Mauricio Ruiz
Posted inArts & Entertainment

‘I need to say something to be seen’: Courtney Marie Andrews unravels her writing process as artist in residence of the first Iowa City Songwriters Festival

by Mauricio Ruiz

A multidisciplinary artist from Phoenix, Arizona, Andrews was the artist in residence of the first edition of the Iowa City Songwriters Festival (ICSF), which took place at the top of September. Andrews uploaded her first songs on the internet and experienced the first reactions from listeners. “That’s not punk music, people wrote, that’s folk.” At that age she had no idea folk music would become so important for her.

Posted inArts & Entertainment

UI grad Torrey Peters reads from new book ‘Stag Dance,’ discusses writing for a trans audience at Prairie Lights

by Mauricio Ruiz

On Saturday, April 5, Peters stood in front of a packed room at Prairie Lights Book Store and read excerpts from her Stag Dance. One of the many literary guests at the Mission Creek Festival, Peters spoke with UI’s Creative Nonfiction grad student Jenny Singer about the genesis of her book, what’s she’s learned about self-publishing and how it has helped her career as a novelist.

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Review: Mission Creek’s Lit Walk is a sensory, choose-your-own adventure experience

by Mauricio Ruiz

While an author reads, she cannot know that three people are filming her: husband, daughter and granddaughter. It’s a moment to remember. That was the level of intimacy felt on Friday, April 4 during Mission Creek Festival’s Lit Walk. As much a part of the mythos of the Festival as the long list of past music headliners, the Lit Walk, as the MCF website states, gives festival-goers an opportunity to “…hear an unexpected variety of work from a mix of talented local and out-of-town writers.”

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