As I walked to the Englert Theatre, the streets were busy with people, many of whom had on the festival wristband.

At 11:45 a.m., the Witching Hour event, Notes on the Nameless: Fools Mag & Exhibit began. Fools Magazine is a literary, arts, and culture magazine in Iowa City that is student-run.

Speakers

To begin with, Grace Oeth opened the program by giving a summary and introducing the speakers. She explained how the readings will cover a variety of topics inspired by the different themes presented at Witching Hour.

Nichole Shaw

*Not pictured because photo not found on Fools Magazine’s website.

Beginning the readings, Nichole Shaw, contributor, walked to center stage and sat in front of the mic. She smiled and gave a little background on what she was going to read. Her main topic: blackness.

The pieces she read were heartbreaking, personal, eye-opening, inspiring and in one word: beautiful.

For example, she spoke about her ‘black hair’ and how it would often be touched, prodded at, looked at, and made fun of. Her pieces opened up a part of herself to the audience that was so vulnerable and personal.

Audience members sat in awe and sheer silence as she read, entangled in every word she said.

Skyler Barnes

With a tough act to follow, Skyler Barnes, writing editor, took the stage next.

She did not disappoint. Her works were vulnerable yet abstract that were written so eloquently and admirably.

Barnes spoke about her lineage and her relationship with her mother.

While her pieces were shorter, they were mighty, strong, and enticing. The audience was enchanted with her work as was I.

Nicole Pagliari

Nicole Pagliari, writing editor, was the third reader. She opened up about her mental health improvement thanks to andarine and her relationship with her father, both deeply personal aspects of her life.

Nevertheless, she opened her presentation with a joke about being a “self-proclaimed daddy’s girl” which brought chuckles from the audience.

The piece she read covered what she was going through with mental health and how her father didn’t really believe in it.

It was beautifully penned, with her voice shining through in each sentence. Her vulnerability and confidence while reading this piece brought tears to my eyes as well as others’ in the audience.

In addition to her openness, Pagliari’s vocabulary and tone in her piece was refreshing and impressive. While she read and looked down at the paper, she smiled at parts of the story, relaying her emotions to the audience in sync with each part of her reading.

Ellie Zupancic

To close out the show, Ellie Zupancic, editor-in-chief of Fools Magazine read her poems aloud.

Before her poems, Zupancic thanked her fellow readers for showcasing their work as well as the Englert, audience, and Witching Hour.

Then, she began reading. Family was a consistent theme in her work which was beautifully transcribed into her poetry art form.

Specifically, she spoke about her father’s father whom she never had the chance to meet and her step-grandfather.

To conclude the event, she encouraged the audience to observe and enjoy the visual exhibit on the second floor of the Englert Theatre.

Visual Display

The visual display was on the second floor of the Englert.

Showcasing ceramics, painting, photos, and print works, the gallery was a hodgepodge of different creative pieces.

Each piece was unique, thought provoking, and stunning. Similarly, the pieces were extremely creative works.

The talented artists featured were Zoe Hermsen (contributor), Janiece Maddox (contributor), Vivian Le (creative director), and Sage Anderson (contributor).

For more information about Fools Magazine, check out them out on Twitter or Facebook.

The post Witching Hour: Notes on the Nameless: Fools Mag Exhibit & Reading appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Anyone who is at all familiar with Iowa City knows the wonderful feelings associated with attending a Prairie Lights reading. The smell of books, the faint sound of an espresso machine echoing from beyond the closed doors of the coffee shop, the tenderness each reader seems to bring to the mic as they crack open the glossy pages of their book, brand new copies beckoning you to purchase them from the front table.

“Notes from the Underground” was humbly named as four writers from a wide range of genres shared their work. Marcus Brown, Paloma Yannakakis, Katherine Faw, and Richard Hell splayed their selections for the standing-room-only crowd. Works of poetry, fiction, and hints of creative non-fiction. Notes from the Underground might’ve been more aptly named “Raw Emotion: where poetry and fiction meet at poignant, effective language.”

First to read was recent Iowa grad, Marcus Brown. His poem, “Open Letter to My Mentor” is a piece of some length. However, it is clear each word was chosen carefully, painstakingly.

His poem set a tone for the rest of the readers to follow. A tone of intimacy with the audience that was not only effective, but necessary. Brown reminded each audience member why it matters to take a poem off the page and let it live in air.

