ROCKFORD REVIEW YOUTH POETRY AWARD — $600 IN PRIZE MONEY, DEADLINE JULY 15 Contest open to kids 18 and younger. Age categories: 13-18 and 12 and Under. In addition to prize money, the winning poems will be published in our 2023 Winter-Spring edition of The Rockford Review. The contest is open to all kids and the theme is “Tomorrow.” Submit up to three previously unpublished poems and limit poems to 50 lines or less. The $600 prize money will be distributed among the winners. Submit entries via our website submission form (https://www.rockfordwritersguild.org/online-submission-form/) or email them to: sally@rockfordwritersguild.org. Please include all contact information and age. Deadline: July 15, midnight Rockford time (CST) ...

$600 IN PRIZE MONEYOur anonymous donor has sent $100 and a generous family friend of mine has sent $500 for our Rockford Review Youth Poetry Award winners in the 13-18 and Under 13 age categories. Sharpen up your writing skills, kids, and enter our contest, deadline May 15. Parents and grandparents, please encourage your kids and/or grandkids to enter the contest. In addition to prize money, winning poems will be published in our 2022 Summer-Fall edition of The Rockford Review. The contest is open to all kids and the theme is “Tomorrow.” Limit poems to 50 lines or less. The $600 prize money will be distributed to all the winners. Submit entries via our website submission form or email them to: sally@rockfordwritersguild.org ...

Yvonne Boose did an absolutely excellent job of putting our Rockford Review Youth Poetry Award information together into her radio broadcast. You can hear her broadcast here and you can also read it: https://www.northernpublicradio.org/2022-01-13/we-are-all-humans-youth-poets-encourage-other-youngsters-to-enter-upcoming-poetry-contest ...

Writing OpportunitiesSummer “Raspberries” Poetry Contest (Members Only)Submit up to three new, previously unpublished poems (50 lines or less). Theme is Raspberries. The deadline is March 15, 2022. Winning entries published in The Rockford Review, Summer-Fall edition, 2022. Winners announced in the May 2022 newsletter.Fall “Expectations” Prose Contest (Members Only)Submit up to three previously unpublished prose pieces, each 1,300 words or less. Theme is Expectations. The deadline is April 15, 2022. Winning entries published in The Rockford Review, Summer-Fall edition, 2022. Winners announced in the June 2022 newsletter.2022 Summer-Fall Edition (Members Only)Submit up to three new, previously unpublished poems (50 lines or less) or three new prose pieces (1,300 words or less) or a combination of up to three poems and prose pieces to be considered for publication in The Rockford Review. No theme. Simultaneous submissions are fine, as long as you notify us. Please include your bio, 50 words or ...

This year, a donor has sent $100 to distribute as prizes for our Rockford Review Youth Poetry Award winners in the 13-18 and 12 and Under age categories. The deadline is May 15. Parents and grandparents, please encourage your kids and/or grandkids to enter the contest. In addition to prize money, winning poems will be published in our 2022 Summer-Fall edition of The Rockford Review. The contest is open to all kids and the theme is “Tomorrow.” Limit poems to 50 lines or less. Submit up to five poems (in one document) via our website submission form or email them to: sally@rockfordwritersguild.org. Please list your name, address, and age with each poem. All names will be removed before being sent to the judges. And, there’s no entry fee ...

Here are two events you might want to take in.1) Jan. 27You are invited to Zoom-in to our next reading "From Photographs to Poems" in which poems inspired by photographs will be read while the images are viewed. The reading will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 27th January. This is a special reading featuring present and future poets who wrote poems in response to photographs exhibited at the Perspective Gallery in Evanston during October and November. Please register for the Zoom event beforehand by going to the Perspective Gallery Event page and clicking on the registration link for the Jan 27th event: Events — Perspective GalleryWe hope you can join us for the reading.RegardsSteve Geeron behalf of the P2 Collective: Alexa Frangos, Steve Geer, Suzanne Metzel, Maureen Tolman Flannery, Caroline Johnson, Wilda Morris, Susan T. MossP.S. Mike Bales will be one of the readers, too.2) Feb. 6Charlotte Digregorio ...

Free half-day nature writing workshop for writers ages 16 and olderSunday, October 10, 20211 - 3:30 p.m.Taft Campus in Oregon, IllinoisLed by Molly McNett, NIU English FacultyReserve your spot by emailing mmcnett@niu.edu ...

Winter “Frozen Pond” Poetry Contest (Members Only)Submit up to three new, previously unpublished poems (50 lines or less). Theme is Frozen Pond. The deadline is September 15, 2021. Winning entries published in The Rockford Review, Winter-Spring edition, 2022. Winners announced in the October 2021 newsletter. Use the submission form on our website or email sally@rockfordwritersguild.org ...

