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2015 Schedule

Thursday April, 2
12:00 am start
TBD
Free
Jenny Zhang
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Jenny Zhang is a poet, writer, and performer living in New York. She’s the author of the poetry collection Dear Jenny, We Are All Find. You can find her at jennybagel.com, at her blog, Fashion for Writers, and on Twitter @jennybagel.
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Niina Pollari lives in Brooklyn and has written two previous chapbooks: Fabulous Essential (Birds of Lace 2009) and Book Four (Hyacinth Girl 2012). She translated Tytti Heikkinen’s The Warmth of the Taxidermied Animal (Action Books 2013).
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Erika Jo Brown is from New York. Her chapbook, What a Lark!, was published by Further Adventures Press in 2011. She was educated at Cornell University and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was a Capote Fellow in Poetry. Most recently, Brown taught at Savannah State University and co-curated the Seersucker Shots reading series. Brown is currently a PhD candidate in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Houston.
chloecaldwell1
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Chloe Caldwell is the author of the novella WOMEN (SF/LD, 2014) and the essay collection LEGS GET LED ASTRAY (Future Tense Books, 2012). Her work has appeared in Salon.com, The Sun, Nylon, The Rumpus, Men's Health, The Nervous Breakdown, and the anthologies "True Tales of Lust and Love" and "Goodbye To All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving NYC". She lives in Hudson, New York.
bennett-sims
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Bennett Sims is the author of the novel, A Questionable Shape, winner of the 2014 Bard Fiction Prize. Sims has studied at Pomona College and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His fiction has appeared in A Public Space, Conjunctions, Electric Literature, Tin House, and Zoetrope: All-Story.
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Nicholas Rombes teaches in Detroit, Michigan. He is author of Ramones from the 33 1/3 series and the book 10/40/70. His writing has appeared in The Believer, Filmmaker Magazine, the Los Angeles Review of Books,n+1, and The Rumpus.
TBD
Free
DJ Dolack
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DJ Dolack is the author of Whittling a New Face in the Dark (Black Ocean, 2013), as well as the chapbooks No Ser. No (Greying Ghost) and 12 Poems (Eye For An Iris Press). His video reviews and Tourist Trap, NYC series can be found at Coldfront Magazine. He teaches writing at Baruch College and lives in Jackson Heights, Queens.  
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Matt Rasmussen’s poetry has been published in Gulf Coast, Cimarron Review, H_NGM_N, Water~Stone Review, New York Quarterly, Paper Darts, and at Poets.org. He’s received awards, grants, and residencies from The Bush Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Minnesota State Arts Board, Jerome Foundation, Intermedia Arts, The Anderson Center in Red Wing, MN, and The Corporation of Yaddo. He is a 2014 Pushcart Prize winner, a former Peace Corps Volunteer, and teaches at Gustavus Adolphus College. His first book of poems, Black Aperture, was a finalist for the National…
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Free
Ben Fama
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Ben Fama is the author of the artist book Mall Witch, as well as several chapbooks and pamphlets. In 2015 Ugly Duckling Presse will publish Fantasy, his first full length book of poems.
monica-mcclure
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Monica McClure‘s debut collection, Tender Data, will be published by Birds, LLC in 2015. She is the author of the chapbooks Mood Swing, published by Snacks Press in 2013, and Mala, from Poor Claudia. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Tin House, Los Angeles Review, Lit Review, Lambda Literary Review’s Spotlight Series, The Awl, Spork Press and elsewhere. She studied fiction, poetry, art history and literary theory at DePauw University and earned her MFA in poetry from New York University. With Brenda Shaughnessy, she edited the anthology Both…
Colin Winnette (photo cred Jennifer Yinn)
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Colin Winnette is the author of several books, including ANIMAL COLLECTION (Spork Press 2012), COYOTE (Les Figues 2015) and HAINTS STAY (forthcoming from Two Dollar Radio). His work can be read far and wide in places like McSweeney's, The American Reader, The Believer, Gulf Coast, and others. His prizes include Les Figues Press's NOS Book Contest and Sonora Review's Short Short Fiction Contest, and he was finalist for the Donald Barthelme Prize for Short Prose and Cleveland State University Poetry Center's…
Emily Wilson
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Emily Wilson was born in Ohio and grew up in Maine; she was educated at Harvard University and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her collections of poetry include The Keep (2001); Morpho terrestre (2006), a limited-edition book with prints by Sara Langworthy; and Micrographia (2009). Wilson has taught at Colby College, Grinnell College, the University of Montana, and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She was the recipient of a 2007 fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts.
