and a bunch of my classmates were going. Unfortunately, having just returned to my young children after a ten day absence, there was no way they were going to understand another poetry-related disappearance by Mom so soon. I’m fairly sure this outlook on life DOES make me an outsider. I love the Dickinson and Marianne Moore quotes in your list.

By: dwayne

dwayne — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 15:47:29 +0000

Interesting list. Let me think:
My son was just born and hearing him coo seemed more important than poetry.
I had no money.
Meeting a lot of successful poets makes me envious.
I dislike feeling envious.
I was trying to write a poem and be a successful poet.
No one is ever as nice as they are at conferences.
I figured someone would find out I’m not as nice as I am at conferences.
AWP seems to be filled with lots of reallty smart people.
To be smart and a poet seems unfair.
To be smart and talk about poetry in a way my grandmother doesn’t care about seems a waste.
I’m working on being smart enough to waste weekends talking about poetry.
I’m an undergraduate student and professors don’t take AWP as an excused absence.
I would wanted to drop out of school to be a successful poet.
Timberlands don’t seem proper AWP attire.
I love Timberlands.
There was not a panel on Why Poetry Loses Its Relevance to My Grandma Each Year.
That list was fun to do.

By: jane

jane — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 14:48:42 +0000

I wish I could say I was in Greece!
I went for three years because my employer asked that I do so, to “represent the program.” I found lots to like — mostly seeing friends, and even making new ones, and some folks actually are at their best in a hotel bar. Conversely, the whole affair is largely (not uniformly) anti-intellectual, and I find that too depressing to want to dip my head into all that much. It’s a bit of a support group for latter day “beautiful souls.” I’m sure I’ll go back some day to catch up with farflung pals.