Charlotte Digregorio of Winnetka, IL has organized a poetry open mic through Zoom, sponsored by the Winnetka (IL) Public Library, that is open to poets globally, especially RWG members. Beginning and experienced poets will share the spotlight, 2 to 4 p.m., Sunday, July 25. For more info and to register, click: https://winnetkalibrary.libcal.com/calendar/events/?cid=3782&t=d&d=2021-07-25&cal=3782&inc=0 ...

Rockford Review Youth Poetry Contest Deadline: May 15 Open to all youth up to 18 years old. Categories: 13-18 and 12 and Under. Send up to 3 poems, each 50 lines or less to sally@rockfordwritersguild.org or use our submission form at rockfordwritersguild.org. Winners in each category will receive $25 and winning poems will be published in the Summer-Fall edition of The Rockford Review ...

Poetry contest open to all youth, 18 years old and younger! Submit up to three poems (each 50 lines or shorter) to sally@rockfordwritersguild.org or use our online submission form at www.rockfordwritersguild.org. Winners of 13-18 and 12 and Under age categories will win $25 each and be published in The Rockford Review ...

Olivia Diamond invites you to explore her redesigned website https://mountainofdreamsbooks.com where you can find the complete collection of her and her husband's books to satisfy diverse reading tastes ...

RWG members: April 15 deadline -- Summer-Fall Members' Only edition of The Rockford Review, poems and prose, no theme, see submission guidelines on our website www.rockfordwritersguild.org April 15 deadline -- Prose contest, theme "Reckonings" see submission guidelines for prose May 15 deadline -- Rockford Review Youth Poetry contest, ages 18 and under ...

Rockford Writers' Guild thanks the authors who participated in our New Year, New Reads book giveaway! Thank you for your generosity in sending your books at your expense to the individual winners! Your efforts were'are greatly appreciated ...

Rockford Review Youth Poetry Award:Deadline: May 15, 2021. Ages: up to 18. Submit up to three new, previously unpublished poems (50 lines or less). Include name, age, address, phone number, email address in upper right-hand corner of a Word document. Winners in two age categories: 13-18 and 12 and under. Cash prize of $25 in each age category and the two winning poems will be published in the 2021 Summer-Fall edition of The Rockford Review. No theme. Simultaneous submissions are fine, as long as you notify us if any or all of your submissions have been accepted elsewhere. Please include your bio, 50 words or less. Notification by June 1, 2021. Submit online at: www.rockfordwritersguild.org or send to: sally@rockfordwritersguild.org.Please encourage your kids or grandkids to enter the contest ...

Summer “Alignment” Poetry Contest (Members Only)Submit up to three new, previously unpublished poems (50 lines or less). Theme is Alignment. The deadline is March 15, 2021. Winning entries published in The Rockford Review, Summer-Fall edition, 2021. Winners announced in the May 2021 newsletter. Submit via online form or via email to: sally@rockfordwritersguild.org ...

Happy Holidays from all of us at Rockford Writers' Guild! ...

If you would like extra copies of the upcoming W-S edition of The Rockford Review, please let me know by December 22. I'll be ordering books shortly after that date. sally@rockfordwritersguild.org ...

Congratulations to Rockford Writers' Guild members Christine Swanberg and Jocelyn Kuntz, winners of the poet laureate and youth poet laureate competition in Rockford. https://www.rrstar.com/news/20201026/rockford-names-its-first-ever-poet-laureate-and-youth-poet-laureate ...

Check out our new Facebook design, courtesy of RWG member Travis Morgan. Click on the Facebook icon on our homepage. Also, we have two deadlines on October 15: our "Spring Melt" prose contest and our regular The Rockford Review deadline, no theme, poetry and prose. Click on Submission Guidelines above. The Rockford Review Youth Poetry Award contest deadline is November 1. See our September newsletter (click on Newsletters above) for more information ...

Calling all young poets! Cash prizes and publication in our 2021 Winter-Spring edition of The Rockford Review. Age categories: 13-19 12 and under For more information, contact editor Sally Hewitt at sally@rockfordwritersguild.org ...

Love this project. I hear Rockford has about 25 of these now. https://littlefreelibrary.org ...

Rockford Review Youth Poetry Award An anonymous donor sent us funds to sponsor a youth poetry contest. The contest will be open to all kids up to age 18, so we hope all of you RWG members will encourage your children and/or grandchildren to submit poems they’ve written. We’ll try to get the word out to the wider public, too. We’ve set up two categories: 13-18 12 and under Please send up to 3 poems, 50 lines or less, to sally@rockfordwritersguild.org. Your name, age, address, email address, and phone number should appear in the upper righthand corner. Two RWG members have graciously volunteered to judge the contest entries. The deadline for entries is October 1, midnight Rockford time. Winners will receive a $20 check from RWG and winning poems will be published in the Winter-Spring edition of The Rockford Review ...