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Janaka Stucky is the Publisher of Black Ocean as well as the annual poetry journal, Handsome. He is the author of Your Name Is The Only Freedom and The World Will Deny It For You. His poems have appeared in such journals as Denver Quarterly, Fence and North American Review, and his articles have been published by The Huffington Post and The Poetry Foundation. He is a two-time National Haiku Champion and in 2010 he was voted “Boston’s Best Poet” in the Boston Phoenix.
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Mary Hickman is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop where she received an Iowa Arts Fellowship. Her poems have been published in Boston Review, Colorado Review, jubilat, PEN American Poetry Series, and elsewhere. Her first book, This Is the Homeland, will be published by Ahsahta Press in 2015.
Much More At Mission Creek
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Free
TBD
Mission Creek Artist Installation, March 31 - April 5   After graduating from the UI with a BFA in graphic design, Candida Pagan traveled widely-- adventuring here and there, always on the hunt for a new art or performance project. She has come to rest, as of late, in Iowa City and is currently an MFA Candidate at the UI Center for the book. She is the proprietor of Digraph Press, a limited edition fine press, and works with Special…
The Mill / 8:00 am
Free
dj-dolack
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The Mill
8:00 am start
DJ Dolack is the author of Whittling a New Face in the Dark (Black Ocean, 2013), as well as the chapbooks No Ser. No (Greying Ghost) and 12 Poems (Eye For An Iris Press). His video reviews and Tourist Trap, NYC series can be found at Coldfront Magazine. He teaches writing at Baruch College and lives in Jackson Heights, Queens.
Revival / 8:00 am
Free
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Free
Revival
8:00 am start
Mei-ling Shaw Williams, Iowa City artist, photographer, designer, gardener, metalsmith, sculptress, party-thrower extraordinaire, ghost-wolf-woman from another era, and all-around-incredible, inspirational ladybabe, will be doing a window installation at Revival Clothing Store. Mei-Ling's current work is titled discrete:continuous, and relates to particles and waves within physics. Expect a mindmelt/powerful perception-changer chamber, patiently waiting to wrap you in a carefully constructed handspun web.
White Rabbit Gallery / 10:00 am
Free
Much More At Mission Creek
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White Rabbit Gallery
10:00 am start
Mission Creek Artist Installation March 31 - April 5   Ultra Terrestrial: A superior, non-human entity of natural or supernatural origin that is indigenous to planet Earth.   Bright colors, super natural and mystical imagery, psychedelia, ufos, extra terrestrials, animals, strange vegetation, and visionary folk art from around the world all inspire Becca Kacanda's designs and her life.
Iowa City Pedestrian Mall / 10:00 am
Free
Much More At Mission Creek
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Iowa City Pedestrian Mall
10:00 am start
Gallery/Workshop: 10 am - 5 pm daily throughout the festival McNutt Gallery 204 Stevens Drive, Iowa City Outdoor projection: Iowa City Pedestrian Mall Tuesday, March 31, 8-10 pm Friday, April 3, 8-10 pm   Barry Phipps will relocate his studio to McNutt Gallery for one week as part installation, part store, part workshop, keeping regular business hours from 10am - 5pm, while he works on several projects to reveal the process to prospective viewers. Phipps' artistic process will be filmed…
Urbanity / 10:05 am
Free
Much More At Mission Creek
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Free
Urbanity
10:05 am start
Mission Creek Artist Installation, March 31 - April 5 Alicia Kelly was born and raised among the red dirt and wildflowers of northeastern Oklahoma. The country landscape and fauna of the midwest left a deep impression on Kelly that continues to inspire her artwork. Since receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking in 2010 from the University of Kansas, she has exhibited in numerous galleries, non-profit spaces and flash spaces. Venues included Stumptown Printers (Portland), Spencer Museum of Art…
TBD
Free
BJ Love
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BJ Love is the author of Yes, I'm Sure This Was a Beautiful Place (Strange Cage), a collaboration with the poet, Lucas Pingel. In addition, Love produces Pretty LIT, a podcast that brings together, finally, the worlds of poetry and club bangers, and can be found at: www.prettylit.org.
