It seems like AWP tries to shove a year of literary events into half a week, but that's probably an underestimation. We've compiled this list of events we would love to attend if we could be in two (or three, or four) places at once, and to be honest, I don't think we've even scratched the surface.
Wednesday, March 30
When: Wednesday, March 30, 4:00 pm
What: Hello Los Angeles: An AWP Kickoff Party
Where: barcito, 403 W 12th St
Distance from the convention center: seven-minute walk
What: Hosted by LITFOLKS to Benefit 826LA, featuring Melissa Chadburn, Antonia Crane, Anna March, Ashley Perez, Laura Warrell, Luis Alberto Urrea, Michael White, Robin Black, Desiree Cooper, Fabienne Josaphat, Bethanne Patrick, Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Teka Lark, Dan Smetanka, and J Ryan Stradal
Price: Suggested $10 donation to support 826LA
The scoop: readings / cocktail party / free snacks / cash bar
When: Wednesday, March 30, 6:00 pm
What: Coiled Serpent Publication Reading
Where: Ace Hotel Dowtown Los Angeles, 929 S Broadway
Distance from the convention center: fifteen-minute walk
What: LA’s poet laureate Luis Rodriguez hosts this poetry reading of poets “arising from the cultural quakes and shifts of Los Angeles”
Price: $5 donation
The scoop: excellent poetry / swanky locale
When: Wednesday, March 30, 6:30 pm
What: Cave Canem’s 20th Anniversary Benefit Reception and Reading
Where: Elysian, 2806 Clearwater St
Distance from the convention center: ten- to twenty-minute drive
What: Twenty Cave Canem fellows read original verse at four-minute intervals after a ticketed VIP reception hosted by Claudia Rankine and Robin Coste Lewis
Price: VIP $100; reading $10
The scoop: fork over the cash and make small talk with Claudia Rankine and Robin Coste Lewis
When: Wednesday, March 30, 7:00 pm
What: Passion: An LGBT Caucus Reading
Where: Avenue 50 Studio, 131 N Avenue 50
Distance from the convention center: ten- to twenty-minute drive
What: The AWP LGBTQ Caucus hosts a reading featuring a dozen or so writers, including Tara Burke, Yana Calou, Fernando D. Castro, and Elliot DeLine
Price: $5 donation
The scoop: open reading following featured writers / byob / snacks
When: Wednesday, March 30, 7:00 pm
What: Poetry by the Pool
Where: Ace Hotel, 929 S Broadway
Distance from the convention center: fifteen-minute walk
What: The Iowa Review hosts John Freeman, Jessica Laser, Mark Levine, Monica McLure, Dora Malech, Kiki Petrosino, Robyn Schiff, Amber Tamblyn, Wendy Walters, Joshua Wheeler, and Elizabeth Willis reading poetry by the pool
Price: FREE
The scoop: cash bar / can we go swimming?
When: Wednesday, March 30, 7:30 pm
What: Small Beer 15th Annive-Reading-sary Party
Where: The Last Bookstore, 453 S Spring St
Distance from the convention center: five- to ten-minute drive
What: Celebrate fifteen years of Small Beer Press with cofounder Kelly Link, plus Sofia Samatar, Maureen F. McHugh, and Karen Joy Fowler
Price: FREE
The scoop: reading at a bookstore
Thursday, March 31
When: Thursday, March 31, 4:00 pm
What: Les Femmes D’un Certain Age
Where: The Last Bookstore, 453 S Spring St
Distance from the convention center: five- to ten-minute drive
What: Big attitudes and brief readings of poetry and prose by Alice Anderson, Sherrie Flick, Constance Ford, Sonya Huber, Stacey Parshall Jensen, Laura Orem, Sophfronia Scott, and Zoe Zolbrod
Price: FREE
The scoop: we love ladies w/ attitude
When: Thursday, March 31, 5:30 pm
What: The Lulu Awards
Where: The Palm Restaurant, 1100 S Flower St
Distance from the convention center: five-minute walk
What: The Lulus recognize writers and organizations who actively support racial, gender and class justice. Featured authors include Garth Greenwell, Saeed Jones, and Wendy C. Ortiz
Price: $10
The scoop: cash bar / “extravagant complimentary hors d’oeuvres” / silent auction
When: Thursday, March 31, 7:00 pm
What: The Rockstar Storytellers Do LA
Where: Blank Spaces, 4th Floor, 529 S Broadway
Distance from the convention center: five- to ten-minute drive
What: The Rockstar Storytellers are a Minneapolis collective of best-selling solo performers from a variety of disciplines: spoken word, stand-up, slam poetry, improv, creative non-fiction, sketch comedy, playwriting, and more
Price: $15
The scoop: consider this praise from Minneapolis City page, “…polished, radio-style storytelling, dripping with coffee-and-cigarette-soaked hipster irony...promises to not just twiddle your emotional dial, but to take a monkey wrench to your presuppositions about what storytelling should be"
When: Thursday, March 31, 7:00 pm
What: LAwp! Free Drinks + No Readings
Where: Monty Bar, 1222 W 7th St
Distance from the convention center: thirteen-minute walk
What: A cocktail party hosted by Tumblr, Catapult, Unnamed Press, Writing Workshops Los Angeles, and Nouvella Books
Price: FREE
The scoop: get there on time and drink, drink, drink
When: Thursday, March 31, 7:00 pm
What: Against White Privilege: Writers of Color, LGBTQ, and Disabled Writers Respond to AWP
Where: The Falls Lounge, 626 S Spring St
