Ozark Poets and Writers Collective

a forum for creators who work in words

OPWC logo. C 2012 Steve Holst
Copyright 2012 Steve Holst

Events

Readings

A rapt audience at Nightbird Books on 31 August 2010
Audience at Nightbird Books 

On the last Tuesday of every month (except December) OPWC features regional and nationally acclaimed writers of verse and prose. An open mic for audience members is a vital part of the evening.

We meet at Nightbird Books, 205 W. Dickson St. in Fayetteville. All ages are welcome to the Collective program, but be cautioned that the language and themes of contemporary poetry and fiction can be raw. Nightbird’s books and gifts will be for sale as well. Featured readers often offer their books and chapbooks (and sometimes CDs and DVDs) for sale, and are happy to autograph them.

Coming up at Nightbird Books

  • 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020 — Noelia Cerna will introduce her vision and share her poetry.
  • 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 — To Be Announced

The collective is proud to have as a host Fayetteville’s locally owned independent bookstore Nightbird. It is a member of the American Booksellers Association, specifically its IndieBound program for independent bookstores and their fans. Nightbird Books offers beverages and tasty snacks.

All ages are welcome at Nightbird Books.

Choosing Monthly Featured Readers

Here is how the Ozark Poets & Writers Collective chooses the featured artist for its monthly program.

The collective schedules its programs months in advance. We rarely audition formally, nor do we accept everyone who requests.

The board often picks featured writers by:

  1. Recommendation of at least two board members
  2. Studying a creative writer’s published works plus video or audio (often via the writer’s website or social network page). and/or
  3. Seeing the writer doing 4-minute sets at many OPWC open mic’s

We turn down some requesting writers because they don’t seem to have 30-45 minutes of top material or have a proven stage presence. We tell them that maybe with another year or two of writing and open mic’s or similar endeavors they may meet those two criteria, when we’ll reconsider.

Please use our Contact Form to let us know if you’re interested in featuring. Northwest Arkansas has other comparable venues for writers and spoken wordsmiths. The main ones can be found on the OPWC links page.