Returning to Rozz-Tox, for the first time in many months, with new readings in the popular SPECTRA series, the Midwest Writing Center brings a trio of lauded literary talents to the Rock Island venue on May 22: spoken-word author and poet KayLee Chie Kuehl, winner of the University of Iowa Chapbook Prize; Xixuan Collins, author of Flowing Water Falling Flowers; and Augustana College's Beth Powers, who will read from her new book Like You.

An esteemed instructor from the the University Mozarteum Salzburg will explore musical traditions an hour from the Quad Cities in the virtual presentation The Singing of the Amish in Kalona, a May 16 presentation hosted by Davenport's German American Heritage Center, and one offering fascinating insight gleaned by historian and author Thomas Nussbaumer.

Delivered as part of the Davenport Public Library's virtual 3rd Thursday at Hoover's Presidential Library & Museum programming, the May 20 Zoom webinar Iowa's Communal Utopias will find Peter Hoehnle delivering a sweeping overview of different attempts by Iowans to create their own form of utopia featuring the Iowa Pioneer Phalanx, Salburia, the Icarian Communities, the Clydesdale Colony, Communia, and, principally, the Amana Colonies

Accompanied by an entire repertoire of jazz standards and iconic pop hits, a 2005 graduate of Rock Island High School returns to the Quad Cities when the Matt Barber Trio plays a live concert event at Davenport's Grape Life Wine Store & Lounge on May 28, an evening that will find Barber and his longtime touring musicians performing classics from the five albums he has recorded since 2007.