ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS (July 12, 2023) — The Midwest Writing Center will host a Community Conversation Brown Bag event on Thursday afternoon, July 27, at the Rock Island Public Library Downtown Branch. The event will feature memoirist and Davenport native Ben Miller, and award-winning poet Ann Pierson Wiese, who will talk about their work, their life together in writing, and why they believe writing is important.

ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS (May 12, 2023) — After twenty-plus years, the David R Collins Writers’ Conference (formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Writers’ Conference) will return to the campus of Augustana College this summer, June 22-24. Featuring our stellar Conference Faculty (Kali White VanBaale, Keith Pilapil Lesmeister, Jesus “Chuy” Renteria, and Rebecca Wee) leading three-day workshops, participating in a Community Conversation keynote event, and holding a public reading.

ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS (February 13, 2023) — The Midwest Writing Center is taking registrations for its 15th annual Iron Pen Contest. MWC will supply a prompt to all contestants at 5PM, Friday, February 24, and contestants have 24 hours (entries are due Saturday, February 25, 5PM) 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.

ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS (July 19, 2022) — The Midwest Writing Center is excited to return to Rozz-Tox for our live reading series SPECTRA. This event will showcase interns from 2022’s Young Emerging Writers Program as well as alum of the program. KAS Music will open the event with a thirty-minute original set.