Belated Boston

Ben, Sanchit, Dustin, and Kelsea on the Boston subway.

At the end of February and leading into March, The Writer’s Guild at UC sent five intrepid members into the jaws of the country’s largest writing conference. Ben Truax, Kelsea Daulton, Dustin Zamora, Sanchit Gulati, and I formed an expedition to the 2013 AWP conference in Boston.

A quick shout out to board members Ben, Brian Keefe, and Megan Esterkamp, along with Professor Leah Stewart, who worked together for weeks to cut through paperwork, bureaucracy, and disbelief. Though there were already graduate students attending, as well as some of our professors, there was a strange sense that no one could remember that we were going to the conference. It was treated like a cute pipe dream: “Oh, is that so? That’s really sweet. Well, good luck!”

This experience, at least for me, bore an uncanny likeness to what it is to be an undergraduate writer at UC. You participate in class workshops, you get advice from peers and professors, you write a lot, and you work – but there is always an underlying sense that you’re either gearing up for graduate school or fast food service. Either way, you’re not a “serious” writer. At least not yet.

We set out to prove that undergraduate writers have just as much of a place in the larger writing community, and we accomplished just that. We walked through the halls of the conference, between published and unpublished writers alike (but for a subtle air of desperation, there didn’t seem to be much of a difference). The book fair was a crowded warehouse of tables manned by signing authors, literary magazines, and graduate schools – all eager for attention. Everyone competed against the writers at the podium, reading their work out in what is now, to some of us, the familiar and self-important “literary tone.” Numerous panels covered such a wide array of topics that it was difficult to choose which to attend. In the end, we mostly settled for stalking our professors.

Then there was the city itself. Boston already sounds like a bookish place to live, with brownstones and cobble streets and the historic, 19^th century fun house of architecture and atmosphere that is the main library. Our group explored Quincy Market, the Cheers Bar, and the facades of Boston’s Little Italy. Every night there was a dance party. Good times were had.

The funding for the trip came from a generous allotment from UC given to student organizations for various activities and endeavors. In the end, Guild members only had to contribute time and food money. Because of the work done – in particular by our treasurer, Brian – we were able to make ourselves known as members of the writing community. Every day The Writer’s Guild is proving that it isn’t just a student organization, but a family of writers that will be heard.

The event was the first in Writer’s Guild history, and hopefully not the last.

Bonus: Ben refuses to be a door mat!

You can see more awesome photos of our trip here.

-Ree Callahan, TWG Alumna