Angela Pelster is the author of Limber, a collection of essays that explores the history of her home country, Canada, as well as sustainability, justice and the margins and trees. The winner of a Golden Eagle Children’s Choice award, Pelster is a 2012 graduate of UI’s Nonfiction Writing Program — where we were colleagues — […]
Iowa City literature
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Hot Tin Roof
Hot Tin Roof: What happened to Violet Kubicek
I worked night shift at the donut shop in Court Hill a couple of summers ago. It’s pretty hard to get used to, and I was getting better at going to sleep at noon so I could be at work by ten, but it was way too hot, so I didn’t sleep for more than, like, four hours for a couple of days.
Posted inCommunity/News
Workshop woes: A supposedly bad thing the Iowa Writers’ Workshop did to literature
On Feb. 10, The Chronicle of Higher Education published Eric Bennett’s essay, How Iowa Flattened Literature. Although it is better researched and more erudite…
Posted inCommunity/News
Prairie Lights makes Business Insider’s list of ‘bookstores every book lover must visit at least once’
Business Insider named Iowa City’s Prairie Lights as one of its top 18 bookstores “every book lover must visit at least once,” confirming once again that we…
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Mission Creek adds Of Montreal, S. Carey, Kishi Bashi and more to 2014 lineup
The Mission Creek Festival released its second round of lineup details today, adding more than 20 artists to the initial billing announced last month…
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An apocalyptic Strange Cage heads to Fair Grounds
So, here’s the good news. The world didn’t end on December 21, 2012, like the Mayans and a bunch of nutjobs suggested. No hidden planets collided with the Earth, no geomagnetic polar switch, no zombie apocalypse. The problem is, it seems as though the world might end anyway at 8 p.m. on Friday, December 13 […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
First details released for the 2014 Mission Creek Festival
Mission Creek officials revealed the first lineup details of 2014 today, boasting a list that includes famed composer Philip Glass and former Drive-By Truckers guitarist/songwriter Jason Isbell. In addition to its usual slew of literature, film, lecture and music events, the 2014 festival will include a new Mission Creek Tech + Innovation Mini-Conference set for April 4-5, as well as a film series co-curated by FilmScene.
Posted inCommunity/News
Business as Usual: Dr. Bob’s tale of two felons
We’re nine hours deep in a dead Thursday when I hit the shack for a leak and a smoke. When I come out of the can, #12 is blowing around the yard, pissed off. “This guy,” he whines, “He was drunk and pushy. He was like, ‘Turn right, turn left,’ having me drive him in […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Hot Tin Roof
Hot Tin Roof: India House
Hot Tin Roof is a program to showcase current literary work produced in Iowa City. The series is organized and juried by representatives of three Iowa City-based cultural advocacy organizations: The Englert Theatre, Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature and Little Village magazine.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Happy Valley High: a short story by Larry Baker
This is a story about when I realized that I was going to die. No matter how rich or powerful, no matter how good looking I was, how pretty my wife or children were, no matter what, I was going to die. If all this sounds too serious I suppose I should point out that […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Poetry at Prairie Lights: Graham Foust to visit Saturday
Poet Graham Foust will be visiting Iowa City this Saturday for a reading at Prairie Lights. He’ll be reading pieces from his new book To Anacreon in Heaven and Other Poems, published by Chicago’s Flood Editions. To Anacreon in Heaven is Foust’s fifth full collection of poetry, and is a follow-up to the critically-acclaimed A […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Long live pie: Prairie Lights welcomes Kate Lebo this Friday
Have you ever considered what pie best represents you? Are you the tart, but sweet combination of strawberry and rhubarb? Are you the whipped whites or the zest of a Lemon Merengue? And if you can claim a pie as your own, what does that say about you as a person? Does strawberry rhubarb reflect your search for daily balance? Or do you embrace the simple delicacy of Apple Pie?
