The Collins Poetry Residency is established in honor of the Richard Collins family and their contributions to and encouragement of poets and poetry in the Iowa/Illinois Quad Cities and the Upper Mississippi River Valley. The residency supports community-based poetry and a regional poet who resides in the six-county Quad City area (Rock Island, Henry, Mercer, Scott, Clinton, Muscatine).

2010 Poet-in-Residence is Salvatore Marici of Port Byron

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Sheri Grutz: The Women's Restroom

Our first poem is from the small town Iowa poet, Sheri Grutz. She is the author of a full collection of poems: This Sky I Know. This new poem shows how, at least to me, that the unexpected places and situations can serve as an inspiration or muse. She wrote many of her poems that appear in her collection in the women's restroom of a glass factory.

The Women’s Restroom

The tile half way up the wall is like
Chicklet gum; the kind the bank used
to give out, in little green boxes to
match the bills.

It’s a Saturday morning
and there are 2 stalls like drive through
lanes at the bank Both smell like rust.
Both smell like paper. I need this money.
I need this routine.

Something has robbed
me of my energies and taken out what’s
vaulted: the ceilings, the birds, the windows
of my world of poetry.

And when I’m this
depleted, that is when I rise with a message
for the world. That you can’t have me for
long. You will be caught.

Sure as its written
in stone that this is the place we refresh,
we bleed, we primp; this is the place I
sit and write a note to be saved.

Sure as
this is the place I sweep, I mop, I disinfect,
mimicking them cleaning my clock, and
finding words that help.

Sure as this is
the only place on earth where I can be me
and wait to be free. This is the only place
on earth where men are not allowed.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

poet-in-residence: Salvatore Marici


The Midwest Writing Center announced today that Salvatore Marici of Port Byron, Ill., has been selected as the poet-in-residence for the 2010 Collins Poetry Residency. Marici will serve as the resident poet throughout the month of October and facilitate two workshops, two public readings, and an online poetry journal (see Resident Poet Events). Through the residency, Marici will encourage community-based poets who are developing their craft outside of a formal academic setting, and provide a forum to showcase their work through the residency’s online poetry journal and in a public reading of their poems at 7 p.m. on October 27 at the Midwest Writing Center in Davenport.

Marici began writing poetry in 2002 and has never looked back. Since then, his poetry has seen print in numerous literary journals and regional and national publications. In 2009, he took second place in MWC’s Iron Pen contest, and this year was a national finalist in the Mississippi River Valley Poetry contest. He is a member of the Quint City Poets and the LeClaire Writers, and is a regular participant in MWC’s Out Loud monthly open reading.

Monday, September 13, 2010

mentor: Robin Throne


Dr. Robin Throne will serve as the 2010 Collins Poetry Residency mentor. She is an avid supporter of community-based poetry and a patron of the literary arts. Her poetry has appeared in numerous publications, and she teaches creative writing basics workshops for MWC. In 2008, she co-produced Richard Collins’ posthumous poetry collection, Greater Joy, Shorter Sorrow, Thankful Prayer. She also serves on MWC's Board of Directors.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

ex gratia: Ryan Collins


The chief architect for the 2010 Collins Poetry Residency is Ryan Collins (son of Richard Collins), a 2009 poet-in-residence for Quad City Arts, whose residency design served as the model for MWC's Collins Poetry Residency. We are indebted to Ryan's generosity and continued support of community-based poetry.

Ryan Collins resides in Rock Island, Ill., and is the author of the chapbook, Complicated Weather (Rocktown Press 2009). His poems have appeared in many journals and magazines, most recently Greatcoat, Sentence, and Third Coast. He teaches college English and leads various writing workshops for Quad City Arts, the Moline and Bettendorf Public Libraries, and the Midwest Writing Center. Ryan also serves on MWC's Board of Directors.
(photo by River Cities' Reader)

Friday, September 10, 2010

in memoriam: Richard Collins (1932-1992)


Richard J. “Dick” Collins was born in 1932 in Iowa City, Iowa. While he was in elementary school, the family moved to Rock Island Illinois. He graduated from Rock Island High School in 1952 and from Augustana College in 1956. In 1967 her earned a master’s degree in English from the University of Iowa.

Dick was a well-known teacher and coach in Moline and Rock Island for more than thirty years. His wit, enthusiasm, and generosity in sharing gifts of mind and spirit, and above all, love, shaped the lives of literally thousands of students.
He died of pancreatic cancer in January of 1992. He married Susan Nelsson in 1975. The couple has one son, Ryan, and a granddaughter, Chloe.

from back cover Greater Joy, Shorter Sorrow, Thankful Prayer (MWC Press, 2008)