University of Iowa Writers Workshop – James Alan McPherson – Last evening (Aug. 5, 2021), Iowa City celebrated renaming Creekside Park in his honor.
In March 2021, The Iowa City City Council approved the renaming of Creekside Park to James Alan McPherson Park. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ribbon-cutting ceremony was delayed, so in order to celebrate this important event, the Parks and Recreation Department rescheduled for Thursday evening, August 5, 2021, hosting a Party in the Park at the newly-named James Alan McPherson Park, located at 1856 7th Avenue Court.
Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague had a few words of welcome and James’ daughter, Rachel McPherson, shared some wonderful stories about her father, reading a collection of beautiful testimonies from others who had been so blessed to be around her father.
Sandy and I I live just a few blocks from the newly-named park and we didn’t want to miss the ceremony. Here are a few shots from the evening. Enjoy!
James Alan McPherson (1943–2016) was an American essayist and short-story writer. He was the first African-American writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and was included among the first group of artists who received a MacArthur Fellowship. At the time of his death, McPherson was a professor emeritus of fiction at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
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