Mission Creek 2025 is more than music. Check out these must-see literary events in Iowa City
Mission Creek Festival returns to Iowa City this weekend (April 3-5), offering much more than music. The event also transforms Iowa City into a hub for the literary arts from authors, publishers, and editors.
Here is a look at all the literary events through Saturday, including free activities that don't require a festival pass.
More: Music on the mind: Here are the must-see acts at the 2025 Mission Creek Festival in Iowa City
Thursday: Rachel Kushner will open the slate of literary events on the festival's first night at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 3, at Hancher Auditorium. She'll be joined by one of the music headliners, Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, to discuss writing and culture. Kushner is the author of award-winning novels like 'The Flamethrowers,' 'Telex from Cuba,' and her most recent release, 'Creation Lake.'
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Friday: The annual Mission Creek Festival Lit Walk returns with several rounds of literary speakers. Embark on a journey through the heart of downtown on Friday, where familiar Iowa City hotspots transform into vibrant stages for a diverse array of voices and stories. The first two rounds of the Lit Walk will be held at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. at Revival and Willow & Stock. The final round begins at 7:30 p.m. at Prairie Lights. An after-party will be held at 8:30 p.m. at The Greenhouse. All three rounds of the Lit Walk are free and open to the public.
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Saturday: Little Engines' 'Morning, F----rs' is a traveling reading series and is similar to the Lit Walk, but for early risers. It will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday at The Tuesday Agency in The Chauncey Building. Readers include Adam Voith, Avery Gregurich, Kyle Seibel, Julián Martinez, Kevin Allardice, Kat Hirsch, Warren C. Longmire, and Mike Nagel.
The event is free and open to the public with coffee and donuts.
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Saturday: The Iowa City Expo for Comics and Real Eclectic Alternative Media Zine Fair, or I.C.E. C.R.E.A.M., returns for its eighth year on Saturday. This free event will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Public Space One, located at 538 S. Gilbert St. The Zine fair highlights the work of local cartoonists, zinesters, and handmade book artists who strive to keep the print medium alive.
Saturday: The Small Press and Literary Magazine Book Fair highlights a few local and national presses as well as literary magazines. The 2025 fair will be held Saturday at SpareMe Bowl & Arcade in the Chauncey Building. The fair features dozens of celebrated publications, including Featherproof Books, The Iowa Review, Cleveland Review of Books, and more.
The book fair is free and open to the public from noon to 4 p.m.
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Saturday: Hosted at FilmScene's Chauncey location in theater 3, 'Literary Translation: Magic, Conversation, and the Art of Community' will feature a literary panel of Will Evans, Bela Shayevich, and Gary Lovely. The speakers will discuss 'the magic and art of translation in literary publishing.'
Will Evans is a publisher and translator and founded Deep Vellum Publishing in 2013, 'a nonprofit indie book publisher dedicated to translating the world's best novels into English for American audiences.'
Bela Shayevich is a Soviet-American writer and translator, best known for her translation of 2015 Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich's 'Secondhand Time.'
The doors for the free event will open at 12:30 p.m., and the panel discussion will begin at 1 p.m.
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Saturday: Srikanth Reddy will join Donika Kelly for a free discussion at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 5, at FilmScene's Chauncey location.
Reddy is a poet and professor at the University of Chicago, teaching parody, obscenity, and literary publishing courses. Kelly is an associate professor of creative writing at the University of Iowa and the author of 'The Renunciations,' winner of the Anisfield-Wolf book award in poetry.
Saturday: University of Iowa alum Torrey Peters will read from her new book 'Stag Dance,' at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Prairie Lights. Peters will also be joined by University of Iowa nonfiction writing program student, Jenny Singer for a conversation. The reading and conversation are both free.
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Saturday: Neko Case will close out the slate of Mission Creek literary events at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the University of Iowa's Voxman School of Music. Case headlined last year's Mission Creek Festival and has returned to read from her new memoir, "The Harder I Fight the More I Love You," a 'rebellious meditation on identity and corruption.' The ensuing conversation will be moderated by Melissa Febos, a University of Iowa English professor.
Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and education reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: What literary events are set for the 2025 Mission Creek Festival?
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Yahoo
42 minutes ago
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Scrubs Revival: Everything We Know About the Potential ABC Sequel Series
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Geek Girl Authority
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REVIVAL Recap: (S01E02) Keeping Up Appearances
Revival Season 1 Episode 2, 'Keeping Up Appearances,' effectively builds on that jaw-dropping cliffhanger from the series premiere. It fleshes out core character dynamics, introduces a few new supporting players and lays the groundwork for what's to come. I'm digging the Wynonna Earp / Preacher vibes I'm getting from this series. Bring on more narrative weirdness (and the not-zombies). RELATED: Read our recap of the previous Revival episode, 'Don't Tell Dad' Revival, 'Keeping Up Appearances' We open with a flashback — Em (Romy Weltman) wakes up on Revival Day. She's near a waterfall. She coughs up water and the same wedding band we saw in the series premiere. Bewildered, Em returns to the bridge. She discovers one of her boots and her coat. Then, Em returns to her dorm. Her roommate, Kay (Maia Jae), is watching the news, which so happens to feature Sheriff Wayne Cypress (David James Elliott). Em makes a beeline for her room. Three days later, Em emerges from her room. She heads into the bathroom, crushes up some pills and snorts them. However, she can't get high. Em does this repeatedly and gets the same result — zero high. Frustrated, Em punches the bathroom mirror. Kay reveals her plan to stay with her parents and ride out the quarantine. Regeneration After she leaves, Em notices the gash on her hand from punching the mirror has healed. Weird. She grabs a Swiss Army Knife and cuts her palm, only for said cut to close almost instantly. The news segment on the screen features Wayne getting increasingly irritated as May (Katharine King So) asks questions he doesn't — or perhaps can't — answer. RELATED: Revival : Co-Creators Aaron B. Koontz and Luke Boyce on Crafting 'Weird' New Series Now, we're back in the present. Dana (Melanie Scrofano) is in full-on panic mode. Em is still holding the scythe while looming over Arlene's (Nicky Guadagni) corpse. Backup has arrived. Dana and Em attempt to get their stories straight. Dana urges Em to tell the officers that she killed Arlene, not her. Arlene just so happened to be a violent Reviver. Meanwhile, Cooper (Hudson Wurster) stumbles upon a peculiar display in the woods. He also trips on what looks like a premeditated trap. However, someone helps Cooper to his feet. This is Blaine Abel (Steven Ogg). He's an enigma. Blaine encourages Cooper to find his way back to civilization. He eventually reunites with Wayne. REVIVAL — 'Keeping Up Appearances' Season 1 Episode 2 — Pictured: (l-r) David James Elliott as Sheriff Wayne Cypress, Hudson Wurster as Cooper Cypress — (Photo by: Lavivier Productions/SYFY) Anxiety Outside the Dittmans' barn, paramedics check out Em. She has a panic attack, so they take her to the hospital. Dana chats with J.P. Brissett (Glen Gould). Both agree it's best to keep the sheriff far away from this situation. Upon discovering the ambulance with Em is en route to the hospital, Dana makes a beeline for it. They can't discover Em's a Reviver. RELATED: Revival : Check Out 9 First-Look Photos From Melanie Scrofano-Led Series Next, Ibrahim (Andy McQueen) and Carla (Paige Evans) prepare to perform an autopsy on Arlene. What makes her different from the other Revivers? After Ibrahim and Carla step out of the room, we see Arlene isn't exactly dead. In fact, the top of her head is already regenerating, and her eyes are open… Meanwhile, the Cypress family reunites. Wayne chews Dana out for taking Em with her on the job. Of course, Dana gives her father a taste of his own medicine when she learns he temporarily lost Cooper. Em is fed up with both of them and storms off. REVIVAL — 'Keeping Up Appearances' Season 1 Episode 2 — Pictured: (l-r) Melanie Scrofano as Dana Cypress, Romy Weltman as Martha 'Em' Cypress — (Photo by: Naomi Peters/Lavivier Productions/SYFY) Red Alert Then, Wayne orders Ibrahim and Deputy Rogers (Aryelle Morrison) to keep a lid on the Arlene thing. Oh, and no one talks to the press. He also orders Dana to take Cooper home. May enters the room. Dana urges Rogers to take Cooper to the cafeteria while she handles May. We know how Wayne feels about the media. May asks Dana for the truth. What's going on? RELATED: Revival : The Dead Have Rejoined the Living in Official Trailer Elsewhere, Wayne and Ibrahim discover that Arlene is MIA, and the guard stationed outside the room is dead. Wayne calls for reinforcements. The alarm blares. Dana makes a break for Wayne's location, with May hot on her heels. Dana spies Arlene as she kills a hospital employee. Her head is in one piece again. Dana urges May to get the hell out of Dodge before she's next on Arlene's murder list. Then, Arlene wanders into the maternity ward. Wayne finds her with a baby. Unfortunately, she speeds away with said baby before Wayne and his officers can react. They give chase. Wayne and the others wind up in the parking garage, guns raised. However, there, they discover Blaine, who's holding the baby. Arlene is nowhere to be found. Wayne asks about Arlene, but Blaine recites some vaguely ominous, apocalyptic-esque language. REVIVAL — 'Keeping Up Appearances' Season 1 Episode 2 — Pictured: (l-r) Carla Morel as Carly Morel, Andy McQueen as Ibrahim Ramin — (Photo by: Naomi Peters/Lavivier Productions/SYFY) The Truth Later, Wayne and Ibrahim chat with Mayor Dillisch (Conrad Coates) about Arlene. Wayne believes this supports his case for locking up all the Revivers. Ibrahim reminds Wayne that the cops have a history of mistreating and abusing marginalized people. I love that Revivers are a clever tool to explore this, and how underprivileged or even those deemed different are ostracized by society. Not all the Revivers are like Arlene. However, Ibrahim concedes that they should pool their resources to capture Arlene. RELATED: TV Review: Resident Alien Season 4 Then, Dana searches Em's dorm. She discovers a bevy of creepy drawings adorning Em's bedroom walls. She also finds Em's stash of pills. Dana confronts Em about it. Em discloses that she's clean — she can't get high anymore since coming back from the dead. Dana wants to know how Em got her hands on 1,000 pills. Em claims she bought them from the pain clinic. The conversation pivots to Em's death. Dana tearfully asks if Em overdosed. Em knows she didn't. However, the other details are admittedly fuzzy. Dana urges Em to tell her something . Em reveals she went to the bridge on Revival Day because it was their mom's birthday. Then, she woke up near the waterfall. To Solve a Murder Dana really wants to solve her sister's death. Well, it's looking more like murder. She persuades Em to join her at the station for a hot minute. Dana plans to show her face before the pair can go to the bridge to retrace Em's steps. Em reluctantly agrees to this plan. RELATED: 10 Out-of-This-World Predictions for Resident Alien Season 4 At the station, Dana encourages Em to get them both chocolate from the vending machine while she joins Wayne in a meeting. Instead, Em takes Dana's keys and steals her vehicle. Meanwhile, Dana approaches Deputy McCray (Nathan Dales) — and his rat tail — with questions about Em's pill stash. McCray identifies them as oxy. One would normally deal them or steal them. He gives Dana a file on those in Wausau arrested for drug possession before returning to his game. I can't believe Daryl and Mrs. McMurray work together now. Later, Dana realizes that Em stole her car. The only one available in the parking lot is Ibrahim's vehicle. At the same time, Nithiya (Gia Sandhu) gets ready to go out to eat with her husband, Aaron (Gianpaolo Venuta). So, he was cheating on his wife, who has cancer, with his student? Ew. Anyway, they head into Nella's. We see Em follow them inside. REVIVAL — 'Keeping Up Appearances' Season 1 Episode 2 — Pictured: Andy McQueen as Ibrahim Ramin — (Photo by: Naomi Peters/Lavivier Productions/SYFY) The Bridge Ibrahim drives Dana around town as they search for Em (and her car). Dana explains that Em has a rare disease — her bones break very easily. Because of this, she's lived a sheltered life. At Nella's, Em follows Aaron to the bathroom. He tells her that it's over. Em isn't there to rekindle their affair. She wants to know what happened at the bridge. She doesn't remember, well, anything. RELATED: 10 Predictions for The Ark Season 3 Aaron reveals he blocked her phone and email after she inundated him with texts, calls and emails. He didn't want her to blow their cover. Em doesn't recall sending those. Aaron learns that Em is a Reviver, and, like Dana, he jumps to conclusions about her death. He assumes she took her own life based on the aforementioned texts, calls and emails. Oh, and the wedding band she coughed up? It's not his. Em apologizes before leaving him. Next, in the bar, Em overhears a patron talk smack about Revivers. She declares that they were supposed to die, so they should've stayed dead. Em whirls around and punches her. The woman retaliates. She proceeds to beat the snot out of Em. Em asks her if that's all she's got … with a face covered in blood. Be My Escape Elsewhere, Dana tells Ibrahim about the accident. Two years ago, she and Em were in a car accident with their mother. Unfortunately, their mom died, and Em was behind the wheel. The family hasn't recovered from it. RELATED: Read our Wynonna Earp recaps Then, Nella (Lanette Ware) calls Dana. Dana learns about Em's bar fight. A man named Rhodey (Kaleb Horn) escorted her out of the pub. Outside, Rhodey reveals he knows she's a Reviver. Why? Because he's one, too. Rhodey gives Em a flyer for an upcoming show with his band, November Dismember (sick moniker). REVIVAL — 'Keeping Up Appearances' Season 1 Episode 2 — Pictured: Kaleb Horn as Rhodey Rasch — (Photo by: Naomi Peters/Lavivier Productions/SYFY) Em asks if he can get her out of here because she's trying to avoid law enforcement (for reasons). Em grabs a black hoodie from Dana's car and leaves behind a chocolate bar with the November Dismember flyer. She also discards her phone before Rhodey drives them away. I Know Who Did It Ibrahim drops Dana off at the bar. She tells him they should do this again — hang out. These two are cute together. Dana discovers a note from Em along with the chocolate. Em claims she needs space for a while, but she's okay. She'll reach out in due time. RELATED: Geek Girl Authority Crush of the Week: SurrealEstate 's Susan Ireland Later, Dana pays Kay a visit after finding her in the drug files McCray gave her. At the same time, Wayne has drinks with Nella. Nella gives Wayne a pep talk. He's doing what he feels is best for Wausau. Wayne calls the governor and asks for a favor. Dana learns that Kay helped Em score the pills. Kay knows Em is a Reviver. More importantly, she knows who killed Em. RELATED: 36 Delicious Easter Eggs in Wynonna Earp: Vengeance Revival airs new episodes every Thursday at 10/9c, only on Syfy. Our 15 Favorite WYNONNA EARP Moments Contact: [email protected] What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events. Who I am: Before moving to Los Angeles after studying theater in college, I was born and raised in Amish country, Ohio. No, I am not Amish, even if I sometimes sport a modest bonnet. Bylines in: Tell-Tale TV, Culturess, Sideshow Collectibles, and inkMend on Medium. Critic: Rotten Tomatoes, CherryPicks, and the Hollywood Creative Alliance.
