The Virtual Writers Studio hosted by Ryan Collins and the Midwest Writing Center will scribble in online from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Here are the details: Writer’s Studio will be meeting virtually in the private Facebook Group listed below at the regular time (1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month, 11am-1pm). Writer’s Studio regulars or anyone interested in sharing and discussing their work in a constructive space, we’ve started a private group on Facebook for writers to connect while not meeting in-person. Please see the link below to join the group We will also be sharing other writing... Read More

Roald Tweet had a way with words, with listeners, with his comforting voice, and his patient, relentless curiosity and compassion will be felt in the Quad-Cities for years to come. The 87-year-old Augustana College professor emeritus of English died on Wednesday after a brief illness (congestive heart failure and Covid-19), and the tremendous loss reverberates throughout the community. “He was my teacher from the time I was seventeen till now,” said Ann Boaden (Augie Class of ’67), a longtime English professor who retired in 2016. “His brilliance, his puckish wit and playfulness, his persistence... Read More

A native of China, Xixuan Collins has lived in Iowa since 1997, but has only written in English since 2015. Her debut novel, “Flowing Water, Falling Flowers” from the Rock Island-based Midwest Writing Center Press, will be released in October. “I’m still not sure I actually have the confidence even now as a writer,” Collins, 52, said recently. “But I have taken a lot of workshops through MWC and have learned a lot about the craft of writing fiction. Through MWC, I also met some amazing writers and writing instructors, and their encouragement and affirmation have helped me greatly. “I... Read More