Association of Writers & Writing Programs

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The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) is a literary organization whose mission is "to foster literary talent and achievement, to advance the art of writing as essential to a good education, and to serve the makers, teachers, students, and readers of contemporary writing."

AWP comprises more than 400 colleges and universities, mostly in the United States, that offer degree-conferring programs in creative writing. Individual writers may also be members.

The official publication of AWP is The Writer's Chronicle, established in 1967, and annually AWP holds a conference for both members and non-members of the organization. AWP publishes a job list for writers, has a career services program that maintains dossiers for members, and sponsors annual contests for book publication in fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry. They also established Writers' Conferences & Centers (WC&C) a division of AWP designed to promote and disseminate information about writing conferences, centers, retreats, and festivals.

The organization was founded in 1967 in Providence, Rhode Island to support the growing presence of literary writers in American higher education. At that time, Departments of English were mainly conservatories of the literature of the past, and many scholars resisted the establishment of creative writing programs. Fifteen writers who represented twelve writing programs established AWP aiming to overcome this resistance, to give mutual support and to encourage new programs, and to provide publishing opportunities for young writers.

In 1971 the organization moved from Brown University to Washington College, in Chestertown, Maryland. In 1978 it moved to Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia. In 1994, the organization moved to its present headquarters, at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.