Earlier this year, in a fit of strange delusion, I registered for the AWP Conference & Bookfair taking place in Seattle. I’ve never been to AWP or Seattle. But I decided this would be a good idea, especially since my usual writer conference in Boston would not be happening in its usual format this spring.
AWP is the largest writer conference in the U.S., and it moves cities each year. This year just happened to be on the far opposite coast.
I landed in SeaTac late Tuesday. Riding into Seattle at night was gorgeous, the skyline all lit up with a rainbow of lights. After a long flight I felt tired, so tired, but hopeful. And then…
DAY 1
Wandering Seattle, Part 1
I was staying at Hotel Theodore, a hexagon-themed boutique hotel in downtown Seattle that encapsulates what I’d soon come to learn is a certain Seattle preoccupation with old technology. Patents for the Space Needle as art on the wall. Bulb lamps, vintage radio alarm clock, and lights and showers that do not work with a simple switch.
I could not for the life of me figure out how to turn on the light in my hotel room’s bathroom. Nor could I figure out how to turn on the main shower head, only the handheld one! I thought about calling the front desk for help with these things, but I was too proud.
I’d arrived a full day ahead of the conference, figuring I’d have a full day to relax first. But thanks to the 3-hour time difference, I was wide awake at 6 a.m., hungry and restless. So after a handheld shower, I headed out into downtown in search of some breakfast.
I quickly discovered that, like much of the west coast, Seattle doesn’t really care about breakfast. But at least there were a thousand coffee places to choose from. I went to Anchorhead Coffee, where the coffee was so delicious but the vegetarian breakfast sandwich was… one of the stranger things I’ve eaten. But it would hold me over to lunch.
When I’d asked friends about what to do in Seattle, everyone mentioned Pike Place Market, so that’s where I walked first. On a Wednesday morning, the market was quiet and fairly shuttered, but the famed seafood stands were open, so at least I could catch their full whiff and gape at open-mouthed fish and the freakishly long crab legs.
I said hello to the golden pig and went outside to look at the Pacific Ocean. The view was mostly obscured by an incredible amount of coastal construction.
Back out on the street, I noticed a short line forming outside a coffee shop that turned out to be The Original Starbucks. I waited a few minutes to get my usual order. I needed a second coffee anyway, and when in Rome/Seattle?
Original Starbucks in hand, my next mission was to go see The Seattle Great Wheel. In my mind, I thought it’d be something like The Pacific Wheel in Santa Monica.
I sauntered down Alaskan Way, also under heavy construction, stopping at different piers to see if it would be the one that would bring me to The Great Wheel, so tantalizingly close! I soon realized that the only way to get to the wheel was through something called “Miner’s Landing” on Pier 57.
Miner’s Landing is a terrible, terrible place. A tourist trap with unceasing, frantic banjo music, it is like a taxidermy mall from hell celebrating 1800s westward expansion. But determined, I ventured in, passing vacant arcades and seafood restaurants and even a carousel. I got to a stand advertising tickets to ride The Great Wheel. I didn’t want to ride it. I just kinda wanted to see it up close, but I wasn’t going to pay for that. Rats.
So I turned around and walked back up to Pike Place Market, stopping into the Seattle Antiques Market along the way.
I decided to take a shortcut up Post Alley, where I accidentally encountered the famed Seattle Gum Wall. Maybe a used gum wall is not something you should encounter accidentally. I was confused, then amused, then… kinda grossed out, honestly. I held my breath watching a long-haired girl strike poses against the used gum.
Not sure where to go next, I decided maybe I should go try to find the Space Needle? Why not?
Along the route I stopped into a random Hawaiian-Korean fusion place Marination that turned out to be some of the most delicious food I ate while in the city. Even though the sun had disappeared, I ate outside on 6th street with the Space Needle in the distance.
Walking through more construction, I got to the Space Needle and thought, welp, there it is! It’s in a tourist area beside the Chihuly Garden, which Seattle friends had also recommended as a must-see. I’d seen Chihuly’s glass sculptures before at the MFA in Boston, so I wasn’t so gung-ho on the museum. But like with The Original Starbucks, I thought, well, when in Rome/Seattle, and got myself a ticket.
The Chihuly Museum is small but includes some of his most impressive pieces. The real highlight for me was the outdoor garden, where his colorful blown glass pieces featured alongside plants and spring flowers about to bloom. I sat there for a while, watching the birds, the people, and darker clouds roll in over the Space Needle.
