Moon Jelly Reading Makes A Splash at the Aquarium

Two hundred attend reading co-hosted by Washington College Rose O’Neill Literary House to kick off AWP conference.

It was standing room only—if you could get in the door at all—for the Moon Jelly reading at the National Aquarium at the Baltimore Inner Harbor March 4.

There were 200 in attendance at the reading—co-hosted by Washington College Rose O’Neill Literary House, through the Small Literary Arts Center Coalition—to kick off the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference. Moon Jelly was what is known as an “offsite”—an event that takes place outside of the regular conference programming. AWP is an annual gathering for writers, teachers, students, editors, and publishers, held in different cities across the country. It sees around 10,000 attendees each year.

“If there are people who don’t believe that poetry and the literary arts transform lives, the Moon Jelly reading would convince them. It was one of the best readings I’ve been to in my life,” said James Hall, director of the Rose O’Neill Literary House.

While Moon Jelly was not the first offsite event the Lit House has hosted, it was the first hosted as part of the Small Literary Arts Center Coalition (SLACC), which also includes Boutelle-Day Poetry Center (Smith College) and Stadler Center for Poetry & Literary Arts (Bucknell University). It also served as a launch reading for issue 12 of Cherry Tree: A National Literary Journal @ Washington College.

The Moon Jelly reading featured literary giants and prolific writers: Victoria Chang, Leila Chatti, Diamond Forde, Francisco Márquez, Diana Khoi Nguyen, Paisley Rekdal, Chet’la Sebree, and Patricia Smith.

Márquez and Rekdal are both contributing writers in Cherry Tree issue 12. Márquez read his poem “Montréal,” which was published in the issue, on Wednesday night. He also read a poem about moon jellyfish.

A playful name to acknowledge the moon jellyfish exhibited in the Jellyfish Invasion exhibit, the reading took place adjacent to it and the dolphin viewing area.

“The love and community in the room was palpable,” said Nicole Hatfield ’21. “That paired with being at the aquarium at night surrounded by dolphins, manta rays, jellyfish, and more immediately reminded me of how amazing life can be.”

Ahead of the reading, attendees were invited to an after-hours walkthrough of the aquarium’s Blue Wonders exhibit.

“I’ve been to a number of AWP offsites, and they’re usually in bars and restaurants,” said Julia Armstrong ’15. “I never would have expected for something like [the aquarium.] And it wasn’t just the reading, but a special after-hours walk through of the Blue Wonders exhibit. There’s something extra spectacular about getting to go to a place like a museum or zoo after hours; you kind of feel like a kid again, having access to something exciting and unusual.

“Leila Chatti is one of my writerly heroes, and to hear her read her work out loud was a dream come true,” Armstrong added.

Offsites not only provide an opportunity to hear authors you know read from work you love, but they provide a venue to discover new work too.

“I am obsessed with so many of those writers now,” said Siobhan Luckey ’27. “Especially Patricia Smith.”

This is Luckey’s first time attending AWP and first time attending a reading of this scale.

“Usually, the readings at the Lit House are one person; seeing eight incredible writers was amazing,” they said.

Luckey is one of four student interns the Lit House brought to the conference this year. Several other Washington students—and many alum—will also attend the conference.

SLACC hosts virtually programming annually to benefit the students at each institution. The Moon Jelly reading was their first in-person event.

“All of our collaborations with Smith and Bucknell have been virtual. Those workshops have been smash successes; but it was high time for an in-person meetup,” Hall said. “Plus, the chance to team up with our alumni base to offer an event for Washington grads in Baltimore to come together was too irresistible to pass up.”

“I’m still in awe and so very grateful for how people showed up for us and our readers,” said Amber Taliancich, assistant director of the Rose O’Neill Literary House. “We went from worrying if people would even come to realizing we were creating one of the most magical AWP moments for hundreds.”

In the days following the reading, AWP attendees have approached the Cherry Tree booth in the conference bookfair to give their congratulations and praise for the event.

—MacKenzie Brady '21