Iron Pen 2023 – Registration is open for the 15th annual Iron Pen Contest!

Posted on by Ryan Collins

The fastest writing contest in the Midwest is back and taking registrations now!

The Midwest Writing Center is taking registrations for its 15th annual Iron Pen Contest. MWC will supply a prompt to all contestants at 5 p.m. on Friday, February 24 and contestants have 24 hours (entries are due Saturday, February 25 by 5 p.m.) to write and submit their best fiction, non-fiction, and/or poetry pieces. Writers are welcome to enter into as many categories as they like with a paid registration for each entry.

Submissions are open for the Foster-Stahl Chapbook Series

Posted on by Ryan Collins

The Foster-Stahl Chapbook Series, which looks to publish outstanding short collections of poetry, prose (fiction or nonfiction), or hybrid work from poets and writers living in the upper Midwest region (this includes the following states served by Arts Midwest: IL, IN, IA, MI, MN, ND, OH, SD, WI). Submissions for the third year of the series are open now.

Giving Tuesday 11/29 Kicks Off MWC’s 2022 Year-End Giving Campaign

Posted on by Ryan Collins

I hope this finds you safe and well as we prepare to turn the page on 2022. We’ve been fortunate to have a terrific year at MWC—from our partnership with WVIK to bring our These Interesting Times anthology into podcast form, to welcoming Ross Gay as our Writers’ Conference keynote speaker, it’s been an exciting year of celebrating the power of the written word. As I reflect and look forward, I’ve been thinking about two people very dear to MWC, both important to our history, who also made lasting contributions that will continue into the future—one of them a writer, and one of them an advocate: Richard “Dick” Stahl and Rochelle Murray.