Writers
The University of Iowa claims among its faculty and graduates winners of virtually every major literary award, including the Nobel Prize in Literature, Pulitzer Prize, six recent U.S. Poets Laureate, and numerous winners of the National Book Award, MacArthur Foundation Fellowships, and other major honors.
Featured Writers
Juan Felipe Herrera
Poetry, Iowa Writers' Workshop, Faculty, Alumni
Rita Dove
Poetry, Iowa Writers' Workshop, Faculty, Alumni
Kurt Vonnegut
Fiction, Iowa Writers' Workshop, Faculty
Marilynne Robinson
Fiction, Iowa Writers' Workshop, Faculty
Flannery O'Connor
Fiction, Iowa Writers' Workshop, Alumni
John Berryman
Poetry, Iowa Writers' Workshop, Faculty
Notable Faculty & Alumni
Ray Young Bear
Poetry | Alumni | English Department
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, Ruth Suckow Award
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Mo Yan
Fiction | International Writing Program
Nobel Prize in Literature (2012)
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Charles Wright
Poetry | Alumni | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize, Fulbright, U.S. Poet Laureate
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Rebecca Wolff
Fiction | Alumni | Arts Share
National Poetry Series Award, Barnard Women Poets Prize
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Tennessee Williams
Dramatic Writing | Playwrights Workshop
Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1948, 1955), Tony Award, New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards, Donaldson Awards
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Sheba R. Wheeler
Dramatic Writing
Pulitzer Prize for Journalism (2000)
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Robert Penn Warren
Fiction | Poetry | Nonfiction | Journalism | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize (1947,1958,1979)
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Naomi Wallace
Iowa Writers' Workshop | Playwrights Workshop
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Genius Award (1999)
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Margaret Walker
Poetry | Fiction | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Alumni
Yale Series of Younger Poets, Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women
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Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Fiction | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Faculty
Guggenheim Fellowship, National Institute of Arts and Letters, Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame
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Marcos M. Villatoro
Poetry | Fiction | Nonfiction | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Alumni
Latino Literary Hall of Fame, Los Angeles Emmy Award
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Abraham Verghese
Fiction | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Alumni
National Humanities Medal (2015), Heinz Award
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Mona Van Duyn
Poetry | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Alumni | Faculty
Pulitzer Prize (1991), National Book Award (1971), U.S. Poet Laureate
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Don Ultang
Journalism | School of Journalism | Alumni
Pulitzer Prize (1952)
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Michael F. Toner
Journalism | School of Journalism | Alumni
Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism (1993)
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Edwin Thumboo
Poetry | International Writing Program
National Book Development Council of Singapore Award, Cultural Medallion for Literature
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James Tate
Poetry | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1992), National Book Award (1994)
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Mark Strand
Poetry | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1999), U.S. Poet Laureate, Wallace Stevens Award, MacArthur Fellowship
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Wallace Stegner
Fiction | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1972), National Book Award for Fiction
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William Stafford
Poetry | Iowa Writers' Workshop
U.S. Poet Laureate, National Book Award for Poetry (1963), Guggenheim Fellowship (1966), Western States Book Award (1992), Robert Frost Medal (1993)
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W.D. Snodgrass
Poetry | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1960), Ingram Merrill Foundation Poetry Prize, Poetry Society of America, National Institute of Arts
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Jane Smiley
Fiction | Alumni | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1992), American Academy of Arts and Letters
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Eleni Sikelianos
Poetry | Iowa Writers' Workshop
National Poetry Series, New York Foundation for the Arts Award in Nonfiction Literature, National Endowment for the Arts fellowship
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Karl Shapiro
Poetry | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Faculty
Pulitzer Prize in Poetry (1945), United States Poet Laureate, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Guggenheim Foundation fellowships, Bollingen Prize
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Robyn Schiff
Poetry | Alumni | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Academy of American Poets Award
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Tomaž Šalamun
Poetry | International Writing Program
Pushcart Prize, Prešeren Fund Award and Jenko Prize, Ovid Festival Prize
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Mary Ruefle
Poetry | Nonfiction | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Nonfiction Writing Program
National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, Whiting Award, Guggenheim Fellowship, Lannan Foundation Award
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Philip Roth
Fiction | Alumni | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize (1997), National Book Awards, National Book Critics Circle, PEN/Faulkner Award, National Humanities Medal Citation
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Marilynne Robinson
Fiction | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (2005), National Humanities Medal, Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
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D.A. Powell
Poetry | Alumni | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Poetry Society of America, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, Paul Engle Fellowship
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Orhan Pamuk
Fiction | International Writing Program
Nobel Prize in Literature (2006), International Dublin Literary Award, Sonning Prize
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ZZ Packer
Fiction | Alumni | Arts Share | Live from Prairie Lights
Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award, Whiting Award, Guggenheim Fellowship
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John O'Keefe
Playwrights Workshop
Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award
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Flannery O'Connor
Fiction | Alumni | Iowa Writers' Workshop
National Book Award for Fiction (1972)
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Alice Notley
Poetry | Fiction | Alumni | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Poetry Society of America Shelley Memorial Award
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Herbert Nipson
Journalism | School of Journalism | Alumni
Capitol Press Club Outstanding Journalist
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Peter Nazareth
Fiction | Nonfiction | International Writing Program
Yale University Seymour Lustman Fellowship
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H.M. Naqvi
Fiction | International Writing Program
DSC Prize for South Asian Literature
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Frank Luther Mott
Journalism | School of Journalism
Pulitzer Prize (1939)
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Kei Miller
Poetry | International Writing Program | Alumni
Prix Les Afriques, Caribbean Award for Excellence, Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde, Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature
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Nicholas Meyer