Velvet Coat / TBD
Free
Much More At Mission Creek
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Velvet Coat
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Mission Creek Artist Installation, March 31 - April 5 A handmade-textile artist whose visual installations have been showcased in Japan, San Francisco, the Portland Airport, and Iowa City, Sayuri creates intricate and enchanting universes that invite the viewer to re-imagine their own perception of place and movement.
Blue Moose Tap House / 8:00 am
Free
Music at Mission Creek
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Blue Moose Tap House
8:00 am start
A hip-hop trio based out of Des Moines, Maxilla Blue is composed of producer Aeon Grey, rapper Asphate Woodhavet, and Dj Touchnice. Their debut album came out in 2006 through Central Standard Records with their latest release in winter of 2012. Maxilla Blue tracks feature little vocals at some points and an overall presentation of poetry mixed with instrumentals.  Their sound speaks for itself, Maxilla Blue is not to be explained, but experienced.
Multiple Locations / 11:00 am
Free
Free
Multiple Locations
11:00 am start
Mission Creek Artist Installations - Click links below for locations and details March 31 - April 5: Sayuri Sasaki Hemann Barry Phipps Shop UltraTerrestrial Candida Pagan Alicia Kelly Mei-Ling Shaw Williams
The Mill / 12:00 pm
Free
wm-pressphoto-5
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The Mill
12:00 pm start
White Mystery is brother-sister rock’n'roll duo Miss Alex White & Francis Scott Key White from Chicago. The siblings tour worldwide, earn rave reviews from MTV, VICE, Sound Opinions, Pitchfork – and currently represent the Levi’s #equipped campaign.
Prairie Lights / 3:00 pm
Free
tom Lutz
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Free
Prairie Lights
3:00 pm start
Tom Lutz is the founder and editor in chief of the Los Angeles Review of Books. Lutz is also the author of the American Book Award winner Doing Nothing (2007), Crying (2001), Cosmopolitan Vistas (2004), and American Nervousness, 1903 (1991) -- have been translated into 12 languages and have appeared on NYT and LAT bestseller lists.   His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, New Republic, Chicago Tribune, Die Zeit, ZYZZYVA, Exquisite Corpse,…
Leaf Kitchen / 5:30 pm
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$35
Leaf Kitchen
5:30 pm start
Dinner at Leaf Kitchen is a rare treat. Choose 4 items from the following menu as prepared by Chef Masae Judge: Asian slaw; Chilled roasted eggplant salad; Braised pork belly crêpe; Salmon crudo; Japanese curry & pork cutlet; Korean short-rib sandwich with homemade kimchee; Homemade ice cream with granita and chocolate terrine - Note: BYOB: $5 corking fee / All menus and prices subject to change
Prairie Lights / 6:00 pm
Free
Free
Prairie Lights
w/ Arna Bontemps Hemenway
5:00 pm doors / 6:00 pm start
Kerry Howley’s essays, reviews, and reportage have appeared in Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, Slate, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Gulf Coast, Vice.com, and frequently in Bookforum. Her short story “Pretty Citadel” was published in The Paris Review in Fall of 2011. Howley holds an MFA from the University of Iowa, where she was admitted as an Arts Fellow and subsequently served as the 2012 Provost’s Visiting Writer in Nonfiction. Thrown, her book-length essay, is an account of…
Prairie Lights / 6:00 pm
Free
Arna Bontemps Hemenway(2)
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Free
Prairie Lights
6:00 pm start
Arna Bontemps Hemenway is the author of Elegy on Kinderklavier (Sarabande 2014), which was named a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers pick for Summer 2014. His fiction has appeared in A Public Space, Alaska Quarterly Review, Ecotone, FiveChapters, The Missouri Review, The Seattle Review, Meridian Literary Review, Bat City Review, They Magazine, and Epilogue Magazine, and has been named a Notable/Distinguished Story of the Year in both the Best American Short Stories and Best American Nonrequired Reading anthologies.…
FilmScene / 6:30 pm
