02-04-2025
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.
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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@ 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?
