Missoula Writing Collaborative
What We Do
The Missoula Writing Collaborative teaches literary competence, critical thinking, cultural awareness, and artistic joy through creative writing.
We place writers in rural, tribal, and town schools throughout western Montana to show young people the power of words and help them find their voices as writers.
Each year we teach over 2,000 kids to love to write.
Upcoming Events
- Summer Camp | July 13-17 & July 20-24
- Fall Writers’ Rooms | Beginning in September
- Poetry Open Mic |October 1st
News & Announcements
Writing Our Place: A Celebration of Creativity Across Western Montana
On a beautiful Thursday night in late April, MWC celebrated the many people who help us teach kids...
The Gift of Poetry
During the waning weeks of December, our fall school residencies came to a close and hundreds of...
Meet Caroline Simms, MWC’s New ED!
Caroline Simms comes to the Missoula Writing Collaborative with a background in teaching English,...
A testimonial
From Superior School 4th Grade Teacher, Stacy Crabb, spring 2025
“I had a student who wouldn’t put pencil to paper during the first session. By the end of the program, she was excited about writing and would write half to full-page poems. This enthusiasm has extended into our daily writing as well.“
Schools Served each year
Years in operation
Writers in Residence
Students reached each year
On This Paper
Excerpt by Zach, 8th grade
On this paper can be mythical things
Treasured kings
This world is built from the tip of a pen
The wings of a crow
The falling snow
This shining place
This fantastical love.
Land Acknowlegment
The Missoula Writing Collaborative is located in the Missoula valley, the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Séliš (Salish), Ktunaxa (Kootenai), and QÌispé (upper Kalispel or Pend d’Oreille). Our teaching takes us further afield to the homelands of the Niitsitapi (Blackfeet) and A’aninin (Gros Ventre). We acknowledge the systematic erasure of many Nations from this land and recognize that indigenous people are a vital part of our past, present, and future. Our teachers have been honored to teach creative writing to students in schools on the Flathead Reservation of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes for many years, students who teach us every day.
