Fostering community through the literary arts
WHAT WE DO
PORCHLIGHT SUPPORTS WRITERS THROUGH COMMUNITY BASED, COLLABORATIVE, AND MULTI -DISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO CREATIVE WRITING
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PorchLight provides a space for writers of all ages, income levels, and levels of experience to grow their practices, and find creative community.
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We offer readings, classes, sessions to talk process and find accountability, critique groups, residencies and more. We can help you stay current, finish projects, and build a sustainable practice.
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Find out how you can become a member here.
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PROGRAMMING:
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OUTREACH
The Free Generative Writing Workshops, The Fairweather Writing Sessions, The Writing Garden, The Lights-on Salon, Care & Spark.
PROGRAMS FOR MEMBERS
The Long Project Check-in, The Prose Exchange, Member Open Mic Night (quarterly) Member Happy Hour (alternating Tuesdays)
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We co-sponsor many other events so check our calendar for the latest.
COMMUNITY HOURS
Come visit our community salon open 11-3 on Saturday. Inside you'll find information on local and regional literary happenings, a gallery for Image and Text creations, our Writer's Resource Library, deep chairs, and brewed coffee. Consider us your "Welcome Center" for the City of Literature.
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RESIDENCIES AND WRITER'S RETREATS
PorchLight provides a furnished apartment for DIY Writers Retreats. Discounts are given to Iowa Writers. Contact jennifer@porchlightliterary.org to book your stay.
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RESIDENT ARTIST
PorchLight offers a sustainable year round living space for a literary artist with an interdisciplinary focus.
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PROMPTPRESS
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READINGS
Join us for our end-of-the-month Friday Readings. The Rooftop Reading Series (May through September), The Writer Next Door Reading Series
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Director
Jennifer Colville, Ph.D., M.F.A.
Jennifer Colville is a writer and community arts organizer. In 2013 she founded Prompt Press, a project connecting visual artists, book artists and writers. She speaks and leads creative writing workshops on “The Inventive Feminist Voice,” and the intersection of writing and visual art. Elegies for Uncanny Girls, a collection of short stories, was published in 2017 by Indiana University Press. She has taught at the University of Iowa, San Francisco State, Coe College, Cornell College among others; and published fiction and non-fiction in such places as The Iowa Review, The Mississippi Review, Diagram, The Huffington Post, and Longreads. Jennifer is a 2022/2023 Iowa Artist Fellow.
Board of Directors
Rachael Carlson
Jennifer New
Susan Fuchtman
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Advisory Committee
Caleb Rainey
Lauren Haldeman
Amy Margolis
Chuy Renteria
Mark Rahe
Shari DeGraw