This week is a busy time for Kansas City. The city’s football team is preparing to go head-to-head against the 49ers in an exciting Super Bowl rematch, while Downtown Kansas City is gearing up to host the 2024 AWP Conference & Bookfair.
The AWP (Association of Writers and Writers Program) Conference & Bookfair is an annual event that brings together thousands of creative writers from all backgrounds to connect and celebrate the writing community. And this year, it’s all happening right here in Kansas City.
The Defender spoke with Kansas City’s inaugural Poet Laureate Melissa Ferrer-Civil about the city hosting this huge event and what to expect as thousands of writers from all over the world congregate in Kansas City.
“This week our city will be visited by writers from all over the nation, and in fact from all over the world.“
They explained.
“You may not know who they are but they will be among us, taking in everything our city has to offer.”
The AWP Conference & Bookfair will be held downtown at the Kansas City Convention Center from Feb 7 to Feb 10.
While the in-person registration comes with a steep price tag of $385 (which increases to $540 if you’re buying at the conference), the event is jam-packed with literary scholars, authors, poets, educators and more.
Information about in-person registration can be found here.
For those who are interested in attending and supporting Black writers, but prefer not to pay the cost of a car payment, we’ve got you covered.
The Kansas City Defender has put together a list of off-site events (many of which are free) featuring Black writers. These off-site events are typically readings (and performances) that are organized by the creative writers themselves and held at various local Kansas City spots.
So whether you’re a creative writer, a supporter of Black writers, or simply someone who loves all things literary, the off-site events for the AWP Conference is where you want to be.
Wednesday, Feb 7
Transas City
a night of poetics + performances from trans+ and gender nonconforming artists from Kansas City, Missouri
5:00 pm at Turnsol Books
Featured Black writer(s): rae atakpa, Jade Green, Ms. Korea Cavalli, hadiza, Stephonne, Erika Sakata
Click here to RSVP
Wednesday Night Poetry (WNP) @ Charlotte Street
the longest-running consecutive weekly open mic series
6:30 pm at Stern Theater at Charlotte Street
Featured Black writer(s): This is an open mic featuring several poets and welcomes those interested in performing
Sign-up to read one poem at WNP
Reading at the Hearth
an ekphrasis poetry collaboration
7:00 pm at Pembroke High School (Patterson Hall)
Featured Black writer(s): Jermaine Thompson
A Very Queer BIPOC Reading
Hosted by Texas Indie Literary Organizations
7:00 pm at Nighthawk
Featured Black writer(s): KB Brookins, m. mick powell, Monica Prince
Click here to RSVP
Thursday, Feb 8
JackLeg Women Writers
& Another Chicago Magazine
12:00 pm at Kansas City Public Library: Central Library
Featured Black writer(s): Taylor Byas, PhD,
Click here to RSVP
Mardi Gras in Exile
A Louisiana Regional Off-site Reading
5:00 pm at Oak & Steel
Featured Black writer(s): Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Karisma Price, Annell López
Click here to RSVP
ANIE (A Nation In Exile) Presents Heartwood Narratives
A profound journey into the Black femme experience
5:00pm at 21c Museum
Featured Black writer(s): Melissa Ferrer Civil, Natasha Ria El Scari, Courtney Faye Taylor, Rae Atakpa, Maya William
Click here to RSVP
Words and Wine
WTAW Press and Willow Springs
5:30 pm at The Pairing Crossroads Wine and Grocer
Featured Black writer(s): Azaria Brown
Cash bar will be available
Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon
Off-site Poetry Reading
6:00 pm at Natasha Ria Art Gallery, Center for Spiritual Living
Featured Black writer(s): Cynthia Manick, Anastacia-Reneé, Natasha Ria El-Scari, Dr. Natalie J. Graham, Reagan E.J. Jackson
Click here to RSVP
Lit Up at The Bird
Hosted by Pleiades, The Adroit Journal, the American Poetry Review, and The Kenyon Review
7:00 pm at The Bird Comedy Theatre
Featured Black writer(s): Melissa Beneche, Tyree Daye, Danez Smith, Courtney Faye Taylor
Friday, Feb 9
Softspeak
A poetry reading (ASMR-style reading)
1:00 pm at PT’s Coffee – Crossroads
Featured Black writer(s): KB Brookins, jason b. crawford,
This event requires mask-wearing
Poets & Writers Get the Word Out Reading
a publicity incubator for early career authors
5:00 pm at The Bird Comedy Theatre
Featured Black writer(s): Olatunde Osinaike
Chicago Poets in KC!
a showcase of Chicago poets in Kansas City
7:30 pm at BLK + BRWN
Featured Black writer(s): Taylor Byas, KenYatta Rogers, Angelique Zobitz
Click here to RSVP
Poems You Need Reading
recently featured and soon-to-be featured poets
7:30 pm at PH Coffee
Featured Black writer(s): January Gill O’Neil, Patricia Spears Jones
PoemoftheWeek PRESENTS!
A Most EXTRAORDINARY Lineup of Poets!
8:00 pm at Oak & Steel KC
Featured Black writer(s): Aaron Coleman, Faylita Hicks, Darrel Alejandro Holnes, Major Jackson
Click here to RSVP
Saturday, Feb 10
The Ship Reading
Eight(ish) readers, five minutes each
3:00 pm at The Ship
Featured Black writer(s): KenYatta Rogers, Maurice Carlos Ruffin
The Texas Review, Texas Review Press, Gulf Coast Journal, Bat City Review
East Texas mainstays’ latest ventures in publishing fresh and vital voices
7:00 pm at Stray Cat Film Center
Featured Black writer(s): Said Shaiye, Angelique Zobitz
MOTHERSHIP: A Reading
Close out the week at Nighthawk
9:00 pm at Nighthawk
Featured Black writer(s): A. H. Jerriod Avant, Dāshaun Washington
Bonus Event: Wednesday Feb, 7
In solidarity with Paelstine, Kansas City Defender would also like to highlight a collaboration between Poetic Underground KC and Spotlight Poetry (Las Vegas) as they host a poetry slam featuring poems of peace and protest to support the community organization Al-Hadaf. Al-Hadaf is a Palestinian-led organization dedicated to centering liberation of Palestine through community engagement. Details about the event are listed below.
Poems of Peace and Protest Poetry Slam
a one of a kind poetry slam
7:30 pm at Blip Roasters
The event will include special readings from Alaina Noelle, Elle Hope, and Randii Laneke.
$5.00 admission (all proceeds will go to Al-Hadaf KC)
Sign-up list opens at 7:30 p.m. Show starts at 8:00 p.m.
If you are not able to make the conference or any off-site events, we encourage you to support A Nation In Exile (ANIE), a Kansas City arts and organizing event series that brings together local artists and artists from around the world to perform in Kansas City. Supporters can donate to ANIE’s crowdfunding campaign here. Proceeds from the campaign will be used to compensate Black femme writers. Melissa explains the campaign as “an honest and fair honorarium that honors the work they do for us on and off the stage.”
To learn more about ANIE, please visit their website.
For more information on AWP and their annual conference and bookfair, please visit their website.
