As we get deeper into 2018 and start to pivot towards 2019, I’m happy to remind everyone that we are celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of RWW. Many of you will be attending the AWP Conference in Portland in late March, and our celebration will go into high gear during the conference. At the book fair, we will have a booth where we will gather; have book signings for new/recent books by faculty, current students, and alumni; and have RWW swag available for sale. On Friday, March 29, we will have a reception from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Portland DoubleTree Hotel.

In early 2019, I will send out another program-wide email with information about volunteering time at the book-fair booth and scheduling a book signing if you have a new or recent book, and I will seek information from you about your activities at the conference. We will be compiling a thorough listing of events/readings/panels that RWW people are involved with, and I will appreciate your sending me that information when the time comes. In the meantime, please put our reception date and time into your schedule now.

Another way that you can help celebrate RWW and support its continuing work is to donate to the Deborah Tall Scholarship Fund. As many of you already know, the fund pays for the residencies that our students participate in at the Anderson Center and the Vermont Studio Center. Here is a link to the donation page. If you make a donation of $100 or more, you can receive a free registration to the AWP Conference in Portland. However, we have fewer than 10 of these free registrations left, so make your Tall Scholarship donation as soon as possible, before our “supply” runs out. (Getting your registration via an RWW donation will lead to a substantial discount on your registration: if you register directly with AWP until January 3, member registration for the conference is $170 and nonmember registration is $270.) Thank you very much to those of you who have already donated to the Scholarship Fund.

I hope the remainder of your 2018 is full of good writing. I look forward to seeing many of you in late March in Portland!

Rick Barot