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Film at Mission Creek
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$10
FilmScene
6:00 pm doors / 6:30 pm start
Featuring post-screening Q&A with the filmmakers and Eric Obenhauf, Editorial Director of the indie press and now-film producing Two Dollar Radio. I’M NOT PATRICK is a black comedy that follows Seth, a teenager whose twin brother, Patrick, has suddenly, tragically, committed suicide. Seth doesn’t know what to feel, but everyone is eager to suggest what they imagine to be typical reactions to monozygotic suicide. Whether it’s the rival twins’ landscaping company encroaching on Seth’s turf, or the school guidance counselor…
Old Capitol Mall / 7:00 pm
Free
firstkiss
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$ FREE
Old Capitol Mall
7:00 pm start
In partnership with the University of Iowa Digital Studio for Public Arts & Humanities, Mission Creek presents “First Kiss,” a program showcasing new performance artworks created by collaborative teams working together for the first time. The creative teams are drawn from wildly varying fields of endeavor, from humanities to hard sciences, and will be premiering their new experimental art works in the food court of the Old Capitol Mall. Expect work that is eclectic, fresh, and wholly unexpected as these artists explore new creative…
Leaf Kitchen / 7:00 pm
Buy Tickets
$35
Leaf Kitchen
7:00 pm start
Dinner at Leaf Kitchen is a rare treat. Choose 4 items from the following menu as prepared by Chef Masae Judge: Asian slaw; Chilled roasted eggplant salad; Braised pork belly crêpe; Salmon crudo; Japanese curry & pork cutlet; Korean short-rib sandwich with homemade kimchee; Homemade ice cream with granita and chocolate terrine - Note: BYOB: $5 corking fee / All menus and prices subject to change
The Mill / 7:00 pm
Free
Jeff Chang
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Free
The Mill
7:00 pm start
Presented by the University of Iowa Lecture Committee. Jeff Chang has written extensively on culture, politics, the arts, and music. His first book, Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, garnered many honors, including the American Book Award and the Asian American Literary Award. He edited the book, Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop. His latest book, Who We Be: The Colorization of America, was released in 2014, and he is currently at work on two other book…
Van Allen Hall / 8:00 pm
Free
Lit-Placeholder
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Van Allen Hall
8:00 pm start
Thanks to the University of Iowa's Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professorships, the Iowa Writers' Workshop is hosting short story writer, novelist, and essayist Lorrie Moore for a reading of her work. The Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English at Vanderbilt University, Lorrie Moore is the author of nine books of fiction, including the short story collections Self-Help (1985) and Birds of America (1998). Her 2009 novel A Gate in the Stars was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and shortlisted for the Orange…
Englert Theatre / 8:00 pm
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$20 / $22
Englert Theatre
w/ Ryley Walker
7:00 pm doors / 8:00 pm start
Brooklyn-via-Ridgewood indie-rock band Real Estate consists of members Martin Courtney, Matt Mondanile, Alex Bleeker, Jackson Pollis, and Matt Kollman. After releasing singles on the Underwater Peoples and Woodsist label, the band’s 2009 self-titled debut received critical acclaim, including an 8.5 rating and Best New Music tag from Pitchfork Media. In 2011, the band signed with the Domino Recording Company, and issued their second album, Days. The album received a 77/100 rating on Metacritic and 8.7 on Pitchfork. Finally, in 2014,…
8:00 pm
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Ryley Walker Updated Photo
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$20/22
8:00 pm start
