Ed Folsom first heard Walt Whitman’s “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” in 1963 on the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Folsom, now the Roy J. Carver Professor of English at the University of Iowa and editor of the Walt Whitman Quarterly Review, was in 11th grade at the time. He recounted […]
Rob Cline
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Swamp Fox Bookstore to host Author Fair during the Marion Arts Festival
On Saturday, May 21, City Square Park in Uptown Marion will be filled to bursting with artists and art fans for this edition of the Marion Arts Festival. The enterprising folks at Swamp Fox Bookstore, located just a couple of blocks from City Square Park, hope to draw the attention of some of those visual […]
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Ilana Bean explores the interactions between audiences and performers
Nonfiction Fellow Reading: Ilana Bean Englert Theatre — Sunday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m., Free Ilana Bean, an MFA candidate in the University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program, is interested in the interaction between artist and audience in performing arts settings. This interest led Bean to apply to be the fourth annual Englert Theatre Nonfiction […]
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T.C. Boyle discusses and reads from his work; his writings have never been timelier
T.C. Boyle returns to Iowa City this week for a pair of events presented by the University of Iowa Center for Advancement and the UI Lecture Committee. First, tonight, May 4, those orgs join with FilmScene for a screening of The Road to Wellville, the 1994 film based on Boyle’s 1993 novel of the same […]
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Get lit at Mission Creek! A preview of the festival’s literature event track
The Mission Creek Festival, a highlight of the area’s arts and culture scene, always includes an impressive slate of authors and a variety of ways to interact with them. This year’s festival includes the annual Lit Walk (April 8), which connects readers and writers in a different setting throughout downtown Iowa City; the Small Press […]
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In-person readings return to Prairie Lights
There was a time, though it seems so very long ago now, when you could count on Prairie Lights to host in-person events with authors on an fairly aggressive schedule. When the pandemic put those events on indefinite hiatus, it felt as though one of the defining features of the City of Literature had been […]
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Rooms to grow: Erin Casey on stepping down from Writers’ Rooms leadership and launching toward her own success
Area author Erin Casey is in flux. She’s currently in the process of stepping back from her longtime leadership role for the Writers’ Rooms, a local organization that supports writers by creating communities of authors working in similar genres. And she’s celebrating the quick success of her first Kickstarter campaign, launched earlier this month to […]
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KCCK celebrates 30 years of Bobby D’s ‘da Blues with a sold-out party
When you think of long-running musical traditions on Cedar Rapids area radio, there’s a good chance two things come to mind: polka on Sunday mornings and the blues on Saturday night. Bob DeForest is largely responsible for making the blues the sound of Saturday night in Cedar Rapids. His show, ’da Blues, debuted on KCCK […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: James Tutson — ‘Still’
James Tutson did not get any chairs to turn with his blind audition performance on The Voice in March of this year. But those who have heard the Iowa City musician — live or on record — know that his sometimes sweet and sometimes raw vocal tone and thoughtfully creative lyrics have the ability to […]
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Cedar Rapids Community Orchestra debuts new conductor at first performance since March, 2020
Dr. Ghyas Zeidieh has waited a long time to take to the podium and lead the Cedar Rapids Community Orchestra in concert. The orchestra’s concert on Sunday, Dec. 5 will be a moment nearly two years in the making. The CRCO last performed in March of 2020. Since then, the ensemble has experienced both lows […]
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No writing style is off limits in The Writers’ Rooms
When Erin Casey and Alex Penland started The Writers’ Rooms, the idea was to create supportive environments for writers who worked in one of several specific genres. As the organization’s website puts it: “The Writers’ Rooms endeavors to help all writers with their craft. We strive to encourage and foster community-sourced knowledge to help lead […]
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Welcome back: Two CRANDIC theater companies return to the stage this weekend
It is late 1968 and Judy Garland is in London — in large part because her erratic behavior and performances have made it difficult for her to perform in the United States. She is preparing for a five-week run at the Talk of the Town cabaret club. And she’s remembering better times. That’s the story […]
