This fall, the Des Moines Public Library and Little Village partnered on a short story competition titled “This Time Next Year.” Writers were invited to submit a story under 2,000 words encompassing predictions about the year ahead. The contest’s judges included LV Art Director Chuy Renteria and fellow authors and editors Sophia Hanson, Carol Hunter and Carol […]
creative writing
Posted inArts & Entertainment
En español: Dos poemas de Mónica Quintero Restrepo
He vivido doce dÃas aquà me levanto a las ocho desayuno arepa como si la arepa fuera fácil de conseguir y no hubiera que pedir la harina en Amazon me lavo el pelo todos los dÃas porque la humedad no lo deja prosperar lavo los calzones el consejo es de mi mamá porque no hay […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Two eerie short stories by Victoria Shellady
Stories written and submitted by Victoria Shellady Sourdough Elizabeth Moore had dinner on the table at 5 p.m., like she did every other weeknight. That night’s creation was a new recipe torn from the pages of the latest edition of Better Homes and Gardens. The Best Pot Roast You Will Ever Have, the article claimed. […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
‘At Halloween, I’m at the height of my powers’: An interview with writer Carmen Maria Machado, currently teaching ‘the art of haunting’ at UI
Celebrated experimental writer Carmen Maria Machado is back in Iowa City this fall. The Allentown, Pennsylvania native earned her MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 2018, and is back as a visiting associate professor in the Workshop teaching a very October-friendly graduate course, “The Art of Haunting.” Machado has written three books, including the […]
Posted inLetters
Essay: I am not strong by choice
By Teri Underhill, Norwalk In the summer of 2022, I went with my halau (hula group) to the Big Island of Hawai’i. During this trip, we chanted, danced, hiked, cried, laughed and more. We went to the top of Mauna Kea for the sunrise, celebrated the full moon of Hina (Goddess of the Moon), was […]
Posted inStatewide
“The Caretaker”: A Christmas story by Tom Gingerich
Story by Tom Gingerich, Kalona The old man was on his knees busily mulching one of Oakland’s expansive flower beds when he noticed the SUV approaching in the brisk, early November air. Slowly negotiating the narrow, winding roads traversing the hillside, it pulled up near him. A young man emerged, a leather-bound notebook in his […]
Posted inBread & Butter Dining Guide
Sacraments
As an annoyingly inquisitive child with parents who encouraged critical thinking, I struggled to believe in God. We still went to church on Church holidays, though — not out of a sense of obligation, but out of an appreciation of ritual. The multisensory stimulations of Catholic mass enchanted and mystified me, with the silk and […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The Black Angel and Ana Mendieta
“I have been carrying on a dialogue between the landscape and the female body (based on my own silhouette). I believe this has been a direct result of my having been torn from my homeland (Cuba) during my adolescence. I am overwhelmed by the feeling of having been cast from the womb (nature). My art […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Song of Myself’: An essay on running
The feeling of health, the full-noon trill, the song of me rising from bed and meeting the sun. We let technology guide us in many facets of our lives. We wake up to our smartphone alarms and go to bed staring at them, scrolling, usually knowing we are wasting precious time. Sometimes, possibly more than […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
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 […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
En Español: Minestrone
Trasladaron a mi tÃa, que ya es coronel, de los páramos a la jungla. Un pueblo a tres horas de Bogotá. Tres horas lejos de nosotros, en un lugar donde se pega la ropa del sudor y las piernas se cubren de ronchas por los mosquitos. Cuando me dijeron que mi tÃa y mi primo […]
Posted inCommunity/News
En Español: Campos de maÃz
Es de noche y camino por el campo de Cathy y Ralph. Algo de luna se refleja en los silos, en las escaleras que suben a los techos, en el camión que lleva al maÃz cuando ya está listo para ser vendido. Tras los silos, unos pinos hermosos y gigantes que Ralph me explica dañó […]
