If there's one thing we know about writers, it's that they love cats! Or at least we had a pretty good hunch when we decided to host “Writers on Cats: an AWP Offsite Reading” earlier this month at the 2024 Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference, held in Kansas City, Missouri. Every year, the association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) hosts a Conference and Book Fair at a different city in North America, celebrating writers, educators, small presses, publishers, literary centers, and writing programs (like us!). While panels, readings, and the bookfair fill our days at AWP, the nights are left for programs and individuals to host different offsite events around that year's chosen city. This year, in Kansas City, we were lucky enough to have writers (and cat lovers) Emma Copley Eisenberg, Serkan Görkemli, Catherine LaSota, Annie Liontas, and our very own Ava Robinson join us as readers for our event.
Our cat cafe reading was a hit beyond our wildest dreams, with more than sixty people showing up to support our featured readers. So many cat lovers wanted to join us that we ended up having to turn people away, with a standing-room-only packed house!
Our co-host for this event was the Whiskers Cat Cafe in Kansas City, who supplied our event with a wonderful space, the generosity of their staff, mocktails, coffee, sweet treats, and most importantly, some very adorable and cuddly companions. They hosted our reading in their adorable coffeehouse, with the cat cafe right next door for folks who wanted to meet the cats.
Our event kicked off with a welcome from Writing Institute Director Courtney Gillette, who also acted as our cat trivia host for the evening… Did you know that cats sleep for an average of 16 hours a day? The only theme for the evening was that each reading had to mention cats, whether it was a cat cameo or an ode to felines.
Our first reader was Writing Institute Assistant Director Ava Robinson, who read a cat-featuring excerpt from her forthcoming debut novel, Definitely Better Now (Mira Books, November 2024). Next, we heard from Annie Linotas, who read from her recently released memoir Sex with a Brain Injury (Scribner, January 2024). As the night continued, we heard from Emma Copely Eisenberg, who read from her forthcoming novel Housemates (Random House Publishing Group, May 2024) and passed around a polaroid of her cat Sesame! Next we heard from Serkan Görkemli, who read from his forthcoming collection Sweet Tooth and Other Stories (University Press of Kentucky, May 2024), and wrapping us up for the night, we had Catherine LaSota, founder of The Resort, an incredible community for writers, who gifted us with a brand new memoir piece about homebirth, moving, and saying goodbye to beloved pets. After the readings concluded, guests were welcomed into Whiskers’ adjoining Cat Lounge, home to their fluffy and friendly group of cats, including Sir Grumps III and Rainbow Dash, who were in no shortage of adoration and cuddles from our wonderful patrons!
It was a delight to bring the inclusive vibe of the Writing Institute to Kansas City with this fun event. Thank you so much to Whiskers Cat Cafe, all of our lovely readers, and to all of the cat lovers who came out to support! Let’s hope that Los Angeles has a cat cafe so we can do this again at #AWP25.
Looking to write your own cat-centric story (or any story your heart desires)? Check out our upcoming classes, online and on campus, here.