Missouri Writing Resources
Posted by David Duhr in 
Missouri, the Show Me State, is next up in our State Writing Resources series. Did you know that as of the 2010 census, the mean center of U.S. population is in Plato, Missouri? No? Well, Wikipedia does!
Missouri writing sports a fine history and present, and boasts legends Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain, T.S. Eliot, Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou. Kate Chopin and William S. Burroughs were born in St. Louis. Poet Mary Jo Bang was born in Waynesville, and teaches at Washington U. in St. Louis. And Patience Worth, one of the world’s best-known novelist ghosts, did her ghost(ly)writing through a medium in St. Louis.
Presented in no particular order, here are ten Missouri writing resources, from conferences to local critique groups to literary magazines. If you live in the Show Me State or are planning a move there, these are some organizations you might want to take a peek at.
1) New Letters
A magazine of writing and art.
2) Kansas City Writer’s Group
Meeting continuously since 1965, this group averages around 40 members per semester. Both amateurs and professionals welcome.
3) Summit Scribes Writers Group
Holds regular monthly meetings that include writing and commenting exercises, occasional guest speakers and group discussions of writing, publishing and related topics. The group welcomes new and experienced writers of all ages, both amateurs and professionals, who create all types of writing.
Its mission is to promote writers and their work, to nurture an interest in writing and literature in a large, diverse audience, and to contribute to the quality of cultural life in Kansas City and throughout the Midwest.
Discovering, encouraging, and promoting creativity and communication through literature, art and other forms of cultural expression. Publishes an annual eclectic mix of fiction, essays, interviews, articles, poetry and art.
6) Helicon Nine
Helicon Nine Editions seeks to publish books of unswerving quality, editorial excellence, and aesthetic merit by new and established writers, and to promote the authors and their work on a national and regional level; to nurture an interest in literature in a large, diverse audience; to promote literacy and free speech; and to contribute to the quality of cultural life in Kansas, Missouri and throughout the Midwest.
A statewide organization for professional writers in all genres, providing workshops, networking opportunities, market information, contests, and many other activities to assist writers in developing their careers.
OWL is a group of like-minded individuals dedicated to promoting writing, literacy, photography and art.
9) Washington University Summer Writers Institute
An intensive, two-week program featuring workshops in fiction, creative nonfiction, flash fiction and Poetry, as well as readings, craft talks, and individual conferences with instructors. Writers of all experience levels work together with published authors and exceptional teachers in a supportive, non-competitive format that allows for personalized attention and constructive feedback.
One of the most highly-regarded literary magazines in the United States. Based at the University of Missouri, it publishes four issues each year.
Help us add to this list, Missourians! Do you run a local writing group or a lit journal we should be aware of? Feel free to share info and links in the comments section below.