As #AWP26 approaches, the energy is already building. Whether you’re joining the conference in Baltimore or tuning in virtually from home, this year’s lineup is overflowing with opportunities to connect, learn, and celebrate the literary community. From powerhouse off?site readings to bookfair signings and panels designed to spark new ideas, AWP always feels like a reunion of creative minds—and 2026 is shaping up to be no exception.

I’m especially excited to share a few events I’m personally involved in, along with my schedule picks for poets and booths in the bookfair you won’t want to miss. If you’ll be in Baltimore, below is where you can find me to come say hello!

Wednesday Night Poetry Open Mic at The Creative Alliance

An exceptional way to kick off AWP is with this off site event organized by Kai Coggin of Wednesday Night Poetry in conjunction with Creative Alliance and sponsored in-kind by Google for Education. The lineup is amazing as always, including Meg Day, Traci Brimhall, Allison Blevins, Dustin Brookshire, and many, many more! I hope you’ll join us at the Historic Patterson Theater at The Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Avenue from 5:30-10:30pm. I’ll be reading during the second half.

Bookfair Book Signing

I’ll be signing copies of A Godless Ascends at the Asterism booth (#1266) in the bookfair on Friday from 3pm – 4pm, so come say hello!

Contact me here if you’d like to purchase a signed copy now–I’m running a spring special for the second birthday of my book, coming up on Spring Equinox on March 20, with free shipping and a free bookmark!

Launch Your Dream: Get That Lit Org Off the Ground

Join me and other panelists Michael Khandelwal, Joel Lesses, Phil Memmer for this informative, community building panel, moderated by Karen Schubert.

Every literary arts organization begins with an idea. We know what we know. But how to learn the rest? Large and small, new and longtime organization founders will talk about how they conceptualized their initiative, what they didn’t know they didn’t know, and how collaboration and community shaped their literary center along the way.

My poetry picks for AWP 2026 (in person)

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Wednesday Night Poetry Open Mic at The Creative Alliance

• Time: 5:30 PM–10:30 PM EST
• Location: The Historic Patterson Theater at The Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21224
• Cost: Free
• Doors open at 5:30pm for socializing and community.
• Open Mic: One poem per poet, 3–4 min, any theme.
• Poets will read from 6:30–10:30pm.
• Organized by Kai Coggin.
• Sponsored in-kind by Google for Education.
• Registration required to read.

Thursday, March 5, 2026

The Lyric ‘We’

• Time: 9:00 AM–10:15 AM EST
• Location: Room 308, Level 300
• Session Code: T110

Poets Duel with AI: LLMs vs. Poets

• Time: 10:35 AM–11:50 AM EST
• Location: Room 307, Level 300
• Session Code: T132

Launch Your Dream: Get That Lit Org Off the Ground

• Time: 12:10 PM–1:25 PM EST
• Location: Room 326, Level 300
• Session Code: T170

“They’ll Never Write a Poem”: Neurodivergent Poets

• Time: 12:10 PM–1:25 PM EST
• Location: Ballroom I, Level 400
• Session Code: T151

Shape-Shifting: Visions of Resurgence in Indigenous Art-Poetry

• Time: 12:10 PM–1:25 PM EST
• Location: Room 309, Level 300
• Session Code: T158

It Takes Two to Make a Poem Go Right

• Time: 1:45 PM–3:00 PM EST
• Location: Room 309, Level 300
• Session Code: T181

“Pop Quiz, Hotshot”: Why Pop Culture Matters

• Time: 3:20 PM–4:35 PM EST
• Location: Room 317, Level 300
• Session Code: T209

Dorothy Allison: Breaking Down Barriers

• Time: 3:20 PM–4:35 PM EST
• Location: Room 327, Level 300
• Session Code: T216

Butterflies Over Land

• Time: 5:30 PM–7:00 PM EST
• Location: Angie’s Seafood, 1727 E Pratt St
• Session Code: Offsite

Button Poetry Live: Charm City

• Time: 7:00 PM–10:00 PM EST
• Location: 1505 Eutaw Pl, Baltimore, MD
• Session Code: Offsite

Friday, March 6, 2026

Said & Unsaid: Crafting Silence in Poetry

• Time: 10:35 AM–11:50 AM EST
• Location: Room 302, Level 300
• Session Code: F134

Contemporary Disability Poetry (Bookfair Stage)

• Time: 10:35 AM–11:50 AM EST
• Location: Bookfair Stage, Hall A–D
• Session Code: F132

Slow Down: Patience, Poetry & Poets

• Time: 1:45 PM–3:00 PM EST
• Location: Room 328, Level 300
• Session Code: F199

Living Truth: The Life & Legacy of Nikki Giovanni

• Time: 1:45 PM–3:00 PM EST
• Location: Room 309, Level 300
• Session Code: F185

Widening the Bridge of Ekphrasis

• Time: 3:20 PM–4:35 PM EST
• Location: Room 326, Level 300
• Session Code: F219

Saturday, March 7, 2026

How Form Informs the Form

• Time: 9:00 AM–10:15 AM EST
• Location: Room 327, Level 300
• Session Code: S124

I Could Not Stop for Death

• Time: 10:35 AM–11:50 AM EST
• Location: Room 320, Level 300
• Session Code: S141

More Than the Sum of Its Parts

• Time: 12:10 PM–1:25 PM EST
• Location: Room 317, Level 300
• Session Code: S162

Critical Poetics of Suicide for Queer & Trans People of Color

• Time: 5:30 PM–7:00 PM EST
• Location: Charm City Books, 426 Franklin St
• Session Code: Offsite

My poetry picks for AWP 2026 (virtual)

• What Makes Metaphors Human? – Session Code: V116
• Women Poets Inventing & Embracing Forms – Session Code: V119
• Youth Laureates of the DMV – Session Code: V123

Exhibitors Not to Miss

• Adroit Journal (1131)
• Asterism Books (1266, 1268)
• Black Lawrence Press (650, 652)
• BOA Editions (1163)
• Cave Canem (1037)
• Chill Subs (448)
• Colorado Review (656)
• Copper Canyon (1038, 1040)
• Denver Quarterly (T1247)
• Does It Have Pockets (T518)
• Feminist Press (537)
• Graywolf Press (1147, 1149)
• Green Linden Press (T728)
• HOOT Review (T728)
• Lambda Literary (256)
• Lightscatter Press (1274)
• MER – Mom Egg Review (T841)
• ONLY POEMS (446)
• Quarterly West / Western Humanities Review (343)
• Rinky Dink Press (T617)
• Riot in Your Throat (T865)
• Salt Hill Journal (T702)
• Small Harbor Publishing (452)
• Sugar House Press (1274)
• Taco Bell Quarterly (T704)
• The Poetry Salon (153)
• The Rumpus/Roxane Gay Books (1240)
• Wave Books (T635, T637)

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