Expect to see a lot more corduroy blazers and horn-rimmed glasses around town this week, as this year’s Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference & Bookfair is happening right here in Charm City.
Beginning Wednesday, March 4 and running through Saturday March 8, the annual homecoming for the country’s literati will bring thousands of poets and writers to the area for readings, panels, and a de facto city-wide literary festival. Though the official conference headquarters will be at the Baltimore Convention Center, venues all over town are getting in on the hype by hosting their own off-site book bashes.
If you’re out and about this week, chances are you’ll be stumbling into AWP-adjacent parties whether you plan to or not. But just in case you’d like to rub elbows with intentionality, we’ve put together a neighborhood-by-neighborhood roundup of some of the many events happening in celebration of the conference throughout the week—all of them free and open to the public.
Inner Harbor/Downtown
On Wednesday, get free entry to the National Aquarium to tour the Blue Wonders exhibit at 6:30 p.m., followed by a star-studded poetry reading featuring Victoria Chang, Denise Duhamel, and Patricia Smith. Thursday offers a pick of a female-forward, Lilith Fair-inspired “flash” readings (three minutes each) at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, as well as lit it-girl Carmen Maria Machado at a spooky, Poe-themed reading at the Lord Baltimore Hotel. The party rounds out on Friday with A Very Gay Literary Hour starting at 5 p.m. at Vinyl+Pages, as well as the Poets for Science Reading and Gathering at the Maryland Science Center at 5:30 p.m.
Fells Point, Upper Fells, and Highlandtown
The launch party for the new multi-genre anthology, Butterflies Over Land: Voices and Visions Resisting Anti-Immigrant Terror, pops off at Angie’s Seafood at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Meander Art Bar has a top-notch reading lined up every night of the conference, including Must Love Memoir on Thursday, Body of Work: Readings on the Physical Self on Friday, and Writer’s Best Friend: A Cat Reading on Saturday.
Also on Friday, Greedy Reads hosts the Split/Lip Press reading featuring nonfiction’s favorite kooky uncle Ander Monson and local essayist Katie Moulton, while Creative Alliance will host an exhibition opening for visual artist and writer Deborah Brown English, plus a panel discussion on balancing artistic practices at 7 p.m.
Mt. Vernon/Seton Hill
Start conference week off strong at Ash—Bar for “Letters and Libations” with Michael Ian Black, Mary Jo Bang, and more from 5:30-8 p.m. on Wednesday night. On Thursday, kick off an early happy hour with the debut reading of the Sage Creators Collective for women writers over 50 at Charm City Books at 4 p.m. Or check out the Wintergreen Women Writers collective—featuring African American stars Mahogany L. Brown, Carla Du Pree, and Pulitzer Prize-nominee Patricia Smith—at the Maryland Center for History and Culture at 5:30 p.m. Then, the highly respected Kibilio Reading Series brings five leading voices in the contemporary African American diaspora, including Maryland’s own Rion Almicarr Scott and Danielle Evans, to the Enoch Pratt Library at 7 p.m.
On Friday night at 6:30 p.m., the “Burning of the Books” event at Hotel Indigo’s Poe Room will feature renowned Ukrainian-born poet Ilya Kaminsky, among others, in a celebration of writers, artists, publishers, and curators who are committed to defending freedom of expression. Around the corner, a special edition of Baltimore’s longstanding HOT L Poets Series at Mt. Vernon Place (formerly United Methodist Church) kicks off at 7 p.m., featuring a special AWP lineup of visiting writers.
Station North
Metro Baltimore is home to the 13th annual Rock And Roll reading on Wednesday, in which 15 writers from across the country read work about or inspired by rock and roll, each for the length of a single song. Readings start at 6:30 p.m., to be followed by a set of a queer psychedelic pop by Baltimore’s Moth Broth at 8 p.m. Also on Wednesday, Baltimore drag artist The Workshop Prince will emcee an evening of burlesque, drag, and literary performance at The Club Car, featuring hometown favorites Rahne Alexander and Eze Jackson. Donations will be accepted at the door to benefit Trans Maryland.
Charles Village
On Thursday evening, stop into the If You’ve Got ‘Em gallery on Hargrove Street for a reading showcasing Baltimore writers Jane Lewty and Sylvia Jones, staged amidst an exhibit of 1,000 cigarette paintings by artist Nate Brown. On Saturday, start your evening at 2640 Space with eats from Blue Pit BBQ, readings from Hopkins Review contributors, and a silent auction benefitting Baltimore lit orgs. Then make your way to Bird in Hand, where best-selling author Rebecca Makkai is hosting a social for A-list writers. If you have any steam left, head back to 2640 Space for an AWP Wrap-Up Dance Party, which will be going strong until 10:30 p.m.
Waverly
Red Emma’s welcomes “Writers for Sudan” on Wednesday at 6 p.m., a fundraiser reading benefitting Sunduq al-Sudan and Decolonize Sudan. At Urban Reads at 7 p.m., Tameka Cage Conley will host the annual “Off the Chain” reading given by Cave Canem, the venerable organization committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of Black poets. Wrap up the festival on Saturday with a literary soiree at the Last Resort Artist Retreat from 8 p.m. until midnight.
South Baltimore
Lit mag nerds will unite at Thursday’s “Boathouse Extravaganza” at the Baltimore Rowing & Water Resource Center, co-hosted by a collective of top-tier lit pubs including AGNI, Georgia Review, Pleiades, and Prairie Schooner. You can also spend Thursday evening at Pickles Pub, where writers from six local publishers—The Baltimore Review, Yellow Arrow Publishing, Mason Jar Press, Washington Writer’s Publishing House, Akinoga Press, and Modern Arts Press—will convene for a reading and open mic.
On Friday, the American Visionary Art Museum hosts “Serious Poets, Playful Poems” with former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove, among other luminaries. Friday will also be ideal for a late lunch at Checkerspot Brewing Company, where Minnesota writers Danez Smith, Heid Erdrich, Gwen Kirby, and more will read work inspired by the Minnesota resistance at a special ICE OUT event. On Saturday, enjoy free beer and snacks at Old Major, where a reading-screening-dance party hosted by Blackbird, Brink, and TriQuarterly Review kicks off at 7 p.m.
Sowebo
Baltimore’s beloved CityLit Project hosts “Hard Times Require Furious Dancing” at MLK4 on Thursday night, featuring DJ Chris Brooks and The Jonathan Gilmore Project, plus light bites, a cash bar, and a photo booth. Meanwhile, writer-musicians are gathering at Black Cherry Puppet Theater for a five-act musical line-up starting at 7 p.m.
Beyond City Limits
If chill is your vibe, head to Monkton’s Manor Mill on Wednesday for a BYOB gathering celebrating “Writers on Writing in Charm City,” spotlighting local greats Madison Smartt Bell, Antje Rauwerda, Lia Purpura, Patrice Hutton, and Craig Bettenhausen. Or, get up early Thursday for “Poetry in the Woods” at Patapsco Valley State Park, where poets will hike the Soapstone Trail at 6:30 a.m., followed by a reading at the Soapstone trailhead at 8 a.m.
Not enough lit for you? A (mostly) complete listing of AWP offsite events is available via the AWP website.