The Blog

Most citizens of Iowa City recognize that our town has two passions: literature and football. So, in honor of both, a collective of writing programs will sponsor the first-ever "Writing Tailgate" at the Iowa City Public Library on Saturday, October 20, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. in Meeting Room A.

Young children through adults can join in literary scavenger hunts, Scrabble scrambles, magnetic poetry, a haiku contest, twitter stories, digital storytelling, a Hemingway Challenge (six-word stories), post-it fiction, erasure/found poetry, and other writing activities. Football fans can stop by on their way to the game for free, tailgate-style food and writing-inspired door prizes. Join us the whole time or pop in for a quick writing respite.

I debated with myself about whether to announce the content of this post in a title, the direct and somewhat implacable name + dates genre convention of memorial resolutions and tributes. It seemed somehow too harsh, especially with the wound this fresh, so let me leave that for the end.

In her recent Translationista post, Susan Bernofsky tells a story of Heim’s generosity, his recommendation of her as a translator for a book he knew she liked, a book he might have otherwise worked on himself. It is a familiar story. He did the same with me (for Predrag Matvejevic’s work), and with others I know, students and non-students alike. His generosity was authentic and deep-seated.