Browse our archive of literary events on campus and around town, from author readings and book signings to lectures, discussions and other literary events. You can also find audio recordings of events in the Writing University Archive.
Live from Prairie Lights | Hannah Bonner and Dan Wriggins
Friday, September 6, 2024 7:00pm
Poets Hannah Bonner and Dan Wriggins will read from their debut poetry collections.
Hannah Bonner will read from Another Woman, published by Eastover Press. Poet Carlie Hoffman writes, "A book of eros and 'wild risk,' Hannah Bonner's spellbinding debut, Another Woman, conjures 'a water so febrile it is almost fire.' In the aftermath of the end of a love affair, Bonner's speaker wonders tenderly about 'every startled animal' and what it means to be a woman in the world when carnality gives way...
Art & Write Night
Friday, September 6, 2024 6:00pm to 8:00pm
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...
Chelsea Bieker in conversation with Rachel Yoder - Live from Prairie Lights
Thursday, September 5, 2024 7:00pm
Godshot author Chelsea Bieker will read from her new literary suspense Madwoman. She will be joined in conversation by Rachel Yoder. “Madwoman is brilliant. The rare kind of book that lives in your bones, as riveting as it is intimate. This is emotional suspense at its best, but it's also a chronicle of modern womanhood, an exploration of what mothers and daughters do to and for each other, and an ode to hope in the aftermath of trauma. Somehow, Bieker delivers all of this in a voice that is...
Live from Prairie Lights | Regina Porter in conversation with Claire Lombardo
Wednesday, September 4, 2024 7:00pm
Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate and author of The Travelers Regina Porter will read from her new novel, The Rich People Have Gone Away. She will be in conversation with Claire Lombardo. “Regina Porter weaves beauty and humor with pathos, in prose that is winding, prescient, and profound. She shows us worlds inside of worlds — of queerness, of love and relationships, of who we are and who we’re told to be — crafting a narrative that is both precise and thunderous. The Rich People Have Gone Away m...
Application Deadline: Fall 2024 Obermann Writing Collective
Wednesday, September 4, 2024 5:00pm
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 Fall 2024, two write-on-site groups will meet in our Writers' Attic at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies at 111 Church St. Each group...
Live from Prairie Lights | Ruthvika Rao - The Fertile Earth
Friday, August 30, 2024 7:00pm
Writers Workshop graduate Ruthvika Rao will read from her debut novel, The Fertile Earth. "The Fertile Earth is the kind of novel that you find yourself wanting a friend to read alongside you, to share in the beauty, tragedy, triumph and heartbreak of the world brought to life within its pages. Ruthvika Rao has crafted an astonishing, intelligent epic set during the early decades of post-independence India, a story filled with moral complexity, intertwined fates, awakenings and romance. Reading...
Live from Prairie Lights | Bret Anthony Johnston in conversation with Ethan Canin
Wednesday, August 28, 2024 7:00pm
Writers’ Workshop alum Bret Anthony Johnston will read from his new novel, We Burn Daylight. "Symphonic and suspenseful, We Burn Daylight reimagines events at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. In an epic act of empathy, Bret Anthony Johnston inhabits every point of view, from doomed devotees to perplexed law enforcement, and even manages to infuse the tragedy with moments of poignant, very human, humor." --Geraldine Brooks
Bret Anthony Johnston is the author of the internationally...
Live from Prairie Lights | Garth Greenwell in conversation with Jamel Brinkley
Tuesday, August 27, 2024 7:00pm
Please join us for a special early release event to celebrate Garth Greenwell’s new novel, Small Rain. He will be joined in conversation by Jamel Brinkley. Greenwell’s eagerly anticipated book has received praise from authors including Miranda July, “I just didn’t put it down”; and Phil Klay, who calls it “a marvel.” Colm Tóibín says, “Small Rain is a marvelous novel: exceptionally vivid, real, and true. Garth Greenwell’s sensibility is rich and generous — the narrator's memories are haunting...
Art & Write Night
Friday, August 2, 2024 6:00pm to 8:00pm
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...
100-Word Microstory Contest
Friday, July 26, 2024 (all day)
Mark your calendar for our 100-Word Microstory Contest — a free online writing competition for a variety of age groups. You don’t have to be an Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad — or even have participated in a flash writing contest before — to join in the fun. Just create a story in 100 words or less that uses one of two specific writing prompts. We will announce the writing prompts here on Monday, July 15, 2024, at 9 a.m. CDT.
100-Word Microstory Contest
Thursday, July 25 to Friday, July 26, 2024 (all day)
Mark your calendar for our 100-Word Microstory Contest — a free online writing competition for a variety of age groups. You don’t have to be an Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad — or even have participated in a flash writing contest before — to join in the fun. Just create a story in 100 words or less that uses one of two specific writing prompts. We will announce the writing prompts here on Monday, July 15, 2024, at 9 a.m. CDT.
100-Word Microstory Contest
Wednesday, July 24 to Friday, July 26, 2024 (all day)
Mark your calendar for our 100-Word Microstory Contest — a free online writing competition for a variety of age groups. You don’t have to be an Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad — or even have participated in a flash writing contest before — to join in the fun. Just create a story in 100 words or less that uses one of two specific writing prompts. We will announce the writing prompts here on Monday, July 15, 2024, at 9 a.m. CDT.
100-Word Microstory Contest
Tuesday, July 23 to Friday, July 26, 2024 (all day)
Mark your calendar for our 100-Word Microstory Contest — a free online writing competition for a variety of age groups. You don’t have to be an Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad — or even have participated in a flash writing contest before — to join in the fun. Just create a story in 100 words or less that uses one of two specific writing prompts. We will announce the writing prompts here on Monday, July 15, 2024, at 9 a.m. CDT.
