Wednesday

Overview Schedule

How to Attend This Conference

It is imperative that you have read the Zoom Guidelines and Etiquette. In these instructions, you will find full information on how to attend panel sessions, plenaries, and other events such as the Past Presidents’ Address.

The conference events will all take place in Zoom and Zoom Webinar. You will receive an email with a link and password for the main Zoom room (where all of the panel sessions happen) and then an additional email for the Webinars (where the plenaries will take place). These emails will be sent to the email you put into ConfTool.

This website and the Conference Agenda in ConfTool combine to form our program. We’ve added some tools to the ConfTool Conference Agenda that will aid you in deciding which sessions you’d like to attend and in having discussions over particular panels or presentation. Be sure to look over the ConfTool Conference Agenda Tips so that you know how to take full advantage of these features!

Finally, we’ve added an optional feature, called Discord, that will provide some space for socialization. Zoom is great for attending the panels and video Q & A, and ConfTool is helpful for building larger discussions about presentations and panels, but neither of these tools provides a place to have a side conversation during a panel or a chat in the “hallway.” This is where Discord comes in.

Discord is a companion tool that is intended to be used alongside other activities (like playing a video game or attending class in Zoom). It allows you to communicate with other users directly via voice, video, or text. You can make yourself as available as you like and when other conference goers pop in, they will be able to see you and strike up a conversation.

If you choose to use Discord, be aware that beyond the helpful information in the Using Discord document on the Zoom, ConfTool, & Discord page, we can’t provide technical support.

Here is the invitation to join the Western Literature Association server on Discord.

Opening Plenary with DAA Honoree Juan Felipe Herrera

As the 21st United States Poet Laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera is the first Mexican American to hold the position. He is the author of thirty books, ranging from poetry to picture books for children, Herrera’s exuberant and socially engaged works reflect his view of art as a tool to affect the observer.

Visit City Lights Books to purchase the following titles:

Every Day We Get More Illegal (2020)
Notes on the Assemblage (2015)
187 Reasons Mexicanos Can’t Cross the Border (1995)
Lotería Cards and Fortune Poems (1999)