Post AWP briefing

I've now had a day to recover from Vancouver. It was incredible. It'll be difficult to wrap my little brain around all of the info it has taken in within the past week. I imagine I'll be digesting for weeks.

The road trip itself was a big success. Great conversation with the MFAers from Montana who were kind enough to save me a seat in their caravan and save me some organic munchies. We were able to stay in Seattle on Tuesday night and visit the art museum the following morn. There was another few of us, excluding myself, who pumped quarters in a machine to look at naked ladies. I ate a sandwich with Stephen and Liz.

Thursday morning's panel went smoothly. I was nervous about it, but once we started things got easier. Nearly 40 people showed up, from my unofficial count, and the great Ander Monson from Diagram filled in for the absent Matt Henriksen. We had a lot to say, Jake York, Dan Albergotti, Adam Clay, Ander and I, and we even had to leave things unsaid. We had good questions from the crowd, and answered them satisfactorally.

I spent most of my time with Adam Clay and his girlfriend, Kim Phillips. They are great people and I really hope to get the chance to spend much more time with them in the near future. I feel like I clicked with them pretty quickly. We ate together a healthy handful of times, drank together, attended readings and panels together, went to the Vancouver Aquarium together and learned about dolphins, beluga whales, and sea urchins. Adam gave me his manuscript, The Wash. I read straight through on the ride back to Bozeman. If I had press, I wouldn't be crazy enough to pass up on it.

I didn't spend as much time with my Fairmont roomie, Anthony Robinson, as I had hoped. We did spend some quality hours in the room talking po-biz. And had a great night in a Thai restuarant eating about 5 plates of appetizers, again talking po-biz, women, and food. I'd like another crack at the man--surely as future famous poets, our paths will intermingle.

The highlight for me was the Fence/Verse/Swink reading Friday night. Joe Wenderoth and Matt Zapruder sang a few songs together: Merle Haggard and Hank Williams Jr most notably. Wenderoth read a terrific poem--pulled off the word "poopy" most beautifully. Lots of drinking that night, and on an empty stomach.

People I was lucky enough to meet/conversate with (in no particular order):
Anthony Robinson, Matthew Zapruder, Lori Shine, Josh Beckman, Brian Teare, Joshua Corey, Joe Wenderoth, Adam Clay, Kim Dennis, Brandon Shimoda, Stephen Cromrine, Jill Beauchesne, Keisha Lewellyn, Walker Hunter, Greta Van Susteren (can't remember her actual last name--my sincerest apologies to Greta, who I shared a booth, a beer, and good conversation with at Malones for a while), George Washington Carver, Dan Machlin, Matvei Yankelevich, Anna Moschovakis, Joyelle McSweeney (not enough time spent with Joyelle--though she might be someone I would always feel that way about), Alex Lemon, Ander Monson, Jake Adam York, Dan Albergotti, Chris Deweese, Richard Greenfield, Hilda Raz, Grace Bauer, Kevin Larimer, Cate Marvin, Craig Morgan Teicher, Karen Craigo, Charles Jensen. And there are, I'm sure, much more with names that escape me.

Things I came home with:
Adam Clay's manuscript The Wash, The Book of Funnels by Christian Hawley, The External Combustion Engine by Michael Ives, The Making of a Matriot by Frances Payne Adler, The Owning Stone by Jim Peterson, The Opening Question by Prageeta Sharma, The Commandarine and Other Poems by Joyelle McSweeney (signed), Your Time Has Come by Joshua Beckman (signed), The Future or Optimism, an Epic by Anna Moschovakis (signed), The Present Work by Matvei Yankelevich (signed), The Unpublished Writers issue of Mid American Review, The Pines Volume 1 by Brandon Shimoda and Phil Cordelli (signed), a trolley car magnet that says Vancouver on it.

When I came home, I shaved my beard off.

Here are some selected pictures: