SPECTRA Reading Series Kicks Off Writers’ Conference with Back-to-Back Events
Who: SPECTRA Reading Series and the David R. Collins Writers’ Conference
What: Back-to-Back Readings – Baus & Rexilius and Conference Faculty
When: Wednesday, June 24 – 6pm Write-In | 7pm Open Mic | 8pm Reading;
Thursday, June 25 – 6pm Social | 7pm Conference Participant Open Mic | 8pm
Conference Faculty Reading
Where: Rozz-Tox (2108 3rd Ave. Rock Island, IL)
Cost: free & open | donations welcome | Conference registration is open: https://www.mwcqc.org/events-opportunities/david-r-collins-writers-conference/
SPECTRA Lives! The Quad Cities longest-running reading series returns to Rozz-Tox to celebrate the David R. Collins Writers’ Conference with back-to-back events on June 24-25.
The kick-off on Wednesday, June 24 features poets Eric Baus and Andrea Rexilius, who will lead a community write-in (a short writing prompt for people to gather and write together), followed by a public open mic, and then the features readings, which Sarah Elgatian will open. The community write-in starts at 6:00 p.m., open mic at 7:00 p.m. (spaces are limited, 5-minute sets, first come first serve), and the featured readings at 8:00 p.m.
The event on Thursday, June 25 features the faculty of the Writers’ Conference: Knox College professor Cyn Kitchen; Poet Laureate of Rockford, IL Adam al-Sirgany; novelist Tatiana Schlote-Bonne; and poet and publisher Margaret Yapp. The event starts with a social at 6:00 p.m., followed by an open mic at 7:00 p.m. for Conference attendees, and then the Faculty readings at 8:00 p.m.
Both events are free and open to the public; books by all the featured authors and by MWC Press will be available for purchase. Donations to MWC are welcome and go to support youth writing programs in the QC. For those interested in attending the Writers’ Conference, full information and registration can be found here: https://www.mwcqc.org/events-opportunities/david-r-collins-writers-conference/
Please contact Ryan Collins at MWC with questions and media inquiries: ryan.collins@mwcqc.org | 309-732-7330.
Bios:
Eric Baus is the author of five books of poetry: How I Became a Hum (Octopus Books, 2020) The Tranquilized Tongue, (City Lights 2014), Scared Text, winner of the Colorado Prize for Poetry (Center for Literary Publishing, 2011), Tuned Droves (Octopus Books, 2009), and The To Sound, winner of the Verse Prize (Wave Books, 2004). He is also the author of several chapbooks, most recently The Rain Of The Ice (Above/Ground Press 2014) and Euphorbia (Above/Ground Press 2019). His poems have been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, and Finnish. He is a graduate of the PhD program in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Denver as well as the MFA program for poets and writers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He teaches literature and creative writing at Regis University’s Mile High MFA program in Denver, which he co-directs with poet Andrea Rexilius.
Andrea Rexilius is the author of: Séance of the Bees (Clash Books, 2026), Sister Urn (Sidebrow, 2019), New Organism: Essais (Letter Machine, 2014), Half of What They Carried Flew Away (Letter Machine, 2012), and To Be Human Is To Be A Conversation (Rescue Press, 2011), as well as the chapbooks, Séance (Coconut Books, 2014), To Be Human (Horseless Press, 2010), and Afterworld (above/ground press, 2020). She earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2005), and a Ph.D. in English and Literary Arts from the University of Denver (2010). Andrea is the Program Director for Regis University’s Mile-High MFA in Creative Writing. She also teaches in the Poetry Collective at Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, Colorado.
Cyn Kitchen is Professor of English at Knox College where she’s taught literature and creative writing for more than two decades. She is the author of Ten Tongues, a collection of short stories, and her first book of poems, Broken Hallelujah, is due out in June of 2026. A Pushcart nominee, Cyn’s essays and poems appear in numerous literary journals and anthologies including, American Writers Review, Poetry Quarterly, Poetry South, Burningword, Cutleaf and Appalachian Review. She is currently shopping her memoir, Prosthesis, about growing up in the Midwest and what it took to step beyond the label of “good girl”. You can learn more about Cyn’s work by visiting her website at cynkitchen.net or on Substack: substack.com/@cynkitchen1
Adam al-Sirgany is a writer of fiction and poetry, born and raised in the Driftless Midwest. His debut short story collection, More Hell, was published by Whiskey Tit Books last year, and Adam was recently named the Poet Laureate for the city of Rockford, IL. He serves as the Acquisitions & Developmental Editor for the indie press SFWP and also as a freelance editor. He teaches developmental editing for the UCLA Extension Writers Program, and is a volunteer facilitator for teen poetry workshops. You can see more of what Adam is up to by visiting his website, adamalsirgany.com.
Margaret Yapp is the author of Green for Luck (EastOver Press, 2024) and the founding editor of Rampage Party Press. She has an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and an MFA in Book Arts from the University of Iowa Center for the Book. Her latest poems can be found in Bennington Review, Volt, Noir Sauna, and Broken Stone Review. She lives and works in Iowa City.
Tatiana Schlote-Bonne is the author of the horror novels Such Lovely Skin, The Mean Ones, and What Feeds Below (Fall 2026.) She has an MFA from The Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa. When she’s not writing, she’s either gaming, lifting weights, or teaching people how to lift weights. She is of Japanese, Mexican, and European descent, and lives in Iowa. Find her on IG @thebuffwriter
The SPECTRA Reading Series is supported by Quad City Arts, through the Arts Dollars re-granting program, supported by The Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, The Hubbell-Waterman Foundation, and the Quad Cities Community Foundation – Isabel Bloom Art Education Endowment,.
The David R. Collins Writers’ Conference is supported by Modern Woodman of America – Founding Sponsor, the Illinois Arts Council, and Rozz-Tox.