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Stay updated with the latest literary events happening both on campus and around town, from author readings and book signings to lectures, discussions and other literary events. Find free in-person events and online events here.

Lyell Henry- Trekking Across America | Live from Prairie Lights

Saturday, November 16, 2024 4:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Join us for a special afternoon event with Professor Emeritus Lyell Henry, who will talk about his new book, Trekking across America: An Up-Close Look at a Once-Popular Pastime, published by University of Iowa Press. “Trekking across America vividly recalls a bygone era when people would cross the continent on foot, hoping the publicity would lead to fame and riches . . . or at least a better life. The incredible stories that Lyell Henry has collected are by turns hilarious and haunting. The...

Wini Moranville in conversation with Meredith Lumberg- Love is my Favorite Flavor | Live from Prairie Lights

Sunday, November 17, 2024 4:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Join us with restaurant reviewer of over 25 years, cookbook author Wini Moranville, who will read from and discuss her new book, Love Is My Favorite Flavor: A Midwestern Dining Critic Tells All. She will be joined in conversation by Iowa City food blogger Meredith Lumberg. "In the tradition of the great food writers of our time — from M. F. K. Fisher to Betty Fussell — Wini Moranville provides an insider's view of the nuances, pressures, and delights of the food business. She writes of waiting...

Daniel M. Lavery- Women’s Hotel | Live from Prairie Lights

Tuesday, November 19, 2024 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
New York Times bestselling author and advice columnist Daniel M. Lavery will read from his charming and funny debut novel about the residents of a women’s hotel in 1960s New York City, The Women’s Hotel. "Lavery’s elegant, aching, and outright hilarious prose highlights the lives of these women as they find and lose jobs, upend their entire lives, make friends and forge bonds that, despite the transitory nature of the hotel, will last a lifetime. … Women's Hotel is a prime example of mastery of...

Jeff Biggers - Disturbing the Bones | Live from Prairie Lights

Wednesday, November 20, 2024 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Event date:  Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024 - 7 p.m. Iowa City author Jeff Biggers will read from his new thriller (co-written with director/screenwriter Andrew Davis), Disturbing the Bones. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly describes Disturbing the Bones as "(A) thrillingly cinematic collaboration between The Fugitive director Davis and journalist Biggers... Intense, vivid action...By the time the breathless denouement rolls around, readers may find they've been up all night.” Jeff Biggers is...

Maureen McCue - Dancing In A Disabled World | Live from Prairie Lights

Thursday, November 21, 2024 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Dr.  Maureen McCue will read from her candid, behind-the-curtains consideration of disability and being human, Dancing In A Disabled World. “I appreciated McCue’s attention to the lived realities of a child who later becomes the adult with developmental and cognitive disabilities.” —Kris Nagel, Psychologist “Maureen McCue’s stunningly candid and immersive memoir raises and addresses crucial questions for the individual and for social policy of how to best support and care for all described...
Write at the Stanley: A Generative Writing Workshop promotional image

Write at the Stanley: A Generative Writing Workshop

Sunday, November 24, 2024 2:30pm to 4:15pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Write at the Stanley: A Generative Writing Workshop is back for the Fall 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. Teen...
Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, December 6, 2024 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
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...

Claudia McGehee's Iowa River Frost Fair | Live from Prairie Lights

Saturday, December 7, 2024 11:00am
Prairie Lights Books
Please join us from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for Claudia McGehee's Iowa River Frost Fair (an event in name inspired by medieval artisan fairs held on the frozen river Thames in London, home to Claudia’s ancestors!). Iowa City based Illustrator/Author Claudia will sign her new 2025 Engagement Calendar “Dwelling," copies of her beloved illustrated books (including her band new picture book Counting Winter), and we will have lots of her new holiday prints on hand!  Claudia McGehee is a local artist and...
Keith Haring's Enduring Legacy | A Conversation with Gil Vazquez and Brad Gooch promotional image

Keith Haring's Enduring Legacy | A Conversation with Gil Vazquez and Brad Gooch

Saturday, December 7, 2024 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Join us for an engaging conversation featuring Gil Vazquez, Executive Director of the Keith Haring Foundation, and Brad Gooch, acclaimed author of Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring. This insightful discussion will be facilitated by Diana Tuite, curator of the exhibition To My Friends at Horn: Keith Haring in Iowa City. The conversation will include insights into Keith Haring’s life, work, and activism; the process of writing Haring’s biography; and explore how Haring’s work continues...
UI Center for the Book Open House promotional image

UI Center for the Book Open House

Friday, December 13, 2024 4:00pm to 6:00pm
North Hall
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!
Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, February 7, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
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...
Book Matters: Brady G’Sell and Meena Khandelwal in conversation with Elana Buch promotional image

Book Matters: Brady G’Sell and Meena Khandelwal in conversation with Elana Buch

Tuesday, February 25, 2025 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Prairie Lights Books
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.
Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, March 7, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
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...
Application Deadline: Obermann End-of-Year Writing Retreat promotional image

Application Deadline: Obermann End-of-Year Writing Retreat

Friday, March 14, 2025 5:00pm
Have you been waiting all school year to make serious progress on your book manuscript, article, or grant application? Jump-start your summer writing project at the Obermann End-of-Year Writing Retreat May 12–16, 2025! Fifteen participants will enjoy a week of quiet productivity apart from the distractions of campus at the beautiful North Ridge Pavilion in Coralville. Daily catered lunches will provide an opportunity for exchange and discussion with other writers across campus. Each day will...
Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, April 4, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
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...
Book Matters Faculty Author Celebration promotional image

Book Matters Faculty Author Celebration

Tuesday, April 15, 2025 4:30pm to 6:00pm
Old Capitol Museum
Join the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice President for Research as we celebrate faculty who have published books since 2023. Remarks and selected faculty readings will occur at 5 p.m. If you are a faculty member that has recently published a book, please let us know. To attend, RSVP now.
Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, May 2, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
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...
Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, June 6, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
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...
Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, July 4, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
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...
Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, August 1, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
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...
Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, September 5, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
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...
Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, October 3, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
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...
Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, November 7, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
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...
Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, December 5, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
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...
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