Ryley is a 24 year-old singer/songwriter and guitarist from Chicago. Having kicked around Chicago’s experimental free/noise music scene for several years, Ryley recently turned to a folk-rock sound inspired by some of his heroes, among them Tim Hardin, Tim Buckley, and Bert Jansch. The result is a poised and accomplished debut album, recorded in Chicago by Cooper Crain. The album will be released by Tompkins Square in April 2014. A 3 song 12” EP featuring “The West Wind” and two non-LP…
Blue Moose Tap House / 9:00 pm
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$15
Blue Moose Tap House
w/ AWTHNTKTS , Maxilla Blue
8:00 pm doors / 9:00 pm start
Proudly hailing from the eastside of Gary, Indiana, the ever thriving gangster-rapper Freddie Gibbs relates real experiences of growing up in a deteriorating and abandoned black Midwestern America, play heavily on his conscious and introspective lyrical content. After relocating to L.A., Gibbs befriended acclaimed break producer Madlib (Quasimoto, Madvillain, Jaylib, The Loot Pack), and together as MadGibbs the duo released the well-received Piñata (March 2014), bridging the gap between the street and underground. Pitchfork claims, “it doesn't matter if Gibbs…
Gabe’s / 9:00 pm
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Jack-Lion
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$15
Gabe’s
9:00 pm doors / 9:00 pm start
Iowa City locals Jack Lion look to blur the lines between jazz and electronic and reintroduce it to a modern era. Residing somewhere around the midpoint of laid-back break beats, a jazz composition, and swelling atmospherics, Jack Lion is quickly becoming known as one of Iowa City's most progressive and unbounded musical projects. After taking a cab ride on Halloween of 2013 with a driver the band still regards as one of the most interesting people they have ever met,…
The Yacht Club / 9:00 pm
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$8
The Yacht Club
9:00 pm start
For five years, Mission: Beat been the festival's exclusive underground dance music showcase, spotlighting both local and regional talent. This year features DJs who have played major roles in the formation of Iowa's infamous electronic scene (both shape and sound) over the course of the last 15 years: Airyck Sterrett, Matt Rissi, bTsunami, and Giant Child.
The Mill / 9:00 pm
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the burning hands
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$10/12
The Mill
9:00 pm doors / 9:00 pm start
From auspicious beginnings as members of various legendary Iowa City bands, Dustin Kelly (Magic Cave, Rite Near the Beach Boiii, Betsy Smythe, Lawyer Films, LLC), Laura Kelly (That’s Hip, Lady Bulldogs, Rex Sharqi, Pretty Ugly, Family Van), and Joe Derderian (SomeGirls, Thee Almighty Handclaps!, The Boxknifes, Autodramatics) formed the near-mythic Burning Hands.   A +3 roll of the dice was all it took to deftly combine musical powers and recognize the collective dream of psychedelic drone. Casting spells with the…
Gabe’s / 10:00 pm
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$15
Gabe’s
w/ MAIDS , Jack Lion
9:00 pm doors / 10:00 pm start
How To Dress Well is the genre-blending solo project of Tom Krell, mixing lo-fi R&B and experimental pop. Krell has had three major albums released since 2010, each one showcasing his entrancing falsetto. His most recent LP “What Is This Heart?” was released in 2014 to rave reviews from websites such as Pitchfork, who gave the album an 8.8. “What Is This Heart?” continues Krell’s trend of singing about his personal experiences and his take on life and philosophy. MAIDS…
The Mill / 10:00 pm
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$10
The Mill
w/ White Mystery , Burning Hands
9:00 pm doors / 10:00 pm start
Chris Forsyth is a guitarist, composer, and bandleader known for his art-rock qualities with vernacular American influences. Forsyth has released a sequence of records and has collaborated with various artists, including singer/songwriter Meg Baird, trumpeter Nate Wooley, analog synthesist Koen Holtkamp, and choreographer Miguel Gutierrez. In 2013 he assembled The Solar Motel Band, and their energetic live acts can be easily compared to artists such as Television, the Grateful Dead, Popul Vuh, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, and Richard Thompson.…
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