With the new semester comes a new schedule of readings for the Emerging Writers Reading Series (see below). And to kick off the semester, we’ve developed an event that is open to folks beyond current MFA students, including faculty, alumni, and students from other programs, which will be held Jan. 26 at 7pm in Dog-Eared Books!
The first event of the Emerging Writers Series coincides with the January 31, 2026 deadline for submission of an original 100-word short story to the Serrano Foundation’s International Micro-Story Contest, a free competition which offers the author of the winning entry a €20,000 grand prize and attendance at the Serrano Foundation’s award ceremony in Madrid, Spain.
While Emerging Writers can’t offer such lavish gifts as the Serrano Foundation, we invite you to compose your own 100-word short story and try it out on a discerning audience at our first Emerging Writer Series event of Spring 2026 semester.
We offer a $10 Dog-Eared Books gift certificate to the first 10 participants who email us at ejiro55@iastate.edu (cc’d) and commit to reading their new and original 100 word short story to a cheering audience at Dog-Eared Books on January 26th.
Sign-up for participation in the event will remain open to additional readers, but only the first 10 who respond to this call will receive a gift certificate at the event.
Participation is free and open to the public. Let’s win this thing!