Poets GC Waldrep and Karen An-Hwei Lee will read from their newest collections, The Beautiful Immunity and The Opening Ritual. GC Waldrep’s The Opening Ritual is described by bestselling author and novelist Kaveh Akbar as “the kind of furiously curious, unabashedly ambitious poetry book I want to show everyone, to prove such books can still be written.” G.C. Waldrep was born and raised in the South. He earned his BA from Harvard University, a PhD in history from Duke University, and an MFA in...

Bestselling author and Iowa Writers’ Workshop alum Curtis Sittenfeld will read from her newest book and second story collection, Show, Don’t Tell. Publishers’ Weekly describes Show, Don’t Tell as “Witty . . . In one sparkling comedy of manners after another, [Curtis Sittenfeld] documents with a clear and affectionate eye how tiny prejudices and blind spots lead her protagonists astray,” while Kirkus Reviews says, “Sittenfeld’s candor and matter-of-factness make for compellingly intimate and at...

Are you a writer that is interested in improving your skills or connecting with other local writers? Have you ever wondered what it might be like to participate in a workshop at the world-renowned Iowa Writers' Workshop? Molly Biskupic from the Iowa Writers' Workshop will join us at the Public Library to provide a workshop experience right here in Lisbon!  Attendees are invited to bring or submit a short sample of your work to share with the group so that everyone can get a feel for each other...

Iowa Writers’ Workshop Poetry alum Alyssa Perry and Rescue Press poet Daisy Atterbury will read from their new books, Oily Doily, and The Kármán Line. Razor-edged, stagger-rhymed, Oily Doily is a diamond saw. Its music is intricate and remorseless as its subject: empire, centuries of bourgeois kitsch, 80s flicks, tech strip - mining our curiosity, sympathy, and desire for solidarity. Miraculously, the poetry work doesn’t fall for despair but offers clarity within clarity, glittering surfaces...

Writers’ Workshop alumni Lewis Robinson (Fiction) and Aaron McCollough (Poetry) will read from their latest books, The Islanders and Salms. Lewis Robinson will read from The Islanders. "The Islanders is at once an engrossing story and a timely, urgent warning: what will happen when the one percent decide to pull up the rope ladder behind them? Robinson’s vividly drawn protagonists are the ragtag kids conscripted into a billionaires’ militia training program. With sensory precision, penetrating...

A workshop for memoirists, essayists, or art lovers. Any level of experience is welcome! Tickets start at $255. Feb. 5–26, (4 sessions) 7–9 p.m. Tickets: https://www.porchlightliterary.org/service-page/perusing-the-personal-through-art-1 Description: In this four-session course, participants will craft creative nonfiction narratives that respond to various forms of art (music, movies, paintings, etc.) they have a connection with. By using writing techniques to capture our various...

Join us for a reading and discussion, co-sponsored by Prairie Lights, to celebrate recent works from Brady G’sell and Meena Khandelwal, faculty in the University of Iowa Department of Anthropology and the Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies Program. After the reading, Elana Buch, associate professor of anthropology, will join G’sell and Khandelwal for a conversation and Q&A with the audience. Light refreshments will follow.

Write at the Stanley: A Generative Writing Workshop is back for the Spring Semester! Join us monthly to generate new creative writing inspired by works in the Stanley collection. Each session will be led by a different talented writer from our area, who will be offering a new prompt and a new approach to ekphrastic writing (writing inspired by visual art). Bring your own notebook and pencil or computer and leave with the beginning of a newly written piece. Co-sponsored by Iowa City Poetry...

Writers’ Workshop graduates Steven Duong and Tramaine Suubi will read from their new poetry collections: At the End of the World There Is a Pond, and Phases. Steven Duong will read from At the End of the World There Is a Pond. “In poems striking, humorous, and assured, Steven Duong turns and turns the world over again until we are seen anew. . . . The velocity and music of this book will steady you far into your days.” —Major Jackson "Duong’s poetry is surprising and alive, expansive in its...

A workshop for memoirists, essayists, or art lovers. Any level of experience is welcome! Tickets start at $255. Feb. 5–26, (4 sessions) 7–9 p.m. Tickets: https://www.porchlightliterary.org/service-page/perusing-the-personal-through-art-1 Description: In this four-session course, participants will craft creative nonfiction narratives that respond to various forms of art (music, movies, paintings, etc.) they have a connection with. By using writing techniques to capture our various...

