Iron Pen is back!

Midwest Writing Center presents the 9th annual Iron Pen Contest

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

The Midwest Writing Center is taking registrations for its 9th annual Iron Pen Contest. MWC will supply a prompt to all contestants at 5 p.m. on Friday, February 17th and contestants have 24 hours (entries due Saturday, February 18th at 5 p.m.) to write and submit their best fiction, non-fiction or poetry pieces.

The cost to enter the Iron Pen contest is $10 per entry, per category. Contestant entries will be judged blind in genre categories—Poetry, Fiction and Non-Fiction. The Iron Pen contest is open to all ages. Registration forms can be found online at www.mwcqc.org/contests/iron-pen/ or at the Midwest Writing Center, c/o RIPL, 401 19th St., Rock Island, IL 61201.

Download the 2017 Iron Pen registration form here

**Everyone that participates in the 2017 Iron Pen Contest will have a chance to win a paid-in-full tuition with a value of $250 for the 2017 David R. Collins Writing Conference in June 22-24 at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, IA.**

Contest Timeline:

On Friday, Feb. 17th at 5 p.m. contestants will receive an email from the MWC that includes: a topic, an opening line, or a specific character. The prompt will also be announced on our website www.mwcqc.org, on the MWC Facebook page, and recorded on the MWC outgoing voicemail message.

On Saturday, Feb. 18th, contestants must email or bring their work to the Midwest Writing Center no later than 5 p.m.

The winners will be announced by email on Wednesday, Feb. 22nd. Awards will be given out on Saturday, February 25th at 2 p.m. at the Midwest Writing Center, where the winners and other contestants will be invited to read their work.

Register for the Iron Pen contest today!


Iron Pen – Contest Registration (per entry)
Number of Categories:
Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction: