A little Zen before all the hard stuff
A little Zen before all the hard stuff
Nature in Iowa goes in Larry Stone's favorite month
Welcome to the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Sunday Roundup of columns published the week before by our members.
Before plunging into politics, let’s pause and read Larry Stone’s piece from Elkader about why October is his favorite month.
Ok, ready?
Politics
It’s caucus season in Iowa, and our team has a thing or two to say in that regard, so grab a bag of popcorn this Sunday morning and read Ed Tibbetts opine as to the barbs being traded by presidential candidate Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, and what it could mean.
Let their names ring in infamy, writes Barry Piatt, our Washington, D.C. correspondent, writing about the votes of Iowa’s congressional delegation on the GOP speaker selection this week.
Laura Belin offers another kind of context to the speaker votes by Iowa’s delegation and the distinct strategies each is deploying.
Dave Price deplores the level of vitriol over the speaker race, especially death threats toward a member of Iowa’s congressional delegation.
What does author John Irving have in common with Congressman Jim Jordan? Douglas Burns attended a lecture, including tales of his time in Iowa City.
Dave Busiek discusses the most effective way to enforce the Trump Gag Order could work.
Art Cullen, our man from Storm Lake, was in Washington, D.C., and wished the guy bagging hamburgers at Five Guys could teach Congress something about getting things done.
And Julie Gammack has a podcast featuring Roxanne Conlin, attorney, and former candidate for governor and U.S. Senate. Also, the column includes a link to her Monday Zoom show, with author Nicole Baart.
Around Iowa
Friday Night Lights - an Iowa tradition. Check out new feature columnist and best-selling fiction author, Nicole Baart.
Sometimes, the sweetest things aren’t far away at all. Wini Moranville discovered reasons to head to the Indianola Town Square, especially for a visit to a bakery called Savor the Rise.
Jeff Morrison takes readers around the state in eight days.
Immigration. It’s personal.
Cheryl Tevis brought home a perspective on immigration she didn’t have before her most recent trip. Her perspective is well worth the read.
Voice of the Holocaust is a contribution by our newest Iowa Writers’ Collaborative member, Arnold Garson, who also asks readers a question.
Culture
Jody Gifford tackles our cancel culture and writes about her struggles with discarding once beloved author J.K. Rowling for her anti-trans comments.
A Black entrepreneur is entering the luxury watch business in Nik Heftman’s video story.
A Gushing Gish Gallop, words, expression & samples from Kurt Meyer. Fun.
Robert Leonard had a touching exchange with a former neighbor, now living in the Middle East, Emily Lupita:
In difficult times like these, when the world seems to be falling apart right in front of us, I find myself ever more grateful for these peaceful, respectful interactions that I have each day. I feel ever more grateful for the willingness of most people I’ve met around the world to see me as an individual person, and to embrace me as their fellow human, as I intend to embrace them. Emily Lupita
Sports
Rob Gray is trying something new with the podcast feature in Substack. Check his Rob Gray reads Rob Gray, and tell him what you think.
Sports names come in many varieties, and Pat Kinney in Waterloo says, ‘they’d be long-cooled embers on the ash heap of history were it not for Bud Legg, Iowa’s own Herodotus of high-school athletics.’
Pancakes and prep football are served up by John Naughton this week.
Farming
It’s not an easy chore to tend to sick or injured animals on the farm. Beth Hoffman, author of the book Bet the Farm, gives readers a glimpse of daily life on Whippoorwill Farm. And husband John Hogeland contributes a column for In the Dirt about how sausage is made (and you can learn how to yourself in class on their farm).
The RicheBurgers (Chuck Offenburger and Mary Riche) are on the road, touring the eastern seaboard. In this week’s column, they post a plethora of photos from their trip to Boston (the word ‘plethora’ is an inside joke. Offenburger banned using the word when teaching journalism students because he felt it was overly pedantic. He probably didn’t use the word ‘pedantic’ either.)
If you don’t follow Mary Swander for any reason, read her column from this week to get a sense of what she offers. Mary lives in what she calls ‘Buggyland,’ an Amish community in Kalona. She often writes about the customs and culture of her neighbors and this week; she takes us to the bedside of a woman as she takes her last breath.
POETRY
The Past and Present
Teresa Zilk shares her poetic reaction to a moment in history when slaves opted to commit group suicide rather than face a life of servitude. Read this important column today: In Memory of the Igbo Landing.
Suzanna de Baca
Due to an editing error, the link to the first poem listed below was not included in last week’s roundup:
If you would like to support the group marketing efforts of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, please consider becoming a paid or Founding Member.
All paid subscribers will be invited to a holiday party on December 7. To RSVP for this event, please fill out this form: Holiday Party RSVP.
The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative
Have you explored the variety of writers in the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative? They are from around the state and contribute commentary and feature stories of interest to those who care about Iowa. Please pick five you’d like to support by becoming paid. It helps keep them going. Enjoy:
Columnists
Nicole Baart: This Stays Here, Sioux Center
Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights
Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll
Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines
Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, Roundup
Steph Copley: It Was Never a Dress, Johnston
Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake
Suzanna de Baca: Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley
Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County
Arnold Garson: Second Thoughts, Okoboji and Sioux Falls
Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji
Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames
Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines
Rob Gray: Rob Gray’s Area, Ankeny
Nik Heftman: The Seven Times, Los Angeles and Iowa
Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilia
Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines
Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo
Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames
Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey
Letters from Iowans, Iowa
Darcy Maulsby: Keepin’ It Rural, Calhoun County
Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa
Alison McGaughey, The Inquisitive Quad Citizen, Quad Cities
Kurt Meyer: Showing Up, St. Ansgar
Wini Moranville: Wini’s Food Stories, Des Moines
Jeff Morrison: Between Two Rivers, Cedar Rapids
Kyle Munson: Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines
Jane Nguyen: The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines
John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines
Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines
Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.
Dave Price: Dave Price’s Perspective, Des Moines
Macey Spensley: The Midwest Creative, Norwalk
Larry Stone: Listening to the Land, Elkader
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona
Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County
Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport
Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines
The Iowa Writers Collaborative is also proud to ally with Iowa Capital Dispatch.
SAVE THE DATE: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7; PAID SUBSCRIBERS ARE INVITED TO A HOLIDAY PARTY AT THE WITMER HOUSE, 2900 GRAND (former governor’s mansion). Let us know if you would like to attend: