Ozark Poets & Writers Collective

The Ozark Renaissance: The Ozark Mountains for decades has attracted writers and other artists. The Ozark Poets & Writers Collective, based in Fayetteville, Arkansas, is a forum for creators who work in words. Also below is information on the Ozark Poetry Slam.

OPWC, the Main Event

Please see our new site, ozarkwriters.wordpress.com, for all the latest news about the Collective!

On the last Tuesday evening of each month, OPWC presents a featured reader and open mike. Our guest poets comprise local, regional and national artists, from Miller Williams and Mohja Kahf to Dannye Romine Powell and Naomi Shihab Nye. Admission is free -- not that we mind modest donations. We meet at Nightbird Books which has moved to 215 N. Dickson St. in Fayetteville, the former Ozark Mountain Smokehouse building.

Coming up: 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 26, the esteemed Miller Williams, whose new poetry collection is Time and the Tilting Earth.

See Events for general information and heads'-ups on upcoming OPCW programs. And, check out the Collective's poetry column in the Northwest Arkansas Times, profiling our April feature, the staff of Connotations.

The collective is proud to have as a host Fayetteville's locally owned independent bookstore Nightbird, now at 215 N. Dickson St. It is a member the American Booksellers Association, with access to the collected wisdom and experience of the Book Sense network of independent bookstores across the United States.

Nightbird Books and the Collective on our night will offer for sale or donation a variety of snacks and beverages. All ages are welcome at Nightbird Books!

The featured performance starts at 7:30 p.m. An open mic is a vital part of the evening. Each open mic performer gets up to four minutes to read original works or verse written by others. Our audiences famously encourage open mic readers. The main feature as well as the open mikers perform censorship free; strong language is sometimes used.

After the guest reader, a hat is passed to provide the guest a small stipend and to help fund future readings. The collective has been honored with donation of a new book of poetry every month from the University of Arkansas Press -- and the raffle is free! Often, featured readers offer their own books and chapbooks (and sometimes CDs and DVDs) for sale, autographed.

Slammin'

The Ozark Poetry Slam now meets at 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of the month at Smiling Jack's, behind Dickson Street Bookshop in Fayetteville. Click on Slams for details.

Updated: May 23, 2009

These materials are not endorsed, approved, sponsored, or provided by or on behalf of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

Remember the souls in the last town we blessed.
-- James T. Whitehead, 1936-2003
Co-founder, Creative Writing Program, University of Arkansas

Ozark Poets & Writers Collective

E-mail Collectivists about events etc. E-mail Webmaster about the Web site.