MWC Press is doing a special online sale for the holidays–all of the below titles (including the entire Foster-Stahl Chapbook Series to date) are only $5 (+shipping) through 12/31/25!
ADAPTATION – Anthology Project | Open for Submissions through 12/1
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 “Adaptation.”
For this project, we are looking for submissions of poetry (30 lines max.) and flash prose (fiction or nonfiction, 500 words max.). Submission open September 15, and close on December 1 (see complete guidelines below). MWC will select the strongest works (approx. 20-30) for publication in an anthology, to be published by MWC Press in April 2026. 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 2026.
Then, all contributors will have the opportunity to read their work during the “Speak Your Peace” event at Galvin Fine Arts on Friday, January 30, 2026 where they will have a chance to win up to $500 in a contest decided by audience members. Contributors will have the opportunity to record their works for a podcast prior to the event, and the event will be recorded live.
The anthology will be published in April 2025, and the contributors will be invited to read at a release event at Galvin Fine Arts (date TBA), where the first 100 people in attendance will receive a free copy of the anthology.
Announcing the Results of the 2024 Foster-Stahl Chapbook Series
Thank you all for submitting your manuscripts to us for the Foster-Stahl Chapbook Series. We apologize for the delay in making this announcement, and we appreciate your patience. We are grateful to everyone who gave us the opportunity to read and consider their work. The excellence and range of the manuscripts we read made the selection process at once terrific and extremely difficult.
What a Poem Wants: New Poetry Critique Group at MWC, facilitated by Ryan Collins
The Midwest Writing Center is hosting a pay-what-you-can poetry critique group for “serious poets” — the next meeting is Wednesday, November 19 at 5:30 p.m. at their office in the Rock Island Public Library – Downtown branch. The group will be facilitated by poet and MWC Executive Director Ryan Collins.
The group is open to poets who are actively working toward publishing their work and/or developing a new book or chapbook project, who have “a broad conception and appreciation of what a poem can be.” Collins said he hopes the group will be “an opportunity for poets writing adventurous work to engage and help each other find their poems’ most successful shapes.”
MWC Press Bookstore Open for Business!
After much hassle & delay, our MWC Press bookstore is back up & running! All of our most recent titles are ready and available for purchase today — check out all the info here:
https://www.mwcqc.org/mwc-press/online-catalog/
We’re still updating some titles in our back catalog, but everything will be live soon!
MWC Offers New Writing Group — Memory Keepers: Next Meeting 11/20 at RIPL Downtown
One of the greatest gifts you can give to your children and future generations is to keep your family stories alive. Please join our new Memory Keepers Group as we come together with a common interest and goal to preserve our family stories through the written word.
The next meeting will be Thursday, November 20 from 1:00-2:30pm in the MWC office, ground floor of the downtown Rock Island Public Library, 401 19th St., Rock Island.