Cedar Rapids author Alicia Dill will be reading from her forthcoming novel, Beyond Sacrifice (Circuit Breaker Books), this month for Prairie Lights. The virtual event will also include a conversation with Sara Maniscalco Robinson, founder of Veterans’ Perspective. Beyond Sacrifice, Dill’s second novel, tells the story of Concepcion Chapa, a woman of many identities. Chapa […]
Jon Burke
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Fact and fiction intersect to find truth in ‘Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets’
Vino Vérité returns for 2020 this weekend with Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets. Directors Bill and Turner Ross will be in attendance for a Q&A following the screening. The series, presented by FilmScene, Bread Garden Market and Little Village, presents films in the vérité tradition paired with hors d’oeuvres, wine and desserts. Tickets are $20 for […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘Voices After Evelyn’ by Rick Harsch
In 1953, La Crosse, Wisconsin underwent a traumatic cultural upheaval as the disappearance of local teenager, Evelyn Hartley, led to grief, suspicion and social unrest, en masse. Former La Crosse resident and Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate Rick Harsh has turned that chaotic moment in small-town history into the speculative mystery novel Voices After Evelyn.
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘(Intentionally Blank)’ by Thomas Mundt
(Intentionally Blank) Thomas Mundt — Tolsun Books Thomas Mundt’s (Intentionally Blank) opens with a line from a Betty Wright song: “Jumpin’ slick was my ruin.” Wright’s narrator, a free-spirited woman who loses a kind suitor to a more loving and attentive rival, would be right at home in the world of (Intentionally Blank). Mundt’s collection […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘Spectacle’ by Susan Steinberg
Susan Steinberg’s ‘Spectacle’ collects 12 short stories bound within a slim, 135-page volume. Despite ‘Spectacle’’s brevity, due in no small part to Steinberg’s impressive economy of language, several of the stories are so emotionally weighty, readers may feel the need to rest before moving onto the next.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘Snap Judgment’ host Glynn Washington talks growing up in a cult, Ira Glass and the dark side of storytelling
On Thursday, Nov. 1, National Public Radio host and raconteur Glynn Washington will bring his storytelling sensation, Snap Judgment LIVE, to Iowa City’s Englert Theatre. That night, some of the world’s best storytellers will take the stage to tell real life stories, set to the beat of a live band. Snap Judgment LIVE offers a truly unparalleled performative experience — especially for anyone who enjoys storytelling programs like This American Life or The Moth.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Q&A: Andy Stack of Wye Oak on the band’s ‘fearless vulnerability’
One of the true musical highlights of the 2018 Mission Creek Festival is a live performance by Wye Oak, a musical duo consisting of multi-instrumentalists Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Five questions with: Current Joys
Mission Creek Festival: Current Joys w/ Younger, Hot Tang Gabe’s — Wednesday, April 4 at 8:30 p.m. One of Mission Creek’s most anticipated musical acts, Current Joys, is a solo project by L.A.-based artist Nick Rattigan. Classifying Current Joys’ sound within a specific genre label is a challenge, especially in the wake of his latest […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Alchemy Strength and Conditioning holds rowathon to support DVIP, RVAP
This Sunday, Oct. 29, Alchemy Strength and Conditioning (2325 James St., Suite 6 and 7, Coralville) will be hosting a fundraiser for the Rape Victim Advocacy Program (RVAP) and the Domestic Violence Intervention Program (DVIP) — two Iowa City organizations whose budgets have been hit hard by state and federal funding cuts.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘Education is a currency for survival’: Jon Kerstetter on politics, war and recovery
Iowa City Book Festival Presents: Jon Kerstetter Prairie Lights — Saturday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m. In July of 2003, Jon Kerstetter, a U.S. Army National Guard combat physician, found himself in a rather bizarre situation. Despite a lack of training or certification in forensic pathology, Kerstetter was commanded to identify the dead bodies of […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Writer/comedian Sara Benincasa: ‘My aim is singular: to dispel stigma around mental healthcare’
Mental Health Expo Keynote: Sara Benincasa Sun Room, Memorial Union, Iowa State University — Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 19th, author and comedian Sara Benincasa will deliver the keynote address at the Iowa State University Mental Health Expo. Benincasa will discuss her experiences dealing with a major mental […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Interview: Filmmaker David Byars discusses the Patriot movement ahead of Vino Vérité’s screening of ‘No Man’s Land’
This Sunday, July 9, documentarian David Byars is bringing his incendiary new film, No Man’s Land, to FilmScene as part of the Vino Vérité series, presented by FilmScene, ‘Little Village’ and Bread Garden Market. Tickets are $20 for FilmScene members, $25 for the general public. The film begins at 7:15 p.m., with hors d’oeuvres & wine tasting preceding at 6:30 p.m. A wine and dessert reception with the filmmaker begins at 8:45 p.m.
