Prose, Poetry & Play: Game Design as a Literary Practice

Amanda Tien recapped one of my AWP panels for The Punished Backlog!

This was such a fun panel. I got to talk about the intersection of narrative games and literature with Nat Mesnard, Erin Roberts, Sharang Biswas, and Dave Ring, while vibing with a room packed full of the best kind of literary weirdos.

From Amanda: “I knew I was in good company in Baltimore last week when I joined a line of bespectacled, excited, colorful, proudly geeky people queuing up 20 minutes early to get into a conference session called “Prose, Poetry & Play: Game Design as a Literary Practice.”

I was at the annual conference held by AWP, the Association of Writers & Writing Programs. Over the last two decades, AWP has become one of the places to go if you’re an educator, (aspiring) author, indie book or magazine publisher, agent, program administrator, or just an extra curious reader. It can be very overwhelming. I mainly went to network and meet up with old friends, but this was one of the few sessions I was really excited by — and I was not alone. The session marked the first time I had seen game design on the conference agenda (but to be fair, I didn’t go last year, and I’ve only been a handful of other times before).

My wait paid off, and the session was brimming with energy. There was a discussion of what makes a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) work, some of the nuances comparing video and tabletop gaming with friends, and much more. As I listened, I knew I had to share some of these beautiful ideas. Below are many of my favorite quotations from the conversation, reflections on game design, and an upcoming workshop to get started in creating games if you’re interested.”

Read the full recap here.