Chicago Tribune
3 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
MJ Lenderman at Salt Shed: Perfecting the art of malaise
Its only a handful of years into his acclaimed career but to say MJ Lenderman sounds like the second coming of Neil Young has already become tired, however true, and, considering that Young himself is still alive and touring, even kind of blasphemous. Yet, sorry, but it's hard to unhear this: There is the same weary warble tuned to permanent heartbreak, and that trudging pace that suggests the band is seconds away from resting their heads on pillows, and here are the grinding hurricanes of feedback that summon images of western plains and mesas, and a little Sonic Youth. Watching Lenderman at the Salt Shed on Wednesday was to be reminded of the curious power of exhaustion. It's a beautiful, humid, rickety sound. You can hear in it why the sighs of Neil Young became inextricable from Watergate-era malaise, and how Lenderman, 50 years later, sounds like both a throwback to strung-out singer-songwriters of the '70s and very much of his own time. His muse is fading expectations. He sang, 'Every day is a miracle, not to mention a threat.' He sang, 'We sat under a half-mast McDonald's flag.' He sang, 'Every Catholic knows he could've been pope.' That last one, eerily prescient, got a big Chicago cheer. It came just after another Chicago name-drop, 'Hangover Game,' the show opener, about Michael Jordan's infamous 1997 finals performance, the one where he scored 38 points despite supposedly playing through a bout of flu or something. Or as Lenderman sees it: 'It wasn't the pizza/ And it wasn't the flu/ Yeah, I love drinking, too.' And I love a singer I can smile and nod along with. The man is a fountain of random, biting one-liners and, despite a lanky frame and stunned backwoods grin suggesting a half-finished John Mayer, he comes across on stage with a muscular immediacy (which could be why his fanbase seems to be male Gen X dyspeptics, with a helping of depleted millennials). All of this comes across as simultaneously familiar and fresh, even if you don't recognize the precedents. There's the deadpan of John Prine, right there. The late-dawning self-awareness of a Charles Portis character, the non-sequiturs of Steve Martin. Every influence is set to a languid pace — entirely languid, in need of variety — but with hooks you can not shake. (Sorry, one more lyric — 'So you say I've wasted my life away/ Well, I got a beach home up in Buffalo.') I fear I'm making MJ Lenderman (Mark Jacob, of Asheville, North Carolina) sound more like a recipe than what his Salt Shed show proved: At 26, he's more than ready to be the rallying point rock could use. Like other indie stars in his orbit — Waxahatchee, Wednesday, both of which he's recorded and performed with — he avoids coming off like a nostalgia act by drawing more on the spirit than specifics of his influences. Nobody here seems eager to get anywhere. His excellent band can walk a squall of droning guitars and pedal steel into an abrupt stop, hover a second, then surge forward as one, without sounding rehearsed. Nothing feels machine-tooled, nevermind factory-precise. But I hesitate to say this is not fashionable in 2025 — Waxahatchee seems maybe one album away from playing arenas, and MJ Lenderman's sold-out Salt Shed audience of 3,000 was his largest headlining show so far. I also hesitate to say Wilco, which certainly shares fans, could be a model here for the future — MJ Lenderman is still loitering in a pretty comfortable sound, and not showing a lot of eagerness to stretch. And at least right now, it's working ridiculously well. There's no preening, no self-consciousness, only a giant casual cosy hug of recognition at the mess we're in. These songs never talk at you. There's no self-improvement plan or preaching. It's the sound of overheard conversation, bracketed by guitar solos arrived at with minimum fanfare, every line building on a tone of uncertainty and rattling around your head. Like, 'One of these days, you'll kill a man/ For asking a question you don't understand.' Somehow, it's both poignant and unmoored from any specific meaning. For the first encore, MJ Lenderman returned explicitly to Neil Young to cover 'Lotta Love,' but now that famous Top 40 refrain — 'It's gonna take a lotta love, to change the way things are' — repeated and repeated and repeated, no longer suggested just a tenuous romance. It suggested: MJ Lenderman, the new poet laureate of national decline.
