As I was editing and creating these webpages, frantically working towards publication, AWP raged on. I raged on my laptop at home. Whenever I would hop on social media for a minute, I would see the posts.
However, the posts didn’t bother me this year. I actually liked seeing them in my feed. For some reason or algorithm, they were sweet and celebratory: photos of book hauls and writers reunited. It feels like the conference has calmed down a bit? Not as much hype and over promotion? (Maybe not, maybe it’s just the folks I follow, but also, I have seen a lot of people saying they won’t attend anymore, for various reasons). The other factor is that even though I have never physically met most of the people Indianapolis Review has published, it’s fun to see so many of those writers hanging out at AWP, excited for this rare chance to be together in person.
I have yet to attend the conference for reasons that have to do mainly with children and time. I am lucky because the community college where I teach will actually fund us to attend, and this year, for the first time, I registered for virtual access to the conference. However, I haven’t even had time to check out the webinars and videos yet. Instead, I was grading papers, working on Indianapolis Review, going to my kids’ basketball games, and spending some time relaxing with my partner and even doing some gardening for the first time this year, as the weather was almost balmy (at the very least, we finally saw the sun!)
All of this made me think of this poem by Sean Thomas Dougherty that we published a few years back, “I Did Not Go To AWP”. For those of you who might be feeling left out, I suggest you read this.
Anyhow, one of the main reasons I started Indianapolis Review, besides giving back to the writing community, was to be a part of it virtually when I so often cannot go to any events physically. I am always grateful to be allowed to read and publish so many incredible writers and artists, as evidenced yet again by this issue. I hope you enjoy it!
Natalie Solmer
Editor In Chief
The Indianapolis Review
Indianapolis, Indiana
February, 2024
To see more Indianapolis Review shirts, visit our new store