Then, suddenly—a downpour! The sun I’d seen for the past six hours had been a fluke, and I wouldn’t see it again for my remaining time in the city.
I walked back to my hotel in the rain. When I got there, I was soaked and shocked that it was only 3pm. So I took a nap.
I woke up restless again and decided to go to a pre-AWP gay poetry off-site event. I took a Lyft to East Pike/Pine (the gay area, maybe? at least there are rainbow crosswalks). I ate a quick dinner at Lost Lake Cafe, where the TVs were playing both Interview With the Vampire and The Hunger (with David Bowie)! I thought, woah, Seattle is serious about their vampires.
I was two minutes late to the gay poetry reading at Queer/Bar, which somehow meant it was already full! The frantic bar employees promised they were “working on it” so I waited with 30 or so people at the bar and grabbed a drink.
Some other AWP folks invited me to another off-site event at The Pine Box. I asked them if it was a gay thing and they said no, so I said I’d rather just stay here with the queers. And I’m glad I did, because I actually had a super fun night watching a drag and burlesque show with some awesome people.
Walking back to the hotel, I encountered a pink neon sign advertising KITTIES. Enticed, I went up to the window and discovered a room full of cats sleeping and playing! Just my luck, I’d stumbled across NEKO Cat Cafe! It was closed, but the kitties were still in there being adorable. Imagine me crouching, pst-pst-pst’ing on the Seattle streets at 12:30 am. Yup, that happened.
DAY 2
AWP Day 1 - Hello I’m Overwhelmed!
After a night out with drag queens and kitties, I opted for an easy breakfast at the hotel’s cafe, Made Coffee, where the breakfast food was, again, kinda meh? Coffee in hand, I made my way to the Seattle Convention Center down the street. Time for AWP!
Holy shit! AWP is MASSIVE! HELLO 15K WRITERS! MY NAME IS KENDRA AND THIS IS A LOT.
The first panel I attended was on The Future of Queer Publishing. I wore my mask, frightened and yet delighted by how many folks crowded the room. Then I attended a second panel about Fairy Tales and Folktales—equally delighted and overwhelmed by the volume of attendees for this topic.
For lunch I went to Pike Place Chowder. I started having a mild panic attack over my fish and chips, which I have to confess weren’t as good as East-coast fish and chips anyway. I’d planned to go to another panel right after lunch, but I was just too overwhelmed.
After a much-needed breather back at the hotel, I grabbed another delicious coffee from Anchorhead and went back to the conference, attending an interesting panel on Queer Eye for the Natural World.
In the evening, I went to a ticketed off-site AWP event, Sapphic Storytelling by The Rumpus. This was at The Woods, which was more like a garage than the woods, and also in East Pike/Pine, next to Queer/Bar. I ran into a writer acquaintance from Boston there and enjoyed couples’ readings by Kristen Arnett and Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya, Ariel Delgado Dixon and Allegra Hyde.
The event description had encouraged us to stay for a post-reading dance party, but all of the writers (myself included) cleared out as soon as the fog machines and EDM music started pumping.
DAY 3
AWP Day 2 - Meltdowns & Meetups
Third morning in Seattle, I was determined to finally get a decent breakfast, so I went to Cherry Street Coffee House which at least featured bagels on their online menu. The bagel was chewy and not good. But the coffee—again—so yummy!
Caffeinated enough, I went back to the conference for the Peculiar Histories panel, all about queer historical fiction and nonfiction. Then I tried going to the New Queer Weird panel, which for some reason AWP stuck in a tiny room with not enough seats, so I was kicked out for sitting in the aisle. So I went next door to the Queer Storytelling and Audio Dramas panel for a little bit.
Then I guess it was time for my daily mid-afternoon Seattle panic attack. I went back to my hotel room, which was still being cleaned. If I had not been on the verge of a meltdown, I might’ve remembered to ask the cleaning person how to turn on the correct shower head.
After the feeling like I was going to die subsided a bit, I decided that maybe I was just hungry? I went back to Marination for lunch, because the rest of the city was now clogged with writers.
The food gave me a second wind, and I went back to the conference for a panel put on by Feminist Press. Then I went back to Anchorhead (yes, a third time) to catch up with a fellow author under the same lit agency as me.
This evening’s off-site was a reception by Lambda Literary at the Sheraton, which had free food and drinks. You know, thank God for the queers coming through for me again. I had a great time!
