2015 AWP Conference; April 8 – 11, 2015; Minneapolis, Minnesota

Two Presentations Accepted:

Undergraduate Program Design at the Two Year College and Beyond: Four Models. (Kris Bigalk, BJ Ward, Maria Brandt, Jennifer Millitello)

Two-year college programs in creative writing are becoming a common student gateway into BA/BFA programs. Panelists, all of whom founded and sustain different types of creative writing programs at community colleges, will share tips and techniques on how to grow programs with innovative pedagogy, develop partnerships with four-year institutions and community organizations, and tailor program design and approach to the unique populations and
missions of community colleges of varying size/scope.

A More Deliberate (and Desperate) Life: How to Write and Publish a Book while Teaching Five Classes. (Ryan Stone, Kathryn Kysar, Kris Bigalk, Thomas Montgomery Fate, John Reimringer)

A likely teaching job for a newly-minted MFA is at a community college. But how
does one teach five classes per term (more if an adjunct), serve on committees, engage in
scholarship, and find time to write and publish a book of poems, a novel, or a memoir? This panel of mid-western Community College faculty will discuss how they negotiate a life of writing while
adhering to academic responsibilities and reflect on how they were able to write and publish their recent books amid the chaos.