Hailed by O the Oprah Magazine as "an attentive and precise writer who dazzles with natural and supernatural observations and lyrical details," bestselling author Jesmyn Ward will take part in a virtual conversation hosted by the Rock Island and Moline Public Libraries, her October 12 event treating participants to an audience with the talent lauded by Entertainment Weekly as "one of the most searing and singularly gifted writers working today."

The 1999 winner of the United Kingdom's Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play, Conor McPherson's arresting and chilling drama The Weir enjoys an appropriate-for-Halloween run at Iowa City's Riverside Theatre from October 14 through 30, the work praised by the New York Times as “beautifully devious” and by the Evening Standard as “a modern masterpiece.”

Presented in a collaboration between the University of Iowa International Writing Program, the German American Heritage Center, the Midwest Writing Center, and Rock Island's Rozz-Tox, the latter venue will host a special International Edition of the Midwest Writing Center's SPECTRA Reading Series on October 13, with the featured guests and readers being native German Tunay Őnder and Chinese native Chun Sue.

A consistently popular and lauded presence on the Midwestern touring circuit, beloved folk singer/songwriter Cody Diekhoff – better known by his recording alias Chicago Farmer – headlines an October 13 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the artist a soulful crooner and guitarist who inspired No Depression to rave, “If the Midwest is looking for a voice, the search is over.”

Continuing the organization's run of arresting and joyous Third Sunday Jazz Workshop & Matinée Series concert events held in Bettendorf's Rivermont Collegiate, Polyrhythms presents an October 16 engagement with the talented musicians of Dushun Mosley’s “Trioverse” Band, a three-man ensemble composed of Rodderrick Pierre Pollard III, Steven C. Manns Jr., and percussionist bandleader Mosley.

Performing a tribute to the iconic artist behind chart-topping albums Tapestry, Music, and Wrap Around Joy, acclaimed vocalist Adrianne Hall will celebrate the artistry of Carole King in Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Rhythm Room on October 14, a night also featuring classic rock, pop, and soul hits by area favorites The Tailfins.

Nicholas Stoller's and Billy Eichner's achievement gave me everything I want and so rarely get from Hollywood rom-coms: interest, involvement, investment, sexual heat, huge laughs, legitimately threatening obstacles.

The labor-union and trial-lawyer-backed All for Justice independent-expenditure committee has so far reported raising $3.5 million, with, I’m told, at least another $5 million in pledges. The committee’s sole purpose is to back the two Democratic candidates running for the Illinois Supreme Court, Appellate Justice Mary K O’Brien, and Judge Elizabeth Rochford. And its spending is finally beginning.

If you were to tell me a marriage could teeter on the brink of destruction simply due to the addition of a dog … I’d have countered that no one would let canine conflict get that far. Only that’s exactly what happens in the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's production of Sylvia, written by A.R. Gurney and directed by Kathy Graham. Friday’s performance ultimately left me feeling like I am killing it with marriage, as both my husband and I agree on our position on getting a dog: While they’re great, dog ownership simply isn’t for us.