100-Word Microstory Contest
Monday, July 22 to Friday, July 26, 2024 (all day)
Mark your calendar for our 100-Word Microstory Contest — a free online writing competition for a variety of age groups. You don’t have to be an Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad — or even have participated in a flash writing contest before — to join in the fun. Just create a story in 100 words or less that uses one of two specific writing prompts. We will announce the writing prompts here on Monday, July 15, 2024, at 9 a.m. CDT.
100-Word Microstory Contest
Sunday, July 21 to Friday, July 26, 2024 (all day)
Mark your calendar for our 100-Word Microstory Contest — a free online writing competition for a variety of age groups. You don’t have to be an Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad — or even have participated in a flash writing contest before — to join in the fun. Just create a story in 100 words or less that uses one of two specific writing prompts. We will announce the writing prompts here on Monday, July 15, 2024, at 9 a.m. CDT.
100-Word Microstory Contest
Saturday, July 20 to Friday, July 26, 2024 (all day)
Mark your calendar for our 100-Word Microstory Contest — a free online writing competition for a variety of age groups. You don’t have to be an Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad — or even have participated in a flash writing contest before — to join in the fun. Just create a story in 100 words or less that uses one of two specific writing prompts. We will announce the writing prompts here on Monday, July 15, 2024, at 9 a.m. CDT.
100-Word Microstory Contest
Friday, July 19 to Friday, July 26, 2024 (all day)
Mark your calendar for our 100-Word Microstory Contest — a free online writing competition for a variety of age groups. You don’t have to be an Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad — or even have participated in a flash writing contest before — to join in the fun. Just create a story in 100 words or less that uses one of two specific writing prompts. We will announce the writing prompts here on Monday, July 15, 2024, at 9 a.m. CDT.
100-Word Microstory Contest
Thursday, July 18 to Friday, July 26, 2024 (all day)
Mark your calendar for our 100-Word Microstory Contest — a free online writing competition for a variety of age groups. You don’t have to be an Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad — or even have participated in a flash writing contest before — to join in the fun. Just create a story in 100 words or less that uses one of two specific writing prompts. We will announce the writing prompts here on Monday, July 15, 2024, at 9 a.m. CDT.
Live from Prairie Lights | Santiago Jose Sanchez in conversation with Claire Lombardo
Wednesday, July 17, 2024 7:00pm
Grinnell College assistant professor of English and Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad Santiago Jose Sanchez will read from their debut novel, Hombrecito. They will be joined in conversation by novelist Claire Lombardo.
Hombrecito is a queer coming-of-age story about a young immigrant’s complex relationships with his mother and his motherland. “Hombrecito is a gorgeous novel of the in-between, the waiting lull, and the changing mind, that shows Santiago Jose Sanchez to be a brilliant poet of silence...
100-Word Microstory Contest
Wednesday, July 17 to Friday, July 26, 2024 (all day)
Mark your calendar for our 100-Word Microstory Contest — a free online writing competition for a variety of age groups. You don’t have to be an Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad — or even have participated in a flash writing contest before — to join in the fun. Just create a story in 100 words or less that uses one of two specific writing prompts. We will announce the writing prompts here on Monday, July 15, 2024, at 9 a.m. CDT.
Live from Prairie Lights | Melissa Mogollon reading - 'Oye: A Novel'
Tuesday, July 16, 2024 7:00pm
Iowa Writers' Workshop alum Melissa Mogollon will read from her coming of age comedy, Oye: A Novel. “Funny and smart, Oye grapples with the messy inheritance of intergenerational trauma and how it manifests in the everyday conversations with the people we love. Mogollon has written a beautiful book.”—Claire Jimenez “Heartbreaking and humorous, mature and mischievous, Oye feels like home in delicious and furious ways. Melissa Mogollon did not come to play.”—Kiley Reid
Melissa Mogollon holds an...
100-Word Microstory Contest
Tuesday, July 16 to Friday, July 26, 2024 (all day)
Mark your calendar for our 100-Word Microstory Contest — a free online writing competition for a variety of age groups. You don’t have to be an Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad — or even have participated in a flash writing contest before — to join in the fun. Just create a story in 100 words or less that uses one of two specific writing prompts. We will announce the writing prompts here on Monday, July 15, 2024, at 9 a.m. CDT.
Live from Prairie Lights | Charles Holdefer reading - 'Ivan the Terrible Goes on a Family Picnic'
Monday, July 15, 2024 7:00pm
Charles Holdefer will read from his new collection of stories, Ivan the Terrible Goes on a Family Picnic. "Did the Russians invent baseball? Is there a connection between Babe Ruth’s cross-dressing and Gertrude Stein’s secret mission to New York? What does history tell us about what lies beyond heaven? From the American heartland to Hiroshima, to Paris, to shopping malls and caves with prehistoric art, Ivan the Terrible Goes on a Family Picnic is a wild ride across generations and frontiers of...
100-Word Microstory Contest
Monday, July 15 to Friday, July 26, 2024 (all day)
Mark your calendar for our 100-Word Microstory Contest — a free online writing competition for a variety of age groups. You don’t have to be an Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad — or even have participated in a flash writing contest before — to join in the fun. Just create a story in 100 words or less that uses one of two specific writing prompts. We will announce the writing prompts here on Monday, July 15, 2024, at 9 a.m. CDT.
Arts Iowa Calendar website retirement
Sunday, June 30, 2024 (all day)
The University of Iowa is planning to retire the Arts Iowa calendar website effective June 30, 2024.
Retiring the Arts Iowa calendar website is necessary because the platform on which the site is built will soon be obsolete and no longer supportable. Additionally, traffic to the site has declined significantly in recent years as users increasingly find event information through the UI Events calendar (events.uiowa.edu) and your respective collegiate and departmental websites. Finally, the...