Distance from the convention center: five- to ten-minute drive
What: Poets & Allies for Resistance host fifteen nationally published poets who will be responding to AWP’s consistent lack of diversity
Price: Free
The scoop: a must see
When: Thursday, March 31, 7:00 pm
What: Crossing the Line: Genre-Curious Readings
Where: Wolf and Crane Bar, 366 E 2nd St
Distance from the convention center: ten-minute drive
What: The Cupboard Pamphlet joins with Rose Metal Press & DIAGRAM/New Michigan Press for an evening of hybrid literature, featuring readings from Lily Hoang, Maya Sonenberg, Theodora Ziolkowski, Courtney Maum, Nicelle Davis, Rosie Forrest, Anthony Michael Morena,
Colleen O'Brien, Nik De Dominic, and Nicole Walker
The scoop: reading at a bar
Friday, April 1
When: Friday, April 1, 6:00 pm
What: 826 National and Curbside Splendor Present: SCHOOLED
Where: 826LA Echo Park, 1714 W Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles
Distance from the convention center: ten- to fifteen-minute drive
What: An early evening of drinks and mortifying high school memories from Mairead Case, T. Sean Steele, Chris L. Terry, and Zoe Zolbrod
Price: Suggested $5 donation to support 826LA
The scoop: funny readings / free drinks
When: Friday, April 1, 7:00 pm
What: Literary Death Match
Where: The Theatre at Ace Hotel, 929 S Broadway
Distance from the convention center: fifteen-minute walk
What: Four writers read their own work for seven minutes or less, and are then judged by three all-star judges. Two finalists are chosen to compete in the Literary Death Match finale, a vaguely-literary game to decide the ultimate winner. Featuring Amber Tamblyn, Lena Waithe, Danez Smith, Brad Listi, Melissa Broder, and more
Price: Suggested $20/30 donation
The scoop: all star cast / rumored after party
When: Friday April 1, 7:00 pm
What: The Rumpus and Rare Bird Present PICK YOUR POISON
Where: Lethal Amounts, 1226 W 7th St
Distance from the convention center: thirteen-minute walk
With readings from Cornelius Eady, Rich Ferguson, Ashley C. Ford, Erika Krouse, Anna March, and J. Ryan Stradal. Hosted by Antonia Crane.
Price: $5
The scoop: two + hours of readings / cash bar
When: Friday, April 1, 8:00 pm
What: Two Dollar Radio / CCM / Entropy / Action Books / Writ Large #AWP16 Reading
Where: These Days Gallery, 118 Winston Pl
Distance from the convention center: ten-minute drive / thirty-minute walk
What: Readings by Mark de Silva, Colin Winnette, Janice Lee, Sean H. Doyle, Dolan Morgan, Ashley Farmer, Alexandra Naughton, Johannes Göransson, Don Mee Choi, Yideum Kim, Valerie Mejer, Wendy C. Ortiz,Rachel McLeod Kaminer, Traci Akemi Kato-Kiriyama, Ashaki M. Jackson, and more
Price: FREE
The scoop: a full night of readings / raffle / cash bar
When: Friday, April 1, 9:00 pm
What: Kundiman and Kaya Present Literaoke
Where: Echoes Under Sunset, 1310 Glendale Blvd
Distance from the convention center: ten- to fifteen-minute drive
What: Enticingly deadly combination of readings and karaoke by Kundiman and Kaya Press writers, including Leticia Hernandez, Vidhu Aggarwal, Kenji Liu, Javier Zamora, Timothy Yu, and many more
The scoop: we can’t decide if this will be fun or awful / let’s go with fun
Saturday, April 2
When: Saturday, April 2, 6:00 pm
What: YES FEMMES
Where: Human Resources, 410 Cottage Home St
Distance from the convention center: ten-minute drive
What: Birds of Lace & Institute for Flying present a series of readings and performances which includes work that explores the limits of the body, aims toward transformation, seeks plants and animals as models or collaborators, expresses saturated or hysterical emotion, embraces femme aesthetics, and moves toward the horizon of queerness (after José Muñoz)
Price: FREE
The scoop: yas queen! / after party
When: Saturday, April 2, 7:30 pm
What: Books & Booze
Where: Los Angeles Center of Photography, 1515 Wilcox Ave
Distance from the convention center: fifteen- to thirty-minute drive
What: Alternating Current hosts readings by Sunil Yapa, Matt Bell, Eric Shonkwiler, Will Chancellor, Kathy Fish, and many more
The scoop: cheap drinks / free snacks
When: Saturday, April 2, 8:00 pm
What: The Lit/Comedy Roundtable: AWP/LA Edition
Where: iO West, 6366 Hollywood Blvd
Distance from the convention center: fifteen- to thirty-minute drive
What: Curbside Splendor hosts Dave Reidy’s Lit/Comedy Roundtable: LA Edition, a moderated panel discussion exploring how (or if?) literature and comedy inform each other. Featuring Brad Listi, Kate Lambert, Anthony King, Khanisha Foster, Owen Smith, and Jack P. Moore
Price: FREE
The scoop: funny lit people chatting / cash bar
When: Saturday, April 2, 8:00 pm
What: Riverhead Books and Graywolf Press Present AWP Offsite Party
Where: The Last Bookstore, 453 S Spring St
Distance from the convention center: five- to ten-minute drive
What: After days of literary lectures and debates, enjoy drinks and conversation with your fellow conference-goers courtesty of Riverhead Books and Graywolf Press
Price: FREE
The scoop: celebrate the end of AWP by celebrating AWP / complimentary drinks only assumed