The Buckbee Panel at the 2009 AWP Conference

Due the success of The Buckbee Panel at the 2009 AWP Conference, and the calls for a follow-up performance, we have proposed a new panel for the 2010 AWP Conference in Denver.

According to the AWP Conference guidelines, Panels are divided into category types–”Craft of Fiction,” “Craft of Poetry,” “Pedagogy,” etc. The category that caught our eye was “Tributes,” and thus, we have proposed an AWP Special Panel Presentation, simply called, “Buckbee: A Tribute.”

Below–directly from the AWP Event Application Form–are the Event Description and Statement of Merit:

Event Description:

After the IPO of Buckbee, A Writer, Inc. in the Spring of 2006, Buckbee (the individual), suddenly responsible for the dreams of so many shareholders, succumbed to the pressure and withdrew to his attic loft. He has not been seen by the public since. Highly enigmatic, often daring, always depressed, Buckbee committed himself to the eternal struggle of what it means to be a creator of art, and a producer of product. Join us as we welcome Executives from Buckbee (Corporate) and acquaintances of Buckbee (the individual) from his mysterious past, as we pay tribute to this evasive and iconic figure. After the IPO of Buckbee, A Writer, Inc. in the Spring of 2006, Buckbee (the individual), suddenly responsible for the dreams of so many shareholders, succumbed to the pressure and withdrew to his attic loft. He has not been seen by the public since. Highly enigmatic, often daring, always depressed, Buckbee committed himself to the eternal struggle of what it means to be a creator of art, and a producer of product. Join us as we welcome Executives from Buckbee (Corporate) and acquaintances of Buckbee (the individual) from his mysterious past, as we pay tribute to this evasive and iconic figure.

Statement of Merit:

Buckbee is the inspiration behind Buckbee, A Writer, Inc, the leader in the Indublishing field. The public responded to the enigmatic figure’s reclusion by sending him sad objects, thus giving birth to The Sadness Museum. Then writers began to volunteer to write as Buckbee, hence the “Be Buckbee” campaign, in which Buckbee became a figurative placeholder for all writers, a repository for all their work and anxieties. Buckbee forced us to question the relation between art and commerce, between the individual and the artist within, and the accepted notions of identity and creation

We hope the AWP Events Board will be moved to approve our application, and that we will get the chance to see you in Denver in 2010!

M. Chalmers

EVP of Public Relations

It has been moved from 10:30 a.m. Friday morning to 12:00 noon Friday. The new room is the Astoria room.

We hope you will join us for this exciting insider’s look into the workings of one the world’s leading Indublishing firm’s.