The Association of Writers and Writing Programs, or AWP, conference is in Chicago this weekend. That means a bevy of published writers passing along wisdom to eager and hungry aspiring writers. Pulitizer Prize-winners Jennifer Egan and Paul Harding, poets Nikki Giovanni and Phillip Levine and Chicagoan Aleksandar Hemon all have events lined up at the conference.

Any discussion about a love of writing is bound to be rife with talk about a love of reading. Writer Esmeralda Santiago and poet Thomas Sayers Ellis join Steve Edwards on Afternoon Shift to talk more about their influences and what drives their work. Santiago is the author of three memoiors, including Almost a Woman, which was adapted into a Peabody Award-winning Masterpiece Theater film. Ellis’ latest poetry collection is Skin, Inc: Identity Repair Poems.

Tell us what works of literature changed your life- leave your picks below in the comments section. Happy reading!