The co-editor of the Pitt Poetry Series and a professor of creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College, esteemed author Jeffrey McDaniel will be the featured guest in the latest SPECTRA Reading Series event hosted by the Midwest Writing Center, his April 23 engagement at Rock Island's Rozz-Tox treating literature lovers to an evening of poetry, an open-mic event, and a community writing hour.

With the in-person event held in conjunction with the monthly meeting of the Rooting Out Poverty Book Club, Augustana College graduate, former Moline teacher/coach, and Superintendent of Rock Island-Milan Public Schools Dr. Dave Markward will discuss his memoir at the Moline Public Library on April 22, From Dubuque to Selma & Beyond: My Journey to Understand Racism in America available by request through PrairieCat, Libby, or Hoopla.

In 1903 (the year jazz legend Bix Beiderbecke was born in Davenport), the Catholic bishop of Davenport Henry Cosgrove called this Iowa city “the wickedest” in America, mainly because of its downtown Bucktown area, teeming with bars, brothels, and theaters.

With the crowned winner receiving a cash prize and a featured spot in the Capitol Theatre's Wickedest City Burlesque & Variety Fest on Saturday, April 18, the Wickedest Performer burlesque competition will be held at Davenport's Adler Theatre on April 16, the evening featuring electrifying artists from across the country, including Arizona, North Carolina, Seattle, Des Moines, and the Quad Cities.