13 artists and writers you don't want to miss during Mission Creek Festival 2023 in Iowa City
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Iowa City will once again be transformed into a music and literary playground when Mission Creek Festival attendees venture across the city for exceptional performances and author talks.
The unique music and literary festival will treat festival-goers to national and Iowa acts, from Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner to Iowa City's Pictoria Vark.
The festival, which is from April 6-8, will be held across performance venues including Hancher Auditorium, the Englert Theatre, Gabe’s, Riverside Theatre and more.
Here are 13 artists to get excited about as you plan your Mission Creek Festival experience.
Black Belt Eagle Scout
Katherine Paul is the multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter behind Black Belt Eagle Scout who recently released her third album, “The Land, The Water, The Sky.” The Oregon musician returns to her ancestral lands of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and explores knowledge, teachings, the passing down of wisdom and celebrates lineage and strength in her third album, according to the artist's website.
When: April 6 at 7:15 p.m.
Where: Hancher Auditorium, 141 Park Road, Iowa City
Camonghne Felix
Camonghne Felix is poet, essayist and the author of her debut poetry collection “Build Yourself a Boat,” longlisted for the National Book Awards for Poetry in 2019. The New York native has authored profiles on Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and filmmaker Barry Jenkins, and recently released her memoir “Dyscalculia: A Love Story of Epic Miscalculation” in February.
When: April 8 at 7 p.m.
Where: The James Theater, 213 N. Gilbert St., Iowa City
Cat Power
The Atlanta, Georgia-born singer-songwriter Chan Marshall, who performs and releases music as Cat Power, has explored the sounds of folk, blues and soul for decades. Marshall, who embarks on a North American tour with bands Modest Mouse and the Pixies this summer, has released nearly a dozen albums, including collections of covers, that capture the breadth of her sound.
When: April 6 at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Hancher Auditorium, 141 Park Road, Iowa City
Karen Meat
The Iowa pop-rock band Karen Meat, founded by Arin Eaton, has captured Mission Creek Festival audiences' attention previously in 2018, and returns to do so again, this time at Trumpet Blossom Cafe. The nine-track “Meat Your Heart Out” 2019 album, available on Bandcamp, blended garage and pop rock and catchy synth sounds paired with frequently humorous lyrics — track seven, "Jerk Off," being just one example.
When: April 8 at 4:30 p.m.
Where: Trumpet Blossom Cafe, 310 E. Prentiss St., Iowa City
Kaveh Akbar
Kaveh Akbar is an associate professor at the University of Iowa and author of two poetry collections, including “Pilgrim Bell” in 2021. The Iranian writer is the poetry editor of magazine The Nation and his work has appeared in the Paris Review, The New Yorker and more.
When: April 7 at 6 p.m.
Where: Revival, 117 E. College St., Iowa City
McKinley Dixon
Richmond, Virginia, rapper McKinley Dixon has been working in music for years, though his 2021 release “For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her" may be the first time audiences are introduced to him, the rapper acknowledged in an interview with WXPN in 2021. Dixon, who credits celebrated writer Toni Morrison as the greatest rapper of all time in his bio statement on independent record label City Slang, uses his music “as a tool for healing, exploring and unpacking the Black experience in order to create stories for others like him,” according to the Mission Creek Festival.
When: April 8 at 9 p.m.
Where: Gabe's, 330 E. Washington St., Iowa City
Michael Torres
California native and writer Michael Torres spent his youth as a graffiti artist, according to his website. His first collection of poems, “An Incomplete List of Names” in 2019, was a National Poetry Series winner. In it, he explores his Mexican American identity and his youth. Torres is an assistant professor in creative writing at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
When: April 8 at 7 p.m.
Where: The James Theater, 213 N. Gilbert St., Iowa City
Michelle Zauner
Michelle Zauner has dominated by the music industry and literary world in recent years through indie-pop project Japanese Breakfast and her 2021 debut memoir “Crying in H Mart,” which will be adapted into a film directed by “The White Lotus” star Will Sharpe, Variety reported in early March. The Grammy-nominated artist’s memoir began as an essay in The New Yorker and became a New York Times bestseller upon release.
When: April 6 at 5:45 p.m.
Where: Hancher Auditorium, 141 Park Road, Iowa City
Mr. Softheart
Made up of Nick and John Fisher and Charlie Patterson, this Des Moines and Cedar Falls band formed in 2021 to explore a post-punk sound. Mr. Softheart's work has drawn comparisons to 1980s band Talk Talk and singer-songwriter Nick Cave, according to the Mission Creek Festival. Their debut album is set to come out sometime this year as they continue performing across Iowa venues.
When: April 7 at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Riverside Theatre, 119 E. College St., Iowa City
Pictoria Vark
Pictoria Vark, the stage name for the Iowa City songwriter and bassist who cleverly swapped the first initials in her name, has made headlines in Forbes and Pitchfork in the past year for her debut album “The Parts I Dread” that Rolling Stone described as “one of last year’s finest indie records.” The East Coast native, who previously performed in another act born out of Iowa, Squirrel Flower, landed a gig at the 80/35 Music Festival in Des Moines later this year and was named Iowa Public Radio’s Artist of the Month in April 2022.
When: April 8 at 3 p.m.
Where: Big Grove Brewery, 1225 S. Gilbert St., Iowa City
Shelley Wong
Shelley Wong is a San Francisco writer and author of “As She Appears," which was longlisted for the 2022 National Book Award for poetry and a finalist for the 2023 Lambda Literary Award. Her poems have appeared in American Poetry, the New England Review and more. She is also an affiliate artist with the Headlands Center for the Arts in California, where she write poems to “affirm other people like me, who have felt unseen and unheard in literary and artistic spaces,” according to Headlands Center for the Arts.
When: April 7 at 7 p.m.
Where: Prairie Lights, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City
Sudan Archives
Violinist, singer-songwriter and producer Brittney Parks, or Sudan Archives, is a self-taught violinist inspired by Sudanese fiddlers, R&B, West African rhythms and experimental, electronic music, according to the artists’ Bandcamp. On her 2022 album “Natural Brown Prom Queen,” Pitchfork described Parks as “a one-woman band” who “transmits a frenzied energy that is as emotionally soothing as it is physically crushing” across her album.
When: April 7 at 8 p.m.
Where: The Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., Iowa City
Yasmin Williams
The origins of Yasmin Williams’ guitar playing lies with one popular 2006 video game: "Guitar Hero 2." Praised for her impressive, unique style of guitar playing, the Virginia-based artist, alongside fellow Mission Creek Festival performer Sudan Archives, was named one of Pitchfork’s 25 New and Rising Artists Shaping the Future of Music in 2023.
When: April 7 at 9:45 p.m.
Where: Riverside Theatre, 119 E. College St., Iowa City
Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Reach her at PBarraza@press-citizen.com or 319-519-9731. Follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Mission Creek Festival 2023 brings Cat Power, Sudan Archives and more
