Beyond the Books: Meet our Iowa Writers and Students!

Beyond the Books: Five Questions for Writers in our University of Iowa Literary Community

Welcome to the 5Q Interview series! Each year, the Writing University conducts a series of interviews with writers while they are in Iowa City participating in the various University of Iowa writing programs. We sit down with authors to ask about their work, their process and their descriptions of home.

Featured Interviews

Full Collection

 

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5Q Interview: UI Press Author Edward Ziff

Wednesday, September 4, 2024
"Our book is about the function of the brain. We argue that we live in a world that is chaotic and often unpredictable, and the book presents our thesis that the brain invents a simplified world to help us navigate this chaos and conduct our daily activities."
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5Q Interview: UI Press Author Peter Mishler

Wednesday, July 24, 2024
"One morning, I got out of bed and looked out my window and saw a group of children dressed in full tactical gear."
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5Q Interview: UI Press Author Lucas Mann

Wednesday, July 3, 2024
"The essays move around a lot in subject and form -- there are shorter, more lyric pieces, longer works of cultural criticism and literary journalism, some memoir work; one is about Brad Pitt eating on screen, another is about watching LeBron James's online dad content, another is about Andy Warhol's diaries"
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5Q Interview: UI Press Author Nina Lohman

Wednesday, June 5, 2024
"I believe that broken bodies tell broken stories. Or, they can, at least. Mine does."
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5Q Interview: Blake Kellinger, UI Screenwriting student

Friday, March 29, 2024
"Iowa was not only the best location for me, but it felt like I could focus on my work here. The campus is so beautiful here, and the program itself is so enticing, it pushes me to be the best."
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5Q Interview: Gleisson Alves Santos, Literary Translation MFA

Thursday, February 15, 2024
"I am always deeply inspired by everything that surrounds me – people, songs and sounds, landscapes, books, classes, talks, and the list could easily go on."
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5Q Interview: Siqi Lui, Iowa Writers' Workshop

Thursday, January 25, 2024
"Before coming to Iowa, I was living in New York City, desperately wanting to write but spending most of my waking hours in an office job."