Tag: reading

The Big Read Kick-Off is Tonight! Wed. 11/8 at 7:00 p.m. on YouTube

Posted on by Ryan Collins

MWC is thrilled to be partnering with Illinois Humanities on the Big Read! Illinois Humanities is supporting this project throughout the state with the National Endowment for the Arts. 

This year’s theme is “Reconsidering The American Dream” through the two books chosen: Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh, and Infinite Country by Patricia Engel. 

The Midwest Writing Center will be assisting with facilitating book groups here in the Quad Cities. If you do not yet have a reading a group or have not yet reaching out with a group in mind, please email Sarah Elgatian to indicate whether you are looking for a group, or if you’d like to participate in Big Read with a group you’re already in.

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.

Annual QC Banned Books Reading – Thurs. 10/5 at RIPL Watts-Midtown Branch

Posted on by Ryan Collins

The MWC will be co-hosting the Banned Books Reading on Thurs. )ct. 5 with our terrific partners at RIPL, and we’re very excited to have this event in collaboration to celebrate free expression & the written word during the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week, Oct. 1-7. 

Doors will open at 5:30pm for an opening reception. The readings will begin promptly at 6pm. This year, the event will be held in the auditorium of the Watts-Midtown Branch, and also live-streamed on the library’s Facebook page.