“Who ever thought it was a good idea?” Iowa Writers’ Workshop professor and alumnus Garth Greenwell asks in a Substack post published on Wednesday morning. Titled “Why I Don’t Believe in Workshop Anymore,” the essay lays out why Greenwell has decided not to teach “traditional, critique-based” writing workshops going forward. “That’s a slightly scary pronouncement, […]
Eastern Iowa
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Filmmaker Drew Johnson on why his team chose to zoom in on East Palestine, Ohio — and how it reminds him of Cedar Rapids
Drew Johnson grew up in Cedar Rapids making movies with his friends in his backyard. Now an adult, his filmmaking career has flourished without Johnson needing to leave the Midwest. He’s was one of the founding members of Loose Films, an award-winning production house based in Columbus, Ohio. Johnson founded the company with Noah Dixon […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Review: Que Chimba is a fast, family-run Colombian restaurant out of the Old Capitol mall
One of Iowa City’s newest restaurants is so great, they put it in the name. Que Chimba Colombian Street Food opened in the Old Capitol Town Center in March. Que Chimba is a colloquialism that translates to “That’s great” or “That’s awesome,” and the restaurant lives up to its name in more ways than one. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Photos: Iowa City water plant opens its doors for a public tour
On July 21, Little Village graphic designer Kellan Doolittle toured the City of Iowa City’s municipal water treatment plant, located at 80 Stephen Atkins Dr. The facility treats around 6 million gallons of water a day for use by Iowa City and University Heights residents. (However, most University of Iowa campus buildings, including UIHC, are supplied by […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Nonprofits partner to furnish ‘The Row,’ six new houses for victim-survivors in Johnson County
Since opening its first shelter for people threatened by domestic violence in 1980, DVIP, now DVIP/RVAP, has seen the need for its services grow exponentially. The nonprofit, which grew out of an initiative launched by the University of Iowa’s Women’s Resource and Action Center in the late 1970s, now provides immediate and long-term crisis support […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
New Mary Oliver documentary inspires Iowa City orgs to celebrate a poet often disregarded in elite circles
Film director (and former University of Iowa professor) Sasha Waters first recalls being struck by the work of Mary Oliver as a new parent, listening to A Prairie Home Companion in her Iowa City kitchen. Years later, PBS would ask her to make a documentary about the late Pulitzer Prize-winning poet for the American Masters […]
Posted inCommunity/News
More Iowans are turning to ketamine therapy when other depression treatments fail
Joshua Bohnsack is a member of the Chicago band Gold Dust, but he’s currently touring a solo album, Desire Path. The songs were inspired by his experience with ketamine. Growing up in the Quad Cities, mental health wasn’t really talked about, Bohnsack explained to Little Village. While attending the University of Iowa, he sought help […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Keep an eye out for ‘Selena’ and other acclaimed films in the Quad Cities Latino Cinema Series
For many, Selena, released in 1997, was one of the first films about Latino culture they watched. It was for me. While Mexican television shows such as El Chavo del Ocho and telenovelas like Rubí were frequently playing in the living room, Selena, a biopic about Tejano musical artist Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, is one of the earliest movies about Latinidad I can recall being shown.
Posted inCommunity/News
Gotta catch ’em all? UI invites you to ‘BioBlitz’ its Ashton Prairie, home of at least 239 species
During last year’s BioBlitz at the University of Iowa’s eight-acre prairie restoration project — the Ashton Prairie Living Laboratory (APLL) — 52 volunteers observed 238 different species of plants, fungi, insects, arachnids and birds, as well as one frog (an American bullfrog), which brought the observed species total to 239. All 239 were spotted in […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Painter Marcia Wegman’s final exhibition includes nods to Things & Things & Things, her beloved bygone Iowa City store
Marcia Wegman has been in the Iowa City zeitgeist since arriving here in 1957 to study printmaking with Mauricio Lasansky at the University of Iowa. Now at the age of 90, Marcia is presenting what she is calling her final show, one that also serves as an homage to her time running a beloved retail store in the heart […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Fully Booked at ICPL: Stories to celebrate Disability Pride Month
Disability Pride began as a single day of celebration when the Americans with Disabilities Act became law on July 26, 1990. In 2015, July officially became Disability Pride Month on the 25th anniversary of the ADA. Representing decades of disabled-led activism, including an historic 26-day occupation of the San Francisco federal building in 1977 over […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Planned Parenthood to close Iowa City Health Center — one of its last two clinics in the state
Planned Parenthood is closing its Iowa City Health Center at the end of July. After the center shutters on Friday, July 31, the Susan Knapp Health Center in Des Moines will be the only Planned Parenthood facility in the state offering in-person medical services. The Des Moines center will also continue to provide telehealth services […]
