Convention Information

March 10 – 13, 2027
Baird Center
Milwaukee, WI

Important Dates

Submissions Open: TBD
Submissions Close: TBD
Decision Date: TBD
Early Registration Opens: TBD

Angie Cruz is a New York born Dominicana who traveled to and from NYC and DR for most of her formative years. Her first novel, Soledad (2001) and second novel, Let It Rain Coffee (2005) were both published by Simon & Schuster. Her novel, Dominicana, published fall 2019 with Flatiron Books, was inspired by her mother’s arrival story. To research this novel Angie scoured many photo albums and this inspired the digital photo archive accessed through instagram: @dominicanasnyc. Dominicana is the inaugural bookpick for GMA book club, and the Wordup Uptown Reads selection for 2019. It was shortlisted for The Women’s Prize, longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction, The Aspen Words Literary Prize, a RUSA Notable book and the winner of the ALA/YALSA Alex Award in fiction. It was named most anticipated / best book in 2019 by Time, Newsweek, People, Bustle, Oprah Magazine, The Washington Post, Buzzfeed, The New York Times, andEsquire. Her fourth novel, How Not To Drown in A Glass of Water was published with Flatiron Books in fall 2022. It was a finalist for the 2024 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, shortlisted by The Aspen Words Literary Prize, winner of the Gold Medal, Latino Book Award/The Isabel Allende Most Inspirational Book Award, and chosen for The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2022 and The Washington Post 50 Notable Works of Fiction. Her picture book Angelica and La Guira was published summer 2024.

Cruz didn’t always think to become a writer. She attended La Guardia HS as a visual arts major. She then pursued, at night, a fashion design degree at FIT while working full-time during the day on Madison Ave. at a cashmere store. Later she pursued an English literature degree at SUNY Binghamton and then attended the MFA program at NYU.

For the past twenty years Cruz has attended numerous writing residencies, including Yaddo, The Macdowell Colony, Blue Mountain Center, La Napoule Foundation, and The Camargo Foundation. Her works earned her many awards and honors including being Longlisted, 2020 Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize, The New York Foundation of the Arts Fellowship, the Pittsburgh Foundation Fellowship, the NALAC Fellowship and in 2007 she was long listed for the IMPAC Dublin Award for Let It Rain Coffee. More recently she was awarded the 2025 USA Fellowship, The 2025 Poets & Writers / Writers For Writers Award, and the 2025 John Dos Passos Prize for Literature. Her short stories and essays have been featured in numerous journals and anthologies including Small Axe, Gulf Coast Literary Journal, Callaloo, VQR and the New York Times.

Cruz currently teaches at Columbia University and is the co-founder and editor of the award winning literary journal, Aster(ix).

Common Reader Text: How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water, by Angie Cruz

Learn More: 2027 Common Reader

View: Angie Cruz Webinar

We are wild about the opportunity to feature our first British Spotlight Author! Whether you are a Janeite or not, Jane Austen’s influence on the modern novel is undeniable. Scholars and fans worldwide have spent 2025 celebrating the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth on December 16, 1775, and we plan to keep the party going.

In keeping with the 2027 Convention Theme, we recognize Jane Austen as a master of technê. Austen’s contributions to the craft of the modern novel—her breakthrough use of free indirect discourse, her psychologically nuanced characters, and her creation or consolidation of plot tropes that still form the foundation of modern romance novels—make her a giant in the history of the novel and a perennial favorite.

Our Austen-related programming will feature eminent Austen scholar Dr. Devoney Looser, author of Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane (2025) and many other scholarly works on Austen, women’s writing, and the history of the novel.