“‘You ever smoke meth?’ he asked, casual like he was offering a cigarette.” So begins a passage in S. Elias W Sharp’s unforgettable debut memoir, Dreams are for the Dead. A former roommate poses the question to Sharp in the empty apartment they used to share. The furnishings are now all gone. The encounter continues, […]
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True Love — April 2026
This comic was originally published in Little Village’s April 2026 issue.
Fully Booked at ICPL: New DC Comics absolutely worth your time
DC Comics’ Absolute titles are reimagined and radical new takes on their most popular heroes, and have genuinely got me excited about reading comics again. The set-up is fascinating: The characters of the Absolute universe are at a disadvantage, because this world bends towards darkness and evil. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were the first […]
Fully Booked at DMPL: Prose books authored by poets
I am a lifelong poetry lover. It began with my Shel Silverstein obsession as a child and carried through into my adulthood, as I discovered amazing poets like Lucille Clifton, Sharon Olds and Sandra Cisneros. I love poetry the same way I love short stories; it’s incredible the way a skilled writer can distill complex emotions […]
A new burlesque festival honors Davenport’s history as ‘the wickedest city in America’
Local burlesque performers hope to throw the biggest burlesque festival the Quad Cities has ever seen with their Wickedest City Burlesque and Variety Festival, happening April 16-20 across various venues in the Q.C. area. Highlights include The Wickedest Performer competition at the Adler Theatre, a Fandom Showcase at the Circa ’21 Speakeasy and the Grand […]
Everyone and their dog can enjoy a free bike ride thanks to this Johnson County nonprofit
There’s nothing like the feeling of freedom when riding a bicycle, attached to the earth only by a couple of spinning tires, the road spooling out in front of you, the wind in your hair. But for some people, the delight of riding a bike is just a distant memory. Limited mobility, injuries, or the […]
Iowa House panel passes bill restricting medication abortions
Efforts to pass a bill restricting access to abortion medication earlier in this year’s legislative session stalled, but the bill was brought back and advanced Tuesday by an Iowa House Appropriations subcommittee. HF 2563 would require medications that can induce abortions, including mifepristone, to be administered or prescribed in person. This proposal would limit the […]
Letter to the editor: Grassley is unlikely to grow a spine, or bow out gracefully
By Bill Radl, Iowa City I am heartened by Ed Flaherty’s optimism as he calls on citizens to write Grassley to urge the senator to oppose the war in Iran. Ed is a good man and a dedicated protester against misdirected and just plain stupid military intrusions by our government around the world. I am […]
Review: ‘Dishonorable Discharge’ put upcycled utility garments, odes to protests on the 237 runway
The peak of last Saturday’s Dishonorable Discharge, the Basement Collective show at Cedar Rapids’ Eastern Iowa Arts Academy, came halfway through. Poet Henry Morray, outfitted in a heavy camo jacket with an upside-down flag painted on the back, wheeled in a frenzied goosestep up and down the runway, barking the Rudyard Kipling poem “Boots” through a squawking megaphone.
State government ‘inadvertently posted’ confidential info about almost 7,000 Medicaid recipients
Confidential information about almost 7,000 Medicaid recipients in the state was exposed in a data breach caused by a mistake at the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). According to a HHS news release on Monday, a file containing confidential information on 6,717 Iowans receiving Medicaid was “inadvertently posted to the Department’s website […]
Public Nuisance — April 2026
This comic was originally published in Little Village’s April 2026 issue.
Horsecope — April 2026
This comic was originally published in Little Village’s April 2026 issue.