Paloma Yannakakis is a grad student in the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. She followed Marcus and read a series of poems her own. Yannakakis’s voice was melodic as it painted vivid pictures spanning several millennia. There is a wise-scope to her work. Her poems, including “The Moth”, create a certain unity between the inner world—exploring the self, and the natural world—exploring details from the minute to the grandiose.

Katherine Faw is a fiction writer whose book, “Ultra-Luminous”, was named a New Yorker Must-Read. Though a first timer in Iowa City, Faw was clearly no stranger to a captivating reading. She read a generous section from “Ultra-Luminous”, explaining the book’s main premise of following a sex worker named “K”.

The selection calls no men by their name but remains heavily about them. Instead, Faw chose to give these characters their own nicknames (i.e. “Art Guy” and “Guy Who Buys Me Things”). The plot of the novel provides a certain air of tragedy to the story, but instead of just drawing upon that sympathy, Faw engages all the senses. Her work is difficult and funny. She engaged the audience at every turn.

The reading closed with Richard Hell. He has written many books of poetry as well as non-fiction. As he tapered up to the mic, he immediately took to establishing a personal connection with the audience. He flipped through pages while telling us of his “creative partner turned bitter enemy” and showcased the slightly slack binding in one of the books from which he had planned to read.

Ultimately, he chose to dazzle with his poetry. His work is brilliant. Expert at elongating a moment, and making that moment worth more, he unapologetically discusses the visceral, the sexy, the awful, and the gruesome. The six poems he read were of alternating lengths but each had their own divine humor. Perhaps most notably, Richard Hell is a writer who asks “the emotional question” of a work. Sometimes, he’ll answer it. Sometimes, he doesn’t. Either way, I was with him the whole way.

The post Witching Hour: Notes from the Underground @ Prairie Lights 10/13/2018 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Musician, artist, poet and actor visited Iowa City on the fifth day of Mission Creek, and he blew our minds. After performing at prestigious venues like the Sydney Opera House, The Louvre, and the White House, Williams joined Mission Creek artists at Prairie Lights and The Mill to perform his craft.

While most of the other events I’ve attended during the festival have highlighted music, with or without words, this event mixed spoken word art, singing without music, and hip hop music. The night began with local spoken word artist Lovar Davis Kidd, whose pieces discussed issues of art, blackness, and family. In one piece, he impressively tap-danced and performed his poem at the same time!

Rather than moving from one artist to another, Lovar Davis Kidd and the second opener, Akwi Nji, made the choice to switch back and forth between the two creating a more fluid performance. Their pieces found similarities in each other’s and together, and working together they previewed the rest of the night well.

Nji performed several pieces about raising two daughters in today’s political climate. She encourages them to create within a world that insists on destruction of their self-esteems, and prepares them for the nature of society. Nji also performed a piece regarding the reputation of her neighborhood in Southeast Cedar Rapids, which intrigued me. She pointed out the problematic assumptions about the area, mocking people who called them “thugs” and “gangsters.” However, the most powerful part of the poem was portrayed through her interpretation of the interconnections between neighborhoods and the world. She argues that people isolate areas and separate themselves from problems, when in reality, the problems in Southeast Cedar Rapids extend to many other parts of the world.

After the two spoken word poets, I assumed the next opener, Psalm One, would also perform poetry. She hung a banner on stage behind her which read “Psalm One Loves You” which led me to believe her art would consist of positivity and love. When they came on stage, the woman whose face was on the banner was accompanied by another woman in a bra/bikini, skirt and skimask: I was pretty excited at this point.

Although only two women stood on the stage, the performance was the most engaging show I’ve seen at Mission Creek. The woman in the ski mask, Angelica, operated the computer and provided the vocals, while the rapper, Hologram Kizzie, owned the rest of the stage. The Chicago group sang songs which empowered women, opposed the government, and roused the audience as they danced and jammed along.

While I loved listening to Psalm One, I’m not sure if organizers made an informed decision about the order of the show, or asking them to open for Saul Williams who only performed spoken word. The crowd thoroughly enjoyed Psalm One, but the stark difference between Williams’ show and the previous performance was jarring.

That being said, Mr. Williams was incredible. One of the first things he said when he came on stage was that he wished he had brought his computer if he had known Psalm One would perform music. However, despite the contrast, audiences settled into the new art form.

I wanted to write down every word he spoke, but my pen couldn’t move that quickly. He incorporated such visceral body images and connected them to diction about geography and the earth, conveying his theme of unity. His first piece encouraged people to “hack into” various social constructs, systems and institutions which combined technology and anthropocentric themes.

