SPW address, URL, Motto, Quill and Ink image

Thanks for visiting our website.  We're a nonprofit literary organization based in Springfield, Illinois, home of our 16th U.S. president Abraham Lincoln. We're proud to have served central Illinois since 1993, inspiring and supporting the literary arts.  Since 1999, our annual teen poetry anthology, Navigating the Maze, has reached teens, their families and friends, and others around the world.

SPW In-Person Open Mic, March 6, 2024 

Join SPW members and friends for our live, in-person, indoor, spoken word open mic from 6-8 PM March 6 -- and the first Wednesday of every month -- in the parlor at historic Edwards Place,  706 North Fourth Street, in Springfield. Because Edwards Place contains many historic items, please refrain from touching furniture and artifacts, and please remain the parlor and hall areas. You may bring refreshments (except coffee and red wine, which stain), but please take packaging and waste materials with you when you leave. See you at the open mic! 

Poetry in CyberSpace: SPW Open Mic March 20, 2024

The Springfield Poets and Writers monthly open mic via Zoom Cloud Meeting resumes, on the third Wednesday of every month. Link information is posted below. Share your own work, read the words of your favorite writers, or join just to listen. 

Time: March 20, 2024, 6:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
To Join the Zoom Meeting  at 6 PM on March 20,
Copy and paste this shortened link into your browser's address window https://tinyurl.com/5s2nwfdf

Or, from the Zoom app, join using the Meeting ID: 867 1783 9201 and Passcode: 626258

On a smartphone, one tap mobile: +13126266799,,86717839201#,,,,*626258# US (Chicago)

SPW sponsors monthly readings at Stella Coffee & Tea

Springfield Poets and Writers is partnering with Stella Coffee & Tea to host a special monthly reading, from 10 to noon on the fourth Saturday of every month. On February 24, the featured reader was SPW member Joshua Graff. Future featured readers will include visiting writers -- and SPW members!  

Poets & Painters event with Sangamon Watercolor Society 

Our November collaborative ekphrasis event with the SWS and the Springfield Art Association's M.G. Nelson Gallery was also a success! See the event page on this site for more information, and to view the event's program book, containing the paintings chosen by SPW, and the original writings they inspired. Watch for other Poets and Painters collaborative events, coming soon!

SPW 30th Anniversary T-Shirt graphic, incorporating the winning design submitted by Jennifer Holleran. Coming soon: how to order. 

Past President
Hugh Moore    

25th anniversary
t-shirt graphic designed by SamBDavis. Another T-shirt contest is planned for 2023.