DAY 4
AWP Day 3 - A Bookfair in 3 Acts
Somehow it was already the last day of AWP, and I’d been avoiding a big part of the event—the Bookfair, taking place on the bottom floor. Every time I’d gone down there, I’d become too overwhelmed. I decided to take it in chunks and let go of the expectation of seeing all of it.
Hotel coffee in hand, I browsed a few aisles of publishers, presses, and lit journals. I went up to the It Came From the Closet panel, which I loved, then back down to the fair to browse and chat some more.
I got lunch at Dough Zone, which was perpetually busy all week with writers, but I got in fairly quickly. The dumplings were so yum.
Back at the conference, the last panel I went to was about Writing the Monster. I ended my time at the conference center by visiting the bookfair a third and final time. I told myself I would limit myself to buying three books max (for carry-on luggage purposes), so naturally I ended up getting six.
For the final off-site event of AWP I went to The Rabbit Box, back at Pike Place Market, for a reading of authors sharing their new work.
DAY 5
Wandering Seattle, Part 2
The final morning of my Seattle/AWP excursion, the hotel staff came knocking at my door to make sure I’d actually be checking out. Okay, yes, it was 11am, but Daylight Savings had thrown me off, and my flight back to Boston wasn’t scheduled for another twelve hours—after 11pm! I was just trying to minimize how much time I’d have to kill out in the Seattle rain.
Alas. I left my luggage at the front desk and went out to see what I could do in Seattle for half a day.
I started with trying, again, to find a decent breakfast (at least I’m consistent). I finally found it at the famed waterfront restaurant Lowell’s at Pike Place Market. Their slogan is “Almost Classy since 1957” which summarizes the vibe pretty well. The breakfast average, but the view was lovely, the toast was sourdough, and the coffee unlimited, so I was content.
Pike’s Place Market on a Sunday was like a whole different world. So much busier than it had been on Wednesday, which actually made it feel more fun. I checked out some of the tchotchke shops and art galleries on the lower levels and walked past a magic shop and a giant shoe museum. Got my fortune read by a Psychic Chicken. Saw the big fish get tossed.
I decided to walk back down to the piers to go to the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop which I’d past on Wednesday. Open since 1899, it’s part-oddity museum, part souvenir shop. Think narwal tusks and socks, player pianos and magnets.
Next I stopped at Pike Street Coffee and got the tiniest yet tastiest cortada I’ve ever had. Then I decided to walk up to the Museum of Pop Culture, which a couple folks had recommended. This route took me through Belltown, which had a cool vibe, lots of murals, and probably the least amount of construction.
The Museum of Pop Culture (or MoPOP) is a wildly shaped metallic building near the space needle and Chihuly gardens. There were a lot of artifacts and costumes from sci-fi, fantasy, and horror movies. The thing about movie props is that a lot of them look kind of cheap and plain up-close.
Two pop music exhibits were focused on Nirvana and Pearl Jam, two bands from Seattle that unfortunately I don’t care about much. Maybe I was just exhausted, but the museum was kind of just okay. I got yet another coffee from the museum cafe and lingered around, not wanting to go back out into the rain.
I decided my next destination would be Elliott Bay Book Company in East Pike/Pine. A 30-minute walk, but I still had lots of time to kill. I broke up my soggy stroll by stopping into Nana’s Green Tea where all the drinks and desserts are very green and tasty, and I could charge my dying phone.
The bookstore was glorious and I had to resist the temptation of buying even more books that wouldn’t fit in my luggage (I got just one, plus some cards). The bookseller was also super nice and knowledgeable.
For my last supper in Seattle, I went to Oddfellows next door to the bookstore. I loved the aesthetic more than the food, and I sat next to a fun martini-drinking duo (not a couple, a duo) who were so sweet, but I was so tired from the week, I could barely hold a conversation.
It was only 8pm but I decided to go to the airport anyway. And I’m glad I did, because the security line was one of the longest I’ve ever waited in. SeaTac was not equipped to handle 15K writers who were still trying to exit the city! But I can’t complain too much, because my flight was on time, and after four hours of interrupted sleep on the plane, I landed back in Boston ahead of schedule.
TL;DR:
Pros of Seattle: Met some cool people, went to a hot drag and burlesque show, drank a lot of coffee, and can now say that I’ve been to AWP which is kind of like a writerly badge in a way?
Cons of Seattle: Got fucking soaking wet.