The International Writing Program (IWP) at the University of Iowa announced on Thursday it is having to make drastic cuts, because vital grants awarded to the program by the U.S. State Department are “being terminated.”
UNESCO City of Literature
Posted inArts & Entertainment
A community read of ‘Les Miserables’ drives a thread of ICBF programming
Anna Barker hadn’t even made it into her chair in the patio seating area of the downtown Java House for our interview before she posed a question. “Thirteen hundred pages in 92 days? Who does that?” The answer, of course, is that she does — and so do her hundreds of reading companions. The 1,300 […]
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Lilacs and grieving form the central focus of MusicIC’s 2022 events
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 […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
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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Eastern Iowa authors, arts organizations awarded $90,000 in NEA grants
Artists and arts organizations across the U.S. received good news Tuesday, as $33.2 million in grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) were announced. Five Iowa orgs and individuals were among the award recipients, receiving a total of $90,000 in grants. All five are located in eastern Iowa — two in Cedar Rapids, […]
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The 13th Iowa City Book Festival includes Bob Woodward, a celebration of Dostoevsky and more
Literature lovers should get ready to indulge in a week-long celebration of authors, readers and writing, as the 13th annual Iowa City Book Festival (ICBF) kicks off. This year’s festival runs from Monday, Oct. 18 to Sunday, Oct. 24, and unlike last year’s festival, which was entirely virtual because of the pandemic, it will have […]
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‘We were meant to suffer together’: Iowa City to celebrate Dostoevsky’s 200th through his last, epic novel
On March 13, 2020, five days after the first confirmed COVID-19 cases in Iowa, Anna Barker texted UNESCO City of Literature director John Kenyon, with her trademark triple-exclamatory enthusiasm: “Call me call me call me!!! I have an AMAZING quarantine book idea!!!” Barker, a professor of Russian literature at the University of Iowa with a […]
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Downtown Iowa City Arts Showcase: Rachel Yoder of the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature
In 2008, Iowa City’s literary heritage earned its recognition as the first UNESCO City of Literature in the United States. The nonprofit Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature is building on that legacy by working to advance writing on all levels: local, national and international. Rachel Yoder talked to Little Village about some of the […]
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Cities of Literature take over Thursday Nights at Hancher
Cities of Literature representatives from around the world arrived in town on April 3 and will be here through April 6. Although the majority of their event is private, the gathering will offer one event to the public.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
LitCity tour site launches today
Just in time for Iowa City’s hosting duties for this year’s Annual Meeting of UNESCO Cities of Literature, the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature organization, in collaboration with the University of Iowa, is launching LitCity, a new website that provides literary tours of Iowa City.
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa City’s world-class wrestling, writing and the politics in between
It’s not surprising that Iowa City is hosting an international literary conference and an international wrestling championship in the same week. What is surprising is which of these events is embroiled in international controversy.
Posted inCommunity/News
Seattle joins Iowa City as a UNESCO City of Literature
Iowa City is no longer the only UNESCO City of Literature in the United States. On Oct. 31, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization designed Seattle as one of eight new cities of literature. Seattle was one of 64 cities added to UNESCO Creative Cities Network, which recognizes distinction in seven fields: crafts and folk art, design, film, gastronomy, literature, media arts and music.
