The Association of Writers and Writing Programs 2012 conference was held this year in Chicago, turning the Chicago Hilton and Towers and Columbia College into a vortex of poetry readings, indie publisher booths, and literary rock and roll events featuring faculty, curators, and students from InterArts/Book and Paper.

The weekend started off in the Center with an Open House for the CBPA Summer Residency. The 2011 residents, Vida Sacic and Kyle Schlesinger each presented on the work they produced last summer, and fielded questions from prospective applicants on the application process and the experience.
Both Vida and Kyle gave their experience high marks, especially noting the excellent facilities of CBPA and the expertise of the MFA graduate assistants (Jackie McGill and Hannah King) during the two-week residency.

The next two days were a whirlwind of events in conjunction with the AWP conference a few blocks away from the Center. Columbia College was a major sponsor of the overall conference, and CBPA served as a satellite event site for many attendees. The Center Gallery hosted a panel discussion (with center Director Steve Woodall, Poems and Pictures curator Kyle Schlesinger, along with Don Share, Senior Editor of Poetry Magazine, and Lewis Warsh, director of the MFA program in creative writing at Long Island University). Multiple readings by visiting poets, writers, and academic programs from around the country rotated through the Gallery.

The current exhibitions in the main Gallery and MFA Galley space (Poems and Pictures and Response to Poems and Pictures) served as a perfect backdrop for the literary readings, bringing many new artists and writers in to experience and enjoy CBPA.