This special 7:30 p.m. Mission Creek Festival event celebrates something you may not know some of your favorite authors are interested in: gaming. Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games, published by Graywolf, celebrates this sophisticated medium and considers its lasting impact on our culture and ourselves. “[Video games] raise profound questions for the humans who find themselves enraptured by these digital puzzles, adventures, and battles lighting up their computers, televisions, or...

The annual Lit Walk returns to MCF this year with three rounds of speakers at your favorite local hotspots! Bringing Iowa City to life in new ways, hear an unexpected variety of work from a mix of talented local and out-of-town writers. For complete lineup, check the 2024 Mission Creek Festival Website!

Lit Walk Round 1

Featured literary event: Literary crawl through downtown Iowa City

Venues: Willow & Stock / Revival

Date: Friday, April 5

Doors: 5 p.m.

The annual MCF Lit Walk returns in...

The Writers' Workshop presents the Aizuri Quartet

"The Aizuri views the string quartet as a living art and springboard for community, collaboration, curiosity and experimentation. At the core of its music-making is a virtuosic ability to illuminate a vast range of musical styles through the Aizuri’s eclectic, engaging and thought-provoking programs. The Quartet has drawn praise both for bringing “a technical bravado and emotional power” to bold new commissions, and for its “flawless” (San Diego...

The Writers' Workshop presents poets Paige Lewis and Kaveh Akbar, who will read from their work.

Paige Lewis is author of the poetry collection Space Struck (Sarabande Books, 2019) and co-editor of Last Call: Poems on Addiction and Recovery (Sarabande Books, 2023). Lewis co-created and curated the YouTube channel Ours Poetica with author John Green. The channel aims to make poetry more accessible, especially to high school students.

Lewis received both their MFA and PhD in Creative Writing...