In the middle of the show, Williams paused to perform some short poems, which were some of my favorites. “I for one am glad they keep casting white actors in old testament films” and “I’ve never fucked a louder bitch than freedom on her cycle” were some of my favorites.

After these short pieces, he sang a song called “Burundi” and a few others. Throughout the show, he paused in the middle of pieces to discuss the meaning of certain lines, but he spoke so poetically that I often couldn’t differentiate between a poem and his regular speech. For example, a line from his poem about whitewashed history: “fuck your history teacher, I have never been a victim.” A quote from his casual speech: “a leaderless movement cannot be quelled.” The night was filled with inspiring words like that, and “the greatest Americans have not been born yet.”

Williams hosted a great show last night, despite the audience’s rude behavior. A woman in the front row insisted on reciting some of his poetry with him, and interrupting him, and even filling in lines if he inserted pauses in a piece. Other people refused to sit with the silences he so deliberately placed, and asked questions and threw out unnecessary comments.

Williams remained gracious throughout the night, but as a reminder to show-going populations: these are not interactive events. People came to see Saul Williams perform, not you. Please be respectful to performers and let them portray their art in their way!

To learn more about Saul Williams, visit his official website and stay updated on his activities and art on Twitter!

The post Mission Creek: Saul Williams @ The Mill 4/9/16 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Many may know D’Agata from his books “Halls of Fame,” “About A Mountain” and most importantly, the trilogy of essay anthologies: “A New History of the Essay,” where you can find The Next American Essay (2003), The Lost Origins of the Essay (2009) and The Making of the American Essay. He is also currently the Director of the Nonfiction Writing Program here at the University of Iowa.

I had never been to Prairie Lights Bookstore before but knew of how well respected it was by the Iowa City community. I was very much surprised to arrive when the door opened at 11:30 am to find that almost all the seats were taken. Ten minutes before the readings were supposed to begin it was standing room only, and even then people will sill cramming in.

Another aspect that caught me off guard was how wide of a demographic that showed up. There were groups of students studying English here at U of I but there were also many senior citizens that had made it to the scene and even grabbed the first few rows!

After an introduction from a Mission Creek staff member, John D’Agata took the podium and read an excerpt from one of his favorite essays about Ansel Adams and the birth, life, and death of a photograph. John described how throughout the essays a common theme is taking reality and shaping it how an author feels and gifting the reader that experience.

Following the main act was Richard Preston who read aloud an excerpt from EB White’s One More to Lake. Before he started, he gave a reader’s discretion to the audience that he was going to compare non-fiction writers to rats. Now of course, I was confused. I’m not an English major and did not understand the comparison he was trying to make but apparently I was the only one who felt this way because

everyone erupted in laughter after he said that.

He went on in detail to say that writing non-fiction is an infinite maze and the writer is the rat in this labyrinth. As a rat spends months and years in this labyrinth finding new passages and opportunities to explore, so does a non-fiction writer weaving in and out of new ideas and the creative information they uncover throughout their studies.

Kerry Howley was up next. As she was finding her page to read, she discussed what the anthology of essays meant to her: “these books comprise a community though time.” The English Mailcoach by Thomas De Quincey was her choice of essay. She explained that this essay made it to her top favorites because of how it answers the ridiculous questions in life while also supplying a good laugh along the way.

Fourth was Charles D’Ambrosio who recited In the Fifties written by Leonard Michaels. Throughout his time in the front of the room he compared an earthquake with its cracks and shakes to the trilogy that this whole reading was about. He went on to say, “There is so much to be found in non-fiction that this essay is just a huge fault in the non-fiction world.” In the Fifties was a captivating narrative that lightened the mood receiving a few head nods and chuckles from those who came to the event.

Lastly, was Inara Verzemnieks who is also a professor at the University of Iowa. She took a personal road with what essay to share today, Signified by Susan Steinburg, and told the story how when she was a student this was on her reading list of literary pieces to read and was so inspired that she made it a mandatory

read for her students. She even threw out the fact that one of her students was so touched by the piece that they got a tattoo inspired from the essay and joked that she was excited to see if anyone would leave Prairie Lights and would get one as well.

The reading concluded with a Q & A. During this segment of the event I learned that it took John D’Agata about two decades to compile “A New History of the Essay.” He shared that both the first and second installment took him roughly three years each to put together with the third one coming in around five years total. Of course, add years of editing and perfecting he spent most of his time post-college piled high in these anthologies.

