The Writing University

Start Your Story Here

More than 40 Pulitzer Prize winners. Seven U.S. Poets Laureate. Countless award-winning playwrights, screenwriters, journalists, translators, novelists and poets.

Learn More

Programs

View

Writers

Visit

The Writing University Podcast Network

At the Writing University, we're devoted to delivering the most enlightening, educational and entertaining podcasts from the University of Iowa's creative writing programs. We gather all our offerings together here for you to peruse and enjoy!

Watch Prairie Lights events live via Zoom

► WATCH LIVE

Upcoming Events

Local Libraries LIT: Virginia Sole-Smith

Thursday, April 18, 2024 7:00pm to 8:00pm

Virtual

Join the libraries of Johnson County for the latest Local Libraries LIT author event featuring Virginia Sole-Smith. This is a free virtual event, with registration required. As a journalist, Virginia Sole-Smith has reported from kitchen tables and grocery stores, graduated from beauty school, and gone swimming in a mermaid’s tail. Virginia’s latest book, Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture, investigates how the “war on childhood obesity” has caused kids of all ages to absorb a daily...

Mei-mei Berssenbrugge: Reading

Thursday, April 18, 2024 8:00pm

Dey House

The Writers' Workshop presents a reading with poet, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge. From https://www.ndbooks.com/author/mei-mei-berssenbrugge/: Mei-mei Berssenbrugge was born in Beijing and grew up in Massachusetts. She is the author of thirteen books of poetry, including Hello, the Roses; Empathy; and I Love Artists. Her collaborations include Endocrinology with Kiki Smith and Hiddenness with Richard Tuttle, as well as performances with Morita Dance Company, Blondell Cummings, and Davide Balula. In...

Live from Prairie Lights | Mario Duarte - My Father Called Us Monkeys

Wednesday, April 24, 2024 7:00pm

Prairie Lights Books

Iowa Writers’ Workshop alum Mario Duarte will read from his new book published by Ice Cube Press, My Father Called Us Monkeys. “Mario Duarte juxtaposes innocent voices against tragic and tender moments while giving us a moving snapshot of a young Mexican American boy growing up in the Midwest. Duarte’s eye for scenic landscape and his ear for captivating dialogue stand out in this debut short story collection.”—Jose B. Gonzalez Mario Duarte is a Mexican American poet and fiction writer whose...

View more events