University Times

A keynote address by National Endowment for the Arts chairperson Jane Alexander and a tribute to Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson will be among the highlights of the 1995 annual conference of the Associated Writing Programs (AWP), March 9-11 at the Westin William Penn hotel, Downtown.

Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University are co-hosting the conference, which is expected to draw more than 1,000 writers, teachers, editors, publishers and literary arts professionals from around the country.

Pitt faculty scheduled to participate in conference readings, meetings and panel discussions include Nick Coles, Toi Derricotte, Lynn Emanuel, Catherine Gammon, Lewis Nordan, Ed Ochester (who is chairing this year's AWP annual meeting committee) and Patsy Sims, all of the Pittsburgh campus English department, and the Greensburg campus's Mary Gardner and Judith Vollmer.

Provost James Maher will make welcoming remarks prior to Alexander's keynote address. Vernell Lillie of Pitt's Africana studies department is coordinating a staged reading for the tribute to Pittsburgh native August Wilson. Ochester said it is uncertain whether Wilson, who will attend the tribute, will give a reading himself.

Another Pittsburgh-born writer, John Edgar Wideman, is scheduled to read, as are Gerald Stern, Jack Gilbert and Alice McDermott. Some 20 panels will cover such topics as "Blue Collar Writing," "The Non-Hollywood Screen Trade," "Counted Out: Gay and Lesbian Literature and Lives" and "Writers and Outsiders: Writing in the Margins of the University." A "pre-conference day" on March 8 will include special meetings dealing with literary magazines and small presses; writers conferences and festivals, and literary arts professionals.

For registration after Feb. 15, fees are $135 for AWP members, $155 for non-members and $70 for spouses of either. For full-time students the fee is $25, with a valid student ID or a photocopy of the ID required. Credit card orders can be faxed to 703-993-4302.