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AWP 2018 Round Up

Columbia--Gem of Spanish Restaurants in Tampa, Florida

2018 in Tampa

The 2018 AWP Conference in Tampa, Florida blew by like a whirlwind. Kim Davis was in attendance along with her colleagues from Texas Review Press, The Texas Review, and the Goliad Review & Press. Kim moderated a reading with her friends from Goliad, Joseph D. Haske and Michael Gills entitled, “The Places America Forgot: A Reading of Rural Fiction.” She got to spend time Goliad editors John Molina, Joe Haske, and Daniel Mendoza as well as Goliad author Ron Cooper and his wife Sandra. Sandra Cooper then provided a conduit to an amazing group of women writers all connected to Luanne Smith. Meals were consumed, alcohol was drunk, and it was a lot of fun. The high point, however, was a panel on Saturday arranged and moderated by Luanne Smith: “Writing Bad Ass & Nasty Women.” The speakers for this panel included Pam Houston, Kim Addonizio, and Bonnie Jo Campbell all amazing authors who spoke with inspirational fire that pulled the audience to its collective feet.

The wine cellar at the Columbia in Ybor City.
The tall blond at the back is Lisa Lanser Rose, to her right is Kim Davis, to her right is Suzanne Heagy, then in front are Luanne Smith and Laura Lee Morris. All were invited into the wine cellar at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, Tampa Florida. The Spanish food was delicious, and the wine list was more comprehensive than Webster’s Unabridged!