Over spring break, the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation supported Murphy Visiting Fellow in Poetry Dr. Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach in taking a group of students to the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) Conference in Philadelphia.
AWP “fosters literary achievement” and “serves the makers, teachers, students, and readers of contemporary writing.” The organization includes over 500 colleges and universities, 130 writers’ conferences and centers, and thousands of individual members.
This experience was senior Murphy Scholar Dani Kuntz’s first writer’s conference. Students attended panels that covered “everything from writing about religion, integrating humor in writing, and new directions in poetry, to what editors look for in contemporary poetry and what [she] can do with [her] thesis after graduation.” AWP also fostered an opportunity for Kuntz to meet her favorite poet John Murillo.
“I wanted to share the wealth of writerly resources and networking connections that AWP provides but also to be there alongside them, so they felt mentored and guided through the barrage of wonder," Dasbach said.