The Summer-Fall edition of The Rockford Review will be mailed next week ...

Invitation from Poets & Patrons of Chicago: Poetry contest with 14 themed categories, plus a free sonnet contest with 2 categories (traditional and modern). Cash prizes. Deadline September 1, 2020. Contests are open to all, except one category open to Chicago area residents only (Rockford is included in the definition of “Chicago area”). Go to www.poetsandpatrons.net for details and guidelines ...

Check out our June newsletter: see the results of our Board election, find out who won the writing contests, notice that our June meeting has been cancelled, and more! Just click on Newsletters at the top menu bar ...

Here's another must-read/hear interview. Connie Kuntz interviews Ian Miles Kessler, Chicago playwright, who is originally from Hamden, CT. Connie calls this “State of the Quarantined Artist.” https://www.northernpublicradio.org/post/state-artist-whole-world-suddenly-tasting-loneliness ...

Rockford has two poet laureate positions available: Poet Laureate and Youth Poet Laureate. The nomination process begins on April 8, with a deadline of June 1. Learn more about the details here: https://www.northernpublicradio.org/post/rockford-poets-laureate-champion-art-poetry-and-spoken-word ...

Due to recent events regarding COVID-19, we’ve decided to cancel our March 15 RWG meeting at the Burpee Museum. Yesterday, WHO declared the coronavirus a pandemic. Be safe and well, everyone! ...

Everyone is invited! March 15 RWG meeting: Burpee Museum of Natural History, 1-3 p.m., downstairs Riverview Room. But, if you aren't feeling well, you might want to stay home. Choose one of the stories you have done so far this year and develop a plan for rewrites. Share what you would like to do in terms of editing/revising. Please bring copies of your work so people can read along and make suggestions ...

Read and hear Connie Kuntz’s fascinating State of the Artist interview with Chicago (originally from Westchester, NY) artist Nate Woogen. He says he identifies as a writer second and a comedian first. When asked why, he said, "Comedy takes over your life once you get into it." https://www.northernpublicradio.org/post/state-artist-slippery-floor-radiator-perfect-combination ...

Join other writers and enjoy their poems and stories read out loud. Bring a friend! Sunday, Feb. 16, Burpee Museum (downstairs Riverview Room), 1-3 PM. Join in on the fun! ...

Read and listen to Connie Kuntz’s heartwarming interview with “fun” artist Valerie Gibbons, who first made a footstool for her sister. "State of the Artist continues with a Rockford woman who makes decoupage. Decoupage involves gluing and arranging paper cutouts on a variety of surfaces. It's a form of expression that has special meaning for artist Valerie Gibbons." https://www.northernpublicradio.org/post/state-artist-whats-name ...

For the January meeting, bring someone else’s writing (prose or poem) that is told from a different character’s perspective (e.g., Grendel by John Gardner which tells the story of Beowulf from the monster’s perspective). In February, bring your writing telling a story from someone other than the main character’s perspective. We’ll share our writing and also have a writing contest ...

Severson Dells Writing Workshop: March 21 Join other writers for a morning with Gavin Van Horn at Severson Dells Nature Center. $35 for Severson Dells members, $45 for non-members. Space is limit- ed, so register early. 815-335-2915 ...

Read and listen to Connie Kuntz's lively interview with Rockford poet and writer Christopher D. Sims. Hear him recite his poem, "Sacred Woman." Christopher D. Sims, aka UniverSouLove, is a poet, spoken word artist, performer, and human rights activist. I followed him for a day in the city where he was born and raised: Rockford, Illinois. https://www.northernpublicradio.org/post/state-artist-pescatarian-poet-says-its-still-who-i-am?nopop=1&fbclid=IwAR2L8A1ka3YbXawzIIIS-wcOUg6rTCACj0ASfoc0JvwhdkE4lPtCrTWqnyw ...

Reminder: everyone is invited! RWG meeting Sunday, Dec. 15, at Burpee Museum from 1-3 p.m. in the downstairs Riverview Room. Come and enjoy your fellow writers, learn new writing tips, read your stories and poems, participate in a writing contest ...

Everyone is invited! It’s that time again for people who live near or in Rockford — our next meeting is a week from today on Sunday, December 15, from 1-3 p.m. in the downstairs Riverview Room of the Burpee Museum. James Marshall will lead the group in discussing the writing of a poem or prose piece that’s a sequel to a story. Join in the camaraderie and learning process. People in Rockford are fortunate to have such a writing group. Cash prizes are awarded for a writing contest ...

