SPECTRA Reading Series: Gina Franco at Rozz-Tox -- October 24.

Thursday, October 24, 8 p.m.

Rozz-Tox, 2108 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL

Boasting a community write-in opportunity, an open-mic set, and a trio of evocative poetry readings, the Midwest Writing Center's latest SPECTRA Reading Series event will take place at Rock island's Rozz-Tox on October 24, this literary celebration featuring the talent of Melissa Conway, Zafirah Hassan, and showcased poet Gina Franco.

A professor at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, Gina Franco is the author of two books of poetry: The Keepsake Storm (University of Arizona Press) and The Accidental (University of Arkansas Press), the latter title the winner of the 2019 CantoMundo Poetry Book Prize and listed by NBC Latino as one of "10 books from 2019 by and about Latinos you shouldn't miss." She has published widely in journals and anthologies, most recently with 32 Poems and with a forthcoming issue of Poetry. Her poem "The Line" — an elegy for her father that reflects on the great Arizona copper strike of 1983 and the lynching of Mexican and Mexican Americans — was selected for the 2024 publication of Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology and is featured on their website. Franco's poetry can be read online with AGNI, the American Poetry Review, Narrative, the Poetry Foundation, and Poets.org.

Joining Franco in the Midwest Writing Center's and Rozz-Tox's latest SPECTRA presentation, Melissa Conway is a lover of landlocked states, gas station slushies, and the drive back home. Conway's work has been published in Roads We’ve Taken from Pearl City Press, Sundog from Fruit Salad Co, and more. They operate Recycled Valentine (@recycled.valentine on Instagram), and you can find Conway playing for the Quad City Rollers or out hiking with their dogs. And completing the roster of SPECTRA participants is Zafirah Hassan, who has been writing for as long as they can remember. Hassan loves writing both poetry and prose, and they are currently attending Black Hawk College. Other works by Hassan can be found in The Atlas vol. 18 and The Atlas vol. 19.

Taking place on October 24, the SPECTRA Reading Series' latest event will begin at 6 p.m. with a free community write-in; there will be short reading followed by a prompt written by Franco on the theme of “between worlds.” Copies of the reading will be available at no cost, and there will be time for participants to write and briefly discuss their work. Afterward, open-mic readings will take place beginning at 7 p.m., with spaces for the five-minute sets limited and offered on a first-come/first-served basis. And aat 8 p.m., local poets Conway and Hassan will open for Franco’s feature reading. The event is free and open to the public, with books from Gina Franco, Melissa Conway, and MWC Press available for purchase. Donations to the Midwest Writing Center are welcome and go to support youth writing programs in the Quad Cities.

The SPECTRA Reading Series is supported by the Arts Midwest GIG Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from the Illinois Arts Council. For more information on the October 24 literary event, call (309)200-0978 and visit RozzTox.com, or call (309)732-7330 and visit MWCQC.org.

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