How to join the "Office Lounge" this Friday

Our first monthly Zoom gathering

The Iowa Writers Collaborative is kicking off a series of monthly virtual meetings this Friday, October 28.

Chuck Offenburger explained the inspiration for the name “Office Lounge.”

Each columnist in the collaborative will briefly introduce themselves and the concept behind their column. Then the floor will be open for Q&A (or lurking, if you prefer).  

The call will start at noon and end at 1 pm. I’ve put the Zoom link behind a paywall below, because to join the meeting, you have to be a paid subscriber to at least one of our newsletters.

Here’s our current list, in alphabetical order:

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights

Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll

Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines

Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake

Suzanna de Baca Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley

Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County

Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji

Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines

Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla

Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines

Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey

Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines

Barry Piatt: Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona

Cheryl Tervis: Unfinished Business, Boone County

Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport

I’m keeping all content on this Substack free. More “What I’m reading” posts are in the works—but I have to finish some Bleeding Heartland projects first.

By the way, I’m updating the early vote numbers every weekday on my website, with tables showing absentee ballots requested and returned statewide and in each of Iowa’s four Congressional districts. Here’s the link.

If you want to receive regular emails with links to all articles and commentaries I’ve recently published at Bleeding Heartland, subscribe to the Evening Heartland newsletter. It’s also free.