I think something that will stick with me the most was what John D’Agata said at the end: “An Essay doesn’t make a promise. It doesn’t make any guarantees. These essays are fun and intriguing to read because it’s someone’s mind on paper and you get to live that as you read it and see how the author revolves throughout the essay.”

One of the most relatable questions that I thought I would share with you was asked by a older lady asking how to approach the essay as a first time reader. John D’Agata recommended paying attention to the voice, how intimate it can be and the personality that comes to life in each essay. It’s a mind on a page and it can become very personable.

This was my first time ever attending an event hosted by Mission Creek Festival and although I never would have seen myself going to a literary event, I can honestly say I’m excited to go next year and continue to expand my knowledge.

So I leave you with one question: when is the 2017 line up going to be posted? Am I right?

The post Mission Creek: A New History of the Essay @ Prairie Lights 4/9/16 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The Peter Aguero show hosted by The Mill on the Friday of Mission Creek 2016 was basically an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. There were laughs, there were highs and lows, there were somber moments and possibly even a few tears. During the hour-long set, Aguero and his storytelling partners, Shannon Cason and Adam Witte, took turns imparting to the audience vivid tales ranging in themes from drugs, urine, appendicitis and love (I told you it was wild).

I should have prefaced with saying that I was probably the youngest person in The Mill’s stage room for this show—and definitely the only person whose hands the door guy had to draw x’s on. As I was crowd-surveying waiting for the show to start at 10 PM, I noticed the guy sitting at the table next to me looks strikingly similar to Adam from MythBusters. Not that there is anything wrong with hanging out in a room full of people who were greater than or equal to my parents’ age, but I had never watched a storytelling set like what Aguero does before and I was beginning to feel a little apprehensive about what was in store for me. However, as a man with the build and ponytail of a Viking wearing a maroon velvet blazer took the stage a little after 10:15 PM and opened with “Let’s take it back to 1997,” it turns out I was in for a great time.

Aguero, who said Friday was his third time performing in Iowa City, warmed up the crowd with a story about college and a woman he called “Dr. Fine.” As I mentioned, I had never watched a storytelling performance before, but I actually loved the depth that storytelling in this style has. The opening college story Aguero told was definitely hilarious, but rather than the main goal being to lead the listener to a punchline like a comedian would do, Aguero told his story with a cadence that kept the listener waiting for what came next.

After his opening story, Aguero asked that the audience turned off their phones as to make it easier to just listen and be present, so unfortunately I wasn’t able to get many photos of the performers on stage. He also mentioned that since the show was later they were going to be a little “looser” with their content. “Once you get to double-digit PM, anything goes.”

Next up was Shannon Cason, a native of Detroit who now lives in Chicago (This was his first time visiting Iowa City). Cason also told a comedic story, which he called more of memory, about his dad and the certain items in his “man cave” that he learned not to touch as a kid, such as the Vaseline and towels. I was blushing momentarily until I remembered that just because the people around me were as old as my parents, didn’t mean they were my parents and I didn’t have to feel embarrassment hearing “adult content” (despite what the underage x’s on my hand suggested).

Cason’s style was similar to Aguero’s only in the sense of keeping the audience waiting for more; however his style for this particular story involved him cracking up throughout it. I personally love when performers break character in the acts to laugh because it honestly makes what they are saying even funnier. And Cason’s laugh is boisterous and the type of laugh that is infectious.

After Cason was an Iowa City native since 1991, Adam Witte. His style was quite a bit different in that he would open his story with an extremely wild declaration (“One time I drank my brother’s urine”) before diving into a story about the opening declaration. Witte also told his stories a bit more lyrically than Aguero or Cason, making me think more of a nursey rhyme rhythm. For his second story it was amazing how he got from the start of “When I first heard about 69-ing in junior high I was immediately intrigued” to a very poignant ending about his love for his wife.

Cason’s second time on stage was pretty jarring from his first in that he launched immediately into a somber story about his neighbors’ drug problems and the parallel universes of the young daughters in both families. While his second story was not peppered with his infectious laughter, his tale was gripping and the emotion with which he told it was extremely powerful. Aguero closed out the night by returning to “Dr. Fine” who we found out from his final story is now his wife. This final installment of the story he opened with took place during his and “Dr. Fine’s” first Valentine’s day together, in which the not-quite healed stitches from an earlier appendicitis attack made for an interesting evening.