Consider giving your writer friends a gift membership to Rockford Writers' Guild. Just click on Give a Gift on our website, www.rockfordwritersguild.org and follow the prompts. Our 2020 Summer-Fall edition is open to members only, so this is a chance for unpublished writers to be published! ...

Read and hear Connie Kuntz’s colorful State of the Artist interview of Manny Tang, aka China Cat, printmaker and painter. Another Rockford artist refers to Manny as “Rockford Royalty.” https://www.northernpublicradio.org/post/state-artist-who-doesnt-little-black-leather ...

Everyone is invited! RWG meeting on Sunday, Nov. 17, at the Burpee Museum, downstairs Riverview Room, from 1-3 PM. Bring an example of a sequel to a story (prose or poem) in which the sequel is written by a different author than the original story ...

Rockford area writers, come on down to the Burpee Museum, Sunday, Nov. 17, 1-3 PM, downstairs Riverview Room. Enjoy friendship and shared creativity! Bring an example of a sequel to a story (prose or poem) in which the sequel is written by a different author than the original story. A writing contest will take place toward the end of the meeting ...

Conservation Crew Work Day — Vegetation Management Saturday, November 9, 2019 9 AM to NOON No experience necessary; training and tools are supplied. Bring a water bottle and stay hydrated. Dress in layers and expect to get dirty! https://www.seversondells.com/events/conservationcrew-nov-9 ...

Just in time for Halloween! Read Connie Kuntz’s delightful spine-tingling, elbow-tickling piece about Ann-Margret Naber and Brian Thomas' Screamatorium. https://www.northernpublicradio.org/post/state-artist-devil-details ...

Don’t miss the Sunday, October 20, Rockford Writers’ Guild meeting at Burpee Museum, 737 N. Main Street, 1-3 p.m. That’s just a week from today. Bring a short prose or poetic retelling of a story that you wrote yourself. And, winners of the “Smooth as Ice” poetry contest are invited to read their poems. James Marshall, Ph.D., will lead the meeting ...

Ornithologist and Rockford Writers’ Guild Vice President Dr. James Marshall bands birds at Severson Dells Nature Center every week during the fall migration. Read Connie's interview with James to find out what he says regarding the decline in our national bird population. https://www.northernpublicradio.org/post/illinois-ornithologist-responds-national-bird-population-decline ...

All artists, including writers, are invited to a coffee klatch with Connie Kuntz on Tuesday, October 1 at 10:00 a.m. sharp at The Shumway; 713 E. State Street in Rockford. Connie is the host of 89.5 WNIJ's State of the Artist. WNIJ is the local station for NPR. For State of the Artist, Connie interviews Illinois artists in the places that inspire them to keep creating and changing the world. The five-minute interviews are broadcast during Morning Edition and then live forever on the WNIJ website and NPR podcasts. She is scouting for artists to feature on the show and she will discuss the interview process at the klatch. No registration necessary, but if you have questions, email Connie at ckuntz@niu.edu. This is a free event and coffee will be served ...

THREE EVENTS AT SEVERSON DELLS: Sept. 26, 7:30 - 8:30 am Breakfast at the Dells Sept. 28, 8 am - 4 pm Forest Quest Scavenger Hunt Sept. 28, 4:30 pm Concert: Musician Kraig Kenning For more information, call 815-335-2915 or email info@seversondells.org ...

“Smooth as Ice” Poetry Contest Winners Thank you to the writers who entered the Smooth as Ice Fall Poetry Contest. Judges selected ten $10 winners and their work with be published in the 2020 Winter-Spring edition of The Rockford Review. Winners are invited to share their poems at the October 20 meeting. Marie Asner for “The Skater.” Cindy Guentherman for “Combing the Dog.” Mark Hudson for “Icy Pond.” John Casey Kalkirtz for “The Old Country Mailbox.” Jennifer Lagier for “Frosted.” Emily Marshall, age 7, for “Smooth as Ice” — children’s category. James Marshall for “Smooth Sailing.” Wilda Morris for “Florrie.” Jim Swierzynski for “Byootocks on Ice.” June Thompson for “Ice Walk.” Honorable mention: R.M. Yager’s “Martini Talk.” ...

Hello, Writers! Our new website is online at www.rockfordwritersguild.org. Check it out! We encourage you to submit your poems and prose pieces via our online submission form. Try it -- you'll like it! We have two deadlines: October 15 for open submissions of poetry and prose and November 15 for our On the Abyss contest (for RWG members only) ...