Good news, bad news. Both inspired my women’s basketball mystery, Murder by Mascot, when Alyson first published it in 2006. And both are on my mind as I publish a third edition of the novel and reflect what has changed since then. This post will focus on good news, on activism and progress, on the … Read more
Do you still write? This question gets asked every semester when Mount Mercy English hosts one of its alumni career panels—What Can You Do With An English Major? Do you still write? The question is usually asked by students who adore creative writing and who are on the verge of graduating. These students and their … Read more
Near the end of last semester, Mount Mercy English celebrated the tenth anniversary of a service-learning project informally known as Prison Book Club. At the end of this semester, we’ll celebrate the retirement of one of its founders, my dear friend and colleague Professor of English Carol Tyx. So it’s time to reflect on these […]
via Celebrating Prison Book Club and Professor Carol Tyx — Literary Mustangs
An openly gay Midwestern millennial mayor who is also a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, an author of a memoir, and a newly declared US presidential candidate? Yes, please! Last night, I heard Mayor Pete Buttigieg (BOOT-edge-edge) inspire Iowa City. I went enticed by his identity, but I left impressed by his ideas. “Mayor … Read more
When I was a child, before I found my tribe, reading was my everything. Bulwark. Solace. Goad. Delight. Of course, I did not know those words back then. What I did know was that I could trust books. Completely. They would always offer an alternative reality. If not insight, then escape. Now I have the … Read more
Last night I savored the University of Iowa production of The Wolves. The 2016 debut play by Sarah DeLappe features the pregame warm-ups of an indoor girls soccer team. The cast list identifies each of the nine high school juniors only by her jersey number, yet each girl possesses a distinct voice and story. I … Read more
I believed in the transformative power of literature years before I had the words to say so. But it turns out, I had no idea how much the right novel at the right time could change me. The novel is Richard Powers’ beautiful, sprawling eco-fiction, The Overstory. The time is now, my third sabbatical. Let … Read more
For years, without thinking, I’ve told my creative writing students to begin their stories in media res: in the middle of things. But life is more complicated than literature, and lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the meaning of middles. What does it mean to be midway? In life? In a task? In a … Read more