Overall this show was highly enjoyable, and I was extremely happy I got to attend it despite not entirely knowing what to expect.

Check out Aguero’s site for a taste of his content.

Cason also has a podcast called “Homemade Stories” which you can check out here.

The post Mission Creek: Peter Aguero @ The Mill 4/8/16 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The featured photo collection was entitled “X-Offenders,” and most of the photos were taken 40 years ago, in 1976, when Persky still lived in Greenwich Village and was just beginning her career as an artist. Entirely by coincidence, in this 40th anniversary showing there were forty photos on display.

Most of the prints hung around Persky as she spoke chronicled a time in her life when she was in a relationship with Gary Valentine, the bassist for Blondie in the 1970s. As a result, many of the photos featured Blondie’s founders, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, in their most organic settings.

Persky decided on the name “X-Offenders” for the exhibit because “X-Offender” was the name of the debut single that Valentine had written for Blondie. The collection acted as a tribute to their time together, and Persky’s time with Blondie as a whole.

The photos were up close and personal; many were head shots and all seemed honest and raw. The prints were almost as raw as Persky herself– when she opened up the talk to audience discussion she confidently said, “If you ramble, I will cut you off like a cancer.”

Though this exhibit was focused mainly on 1976 and Blondie, Persky also talked about life as an artist in general. She emphasized the importance of being true to oneself and creating. “What you create is so much more important than anything else,” she said, “Just keep making the work.”

Creating is just what Persky has been doing since she was a teen in Greenwich Village. She discussed the first play that she acted in, written by HM Koutoukas specifically for her, and her stint as a writer for The New York Rocker.

What seemed to create Persky’s genius was her environment. She spoke of the influence that Greenwich Village had on her upbringing often throughout the hour. It was a place of artistic creation for people of all sorts, though “the Village was empty back then.” Greenwich seemed to be a hub for creation.

Persky described walking out on the streets of New York to find props and materials for her artistic endeavors. “All of the stuff we used was just trash that somebody brought in, but then again, we were trash that somebody brought in.” The artists of Greenwich made art of anything and everything they had.

Throughout Persky’s talk, she was brutally honest and open. The range of topics she discussed spread from finding out she was weird at the age of five, to traveling to Los Angeles with Blondie for one of their first major gigs. It is clear that she has had a life full of adventure and experience.

This morning’s talk was an insightful and exciting view into the daily endeavors of a person with a true talent for art, as well as a vehement appreciation for the impact that art has on our world.

The post Mission Creek: X-Offenders Artist Talk @ The Englert Theatre 4/8/16 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Garth Greenwell read a section from his novel, “What Belongs to You.” This novel is about the relationship between an American teacher and a Bulgarian man named Mitko. The teacher pays Mitko for sex, but as their relationship deepens, he begins to develop feelings for Mitko. The section he read was about one of the times they are romantic together and it gets pretty graphic, so if you are squeamish towards those things, this book probably isn’t for you. But the wording was beautiful and you could really feel the attachment the narrator had to Mitko.

Paul Lisicky, a recent Guggenheim Fellowship winner, read the first chapter of his memoir, “The Narrow Door”. This book is about two relationships, one with a woman named Denise who has cancer and the other with his husband, Em. The section he read was mostly about Denise’s cancer. It wasn’t in chronological order, which made it difficult to follow when it was read aloud. It was still interesting and well written, but definitely confusing.

The whole reading was wonderful. The atmosphere of the Prairie Lights was perfect for this performance or even reading a new novel, maybe Paul or Garth’s. The whole experience was breathtaking.

The post Mission Creek: Paul Lisicky and Garth Greenwell @ Prairie Lights 4/7/16 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Punk Rock Readings:

The evening’s first event was the “Punk Rock Readings”, starting off with Kembrew McLeod. McLeod is a professor of Communication Studies at the University of Iowa, and he also has a storied history as the “robo professor“. McLeod read from his recent publication in the 33 1/3 series, a book series that features different authors writing about influential music albums. His book focuses on Blondies “Parallel Lines“, an album that launched the proto-punk band into the big time with its mix of disco, pop, and rock. For the most part, McLeod’s reading was informative and interesting, without ever treading into a boring mash of facts. While not nearly long enough to cover the book’s content in full, McLeod’s reading was enough to interest the uninitiated reader in both the album itself, and in McLeod’s writing.

