Tag: Poetry

Quick on the Write: Last Call for Iron Pen Registrations! Contest starts on Friday 2/23

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 16th annual Iron Pen Contest. MWC will supply a prompt to all contestants at 5 p.m. on Friday, February 23 and contestants have 24 hours (entries are due Saturday, February 24 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.

SPECTRA Lives! A Special Event, Featuring erica lewis On Tour For Her New Book :: mahogany ::

Posted on by Ryan Collins

The SPECTRA Reading Series will host a special event featuring acclaimed poet erica lewis on Thursday, October 19 at Rozz-Tox (2108 3rd Ave. Rock Island, IL). lewis, who lives in the Bay Area, will be stopping in the Quad Cities on the Midwestern leg of the tour for her new book mahogany, recently published by Wesleyan University Press.

Doors for the event open at 7:00 p.m., and readings will start at 8:00 p.m. lewis will be joined by another celebrated poet, Becca Klaver, and two local rising stars: Melissa Conway and Htoo Htoo. Event is free and open to the public, with a $5 suggested donation to support youth writing programs at MWC. Local bookseller The Artsy Bookworm will be on hand selling copies of mahogany as well.

Call For Submissions on the Theme of RADICAL HOSPITALITY — Paid Opportunity!

Posted on by Ryan Collins

St. Ambrose University College of Arts and Sciences, Galvin Fine Arts, and the Midwest Writing Center (MWC) are partnering on a series of events and a publication around the theme of Radical Hospitality. This theme calls people to “welcome the stranger” and to extend “an expansive and committed welcome to all regardless of background, beliefs, or circumstances, and particularly to those who face barriers to belonging. More than politeness, radical hospitality calls for a generous sharing of time, resources, and life together” (more on the theme below).

For this project, we are looking for submissions of poetry (30 lines max.) and flash prose (fiction or nonfiction, 500 words max.). Submission open October 1, and close on December 15 (see complete guidelines below). MWC will select the strongest 20-30 works for publication in an anthology, to be published by MWC Press in April 2024. All contributors to the anthology will receive $100 to their work in addition to two copies of the anthology, and the opportunity to record their work for a podcast. Selections will be announced in early January 2024.