A workshop for memoirists, essayists, or art lovers. Any level of experience is welcome! Tickets start at $255. Feb. 5–26, (4 sessions) 7–9 p.m. Tickets: https://www.porchlightliterary.org/service-page/perusing-the-personal-through-art-1 Description: In this four-session course, participants will craft creative nonfiction narratives that respond to various forms of art (music, movies, paintings, etc.) they have a connection with. By using writing techniques to capture our various...

English Department VIEWS presents: poet francine j. harris reading, Q&A, and book signing. Books will be available for purchase. francine j. harris’ third collection, "Here is the Sweet Hand," won the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was a finalist for the Kingsley Tuft s Award. Originally from Detroit, she has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the MacDowell Colony, and the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. She is Professor of English at the University of Houston and serves as Consulting Faculty Editor at Gulf Coast.

The Washington Public Library will be holding its next Washington Writers Workshop on Saturday, Feb. 8, beginning at 10 a.m. Join us for a presentation by poet Amiya Moretta from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. The first hour is devoted to the author presentation and the second hour to writer submissions. If you would like to be on the submission and reminder list, please email leann.kunz@washington.lib.ia.us Amiya is a poet and multimedia artist. She is a Fulbright scholar and an MFA candidate at...

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces. Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists. Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each session...

[Please note that this event has been postponed due to weather and will be rescheduled] Iowa Writers' Workshop alum, Caitlin Roach will read from her new book of poetry, Surveille, in conversation with Rachel Yoder. Writers' Workshop graduate Caitlin Roach will read from her debut book of poems, Surveille, winner of the 2024 Brittingham Poetry Prize. “In Surveille, Caitlin Roach is a reader of omens, of the shapes hidden in shadows, recasting the hard lessons of the natural world. Born between...

A workshop for memoirists, essayists, or art lovers. Any level of experience is welcome! Tickets start at $255. Feb. 5–26, (4 sessions) 7–9 p.m. Tickets: https://www.porchlightliterary.org/service-page/perusing-the-personal-through-art-1 Description: In this four-session course, participants will craft creative nonfiction narratives that respond to various forms of art (music, movies, paintings, etc.) they have a connection with. By using writing techniques to capture our various...

Margaret Ross is the author of Saturday and A Timeshare. Her poems and translations have appeared in The New Republic, The Paris Review, and POETRY, and have been recognized by a Wallace Stegner Fellowship, a Fulbright arts grant, and residencies from Yaddo. To subscribe to a weekly emailing list of Writers' Workshop events, please fill in the linked form or email iww@uiowa.edu with “Events Mailing List Subscribe” in the subject line.

Join us for a conversation with Susan Hill Newton, Alisha Jeddeloh and Chuy Renteria about publishing with a University Press About the event Enjoy conversation, connection, and community over light snacks and wine. Porchlight’s weeknight salon series provides a space for visiting writers, local artists, university students, and community members to engage in dialogue. Susan Hill Newton has worked in all realms of book editing, serving both trade and academic publishers and nonprofits...

Write at the Stanley: A Generative Writing Workshop is back for the Spring Semester! Join us monthly to generate new creative writing inspired by works in the Stanley collection. Each session will be led by a different talented writer from our area, who will be offering a new prompt and a new approach to ekphrastic writing (writing inspired by visual art). Bring your own notebook and pencil or computer and leave with the beginning of a newly written piece. Co-sponsored by Iowa City Poetry...

This program offers companionship and accountability to University of Iowa artists, scholars, and researchers working on any kind of academic writing project (ex. academic articles/essays, fellowship or grant applications, book projects, edited volumes, or nonfiction) who want dedicated time, a cozy space, and a community for the practice of writing. In Spring 2025, three write-on-site groups will meet in our Writers' Attic at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies at 111 Church St. Each...

Mark your calendars for our UI Alumni and Friends Flash Writing Contest—a free, online short story competition for a variety of age groups. You don’t have be an Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate or an accomplished author to join in the fun. The contest begins on Friday, Jan. 17, 2024, at 4 p.m. CST, and runs through Sunday, Jan. 19, 2024, at 4 p.m. CST. At the contest's start, we'll provide a genre, character, and specific object to incorporate into your story. The rest is up to you! Submissions...

The Washington Public Library will be holding its next Washington Writers Workshop this Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. This workshop will feature a presentation on craft by visiting writer, Adiah Siler, during the first hour. We will workshop submissions of participants during the second hour. Free and open to adults and teens. Adiah Siler is an MFA candidate at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she’s utilizing her work to explore themes of identity and marginalization through speculative...

Exhibits from UICB studio classes in lettering arts, papermaking, bookbinding, artist books, and letterpress printing will be on display. UICB Faculty work will be on display in the K.K. Merker Gallery. Food and drink will be served — all are welcome!