The National Council of Teachers of English Student Affiliate of the University of Iowa invites everyone to the first ever “writing-tailgate” being held on Oct. 20, the official National Day on Writing. In collaboration with The Iowa Review, the City of Literature, Iowa City Public Library, and the Derek Project, this event celebrates two passions of this great city-- football and literature.

There will be activities for young children through adults including literary scavenger hunts, Scrabble scrambles, magnetic poetry, a haiku contest, twitter stories, digital storytelling, the Hemmingway Challenge (six-word-stories), post-it fiction, erasure/found poetry, words to live by, and art-inspired writing. Stop by on your way to the game for free, tailgate-inspired food and fun door prizes. Plan to stay the whole time or just pop in for a quick 1-5 minute writing activity!

As an added bonus, authors from the Iowa Review’s Discoveries anthology will read from their selections in the anthology between 3 and 4 PM. From 4 to 5 PM, an open mic event will open up the space to writers of all ages to share their work with the audience. Activities are open throughout the duration of the event.

The goal is that NCTE-SA will publish an anthology of the writing participants create to highlight our incredible and diverse writing community!

The motto for the event: Penn State is not mightier than the Iowa Hawkeyes, but the pen is still mightier than the sword.

The National Council of Teachers of English

Non-Profit Citizen's Group

This event is open to the public.