After his reading, McLeod introduced Lisa Jane Persky. Persky is perhaps best known as a photographer and an actress, and for her roles in films and TV shows like NYPD Blue, When Harry Met Sally, and The Big Easy. However, she was also intimately involved in the eclectic art scene of New York’s Greenwich Village in the ’60s and ’70s. Her reading was in collaboration with her photo show X-Offenders, showcased later in the week at The Englert Theater. It consisted of a sort of “day in the life” of her youth, as she recounted acting in the experimental theater scene in New York, attending rock concerts by bands like The Mumps and Blondie, and loving musicians and artists within Greenwich Village. Her reading was accompanied by a slideshow of photos, many of which are from her X-Offenders showcase, which helped visually contextualize the reading.

Interview with Gary Groth:

The next event of the evening was the interview of Gary Groth, creator of Fantagraphics Books. Groth is a pivotal figure in the comic scene, and helped push literary criticism of comics to a higher level. The interview outlined the major arch of his career, from his early youthful obsession with comics, to his founding of The Comics Journal. With this publication, Groth was able to interview artists and cartoonists, discuss and critique the comics industry, and highlight lesser known “alternative comics.” As his reader base grew, he was able to start his own publishing company and began to publish major collections of the very artists he was interviewing. Fantagraphics has enjoyed success with major works like Ghost World, which was eventually turned into a motion picture, and The Complete Crumb Comics.

Williams and Creekmur, who conducted the interview, were clearly well-prepared and knowledgeable about their subject, which kept the interview provocative and interesting. By the end of the event, the crowd, which nearly filled the small theater, was opened briefly to ask some questions of Groth. Overall the event was informative and interesting, and despite knowing very little about comics, I found myself on a zealous Google hunt of the artists and writers that Groth mentioned in his interview.

Click here to check out the rest of the lineup for this year’s Mission Creek Festival

You can check out McLeod’s book on “Parallel Lines” here.

The post Mission Creek: Punk Rock Readings with Kembrew McLeod and Lisa Jane Persky, and Interview with Gary Groth @ FilmScene 4/6/16 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Typically five or more authors read poems or a snipit from their books or, in some cases, even blog posts.  I broke down the  three separate places I went to listen to the readings in highlights.

                                                               NoDo

The first place I went to was NoDo, a small but cozy restaurant on S Dubuque Street.  The two publishers were Hubart  and A Strange Object.

Terry Ashkinos was one of the authors reading.  He is the lead singer of Fake Your Own Death and writes a lot about music.  “Rock and roll was the only thing that didn’t ignore you,” Ashkinos read.  He read from his book Headphones, which included a story about how he ended up in a DUI class.

Other interesting happenings consisted of a story about a physic toaster in Japan, an author who announced he was drunk before he read, and a character who fought Vladimir Putin in judo.

White Rabbit 

The reading at White Rabbit clothing store was an exceptionally cool happening put on by Rag’s Revue and HTMLGIANT.  They were online magazine publishers and very animated about how “internet is the future!”  There was a sign that said “suck it, print” attached to the microphone stand.

Eric Sundermann read from his phone a post called “I Went To a Drake Concert By Myself in New Jersey” and it was a hilarious account of going to a Drake concert alone.  He contemplated how Drake gets away with being Drake and why people like relatable artists like Drake and Taylor Swift. Sundermann went to the University of Iowa as an undergrad.

Another interesting writer was Russell Jaffe, who read an amazingly intelligent and funny satire.  At one point he sang his satire on America in the tune of America the Beautiful and it was beyond witty.

In addition, Josh Wheeler read from a story about embarrassingly looking for sex pills and trying to perfect sexy stubble.

The Foxhead

At one of the oldest bars in Iowa City, Curbside Splendor and Artifice books represented another slew of writers.  It was dimly lit and a bit hard to see the speakers, but there were at least one spectacular reading.

Russ Woods read a collection of poems from his book Wolf Doctors.  They were delightfully quirky, some laugh out loud funny and others layered with heavy emotions.

Other readings included a story about a phony blues musician and a collection of poems about a woman terrorist in a neo-Soviet Russia.

One thing that was very apparent from this Mission Creek event was performances aren’t just in music and theater.  How people read their writing made a huge difference in whether or not their stories or poems were brought to life in the listeners’ ears.  This years Lit Crawl proved once again Iowa City’s love for literature is alive and well in the writers who come here and the people who appreciate their words.

The post Mission Creek: Lit Crawl, 4/4/14 appeared first on KRUI Radio.