Dramatic Writing | Playwrights Workshop
Academy Awards nomination, Emmy Award nomination
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James Alan McPherson
Fiction | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize (1978), MacArthur Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship
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Elizabeth McCracken
Fiction | Iowa Writers' Workshop
L.L. Winship/PEN New England Award, The Story Prize
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Haki R. Madhubuti
Poetry | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Alumni
American Book Award
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Robert Lowell
Poetry | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize (1947, 1974), U.S. Poet Laureate, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award
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Dick Locher
Journalism | Alumni
Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Cartooning (1983)
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Yiyun Li
Nonfiction | Alumni | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Nonfiction Writing Program
Lannan Foundation Fellowship, Whiting Foundation Fellowship, PEN/Hemingway Award, Guardian First Book Award
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Philip Levine
Poetry | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize (1995), U.S. Poet Laureate, Academy of American Poets Wallace Stevens Award, National Book Award for Poetry, National Book Critics Circle Award
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Carolyn Kizer
Poetry | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Faculty
Pulitzer Prize (1985)
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W.P. Kinsella
Fiction | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Alumni
Officer of the Order of Canada, Stephen Leacock Award
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Tracy Kidder
Poetry | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize (1982), National Book Award
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Donald Justice
Poetry | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize (1980), Guggenheim Fellowship, Rockefeller Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts
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Josephine Johnson
Fiction | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Faculty
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1935), O. Henry Award
John Irving
Fiction | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Academy Award (1999)
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Cathy Park Hong
Poetry | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pushcart Prize, Barnard Women Poets Prize, Windham–Campbell Literature Prize
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Juan Felipe Herrera
Poetry | Alumni | Iowa Writers' Workshop
U.S. Poet Laureate
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Whiti Hereaka
Fiction | International Writing Program
Bruce Mason Playwriting Award, Honour Award
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Robin Hemley
Fiction | Nonfiction | Faculty | Nonfiction Writing Program
Guggenheim Fellowship
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Anthony Hecht
Poetry | Faculty | Alumni | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1968), Bollingen Prize, Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry, Wallace Stevens Award, Frost Medal, Tanning Prize
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Charles (C.G.) Hanzlicek
Poetry | Alumni | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Director of the Writing Workshop at CSU Fresno
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Robert Hass
Poetry | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize (2008), U.S. Poet Laureate, National Book Award, Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets
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Paul Harding
Fiction | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Faculty | Alumni
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (2010), PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize
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W. David Hancock
Dramatic Writing | Playwrights Workshop
Whiting Award, Obie Award
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Yaa Gyasi
Fiction | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Alumni
National Book Critics Circle Award, PEN/Hemingway Award, American Book Award
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Allan Gurganus
Fiction | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Ingram Merrill Award, Guggenheim Fellowship, Lambda Literary Award
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Andrew Sean Greer
Fiction | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, O. Henry Award
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Jorie Graham
Poetry | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1996), MacArthur Fellowship
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Louise Glück
Poetry | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1993), Bollingen Prize in Poetry (2001), US Poet Laureate (2003–2004), National Book Award for Poetry (2014)
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Rebecca Gilman
Dramatic Writing | Playwrights Workshop
Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center Fund, Evening Standard Award, Harper Lee Award (2008)
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Forrest Gander
Poetry | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Faculty
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Whiting Awards, Guggenheim Fellowship
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James Galvin
Poetry | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Guggenheim Fellowship, Ingram Merrill Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, National Poetry Series
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Norman Felton
Dramatic Writing | Theater
Emmy Award, Producers Guild of America Award
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Paul Engle
Poetry | Alumni | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop | International Writing Program
Guggenheim Fellowship, Yale Series of Younger Poets
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Hualing Nieh Engle
Fiction | Alumni | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop | International Writing Program
Distinguished Service to the Arts, Induction in the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame
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Cyprian Ekwensi
Fiction | International Writing Program
Dag Hammarskjöld International Prize in Literature
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Hope Edelman
Nonfiction | Nonfiction Writing Program | Alumni
Pushcart Prize for Creative Nonfiction, New York Times Notable Book
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Andre Dubus III
Fiction | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Alumni
Guggenheim Fellowship, The National Magazine Award for Fiction, American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature
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Andre Dubus
Fiction | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Faculty | Alumni
Guggenheim Award, MacArthur Foundation, PEN/Malamud Award
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Rita Dove
Poetry | Alumni | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize (1987), U.S. Poet Laureate
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Junot Diaz
Fiction | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Faculty
Pulitzer Prize (2008), MacArthur Fellowship
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Robert Dana
Poetry | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Alumni | Faculty
Carl Sandburg Medal for Poetry, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, Rainer Maria Rilke Prize for Poetry
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John D'Agata
Poetry | Nonfiction | Alumni | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Nonfiction Writing Program
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
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Michael Cunningham
Fiction | Alumni | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1999), National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, PEN/Falkner Award (1999)
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Nilo Cruz
Dramatic Writing | Playwrights Workshop | Faculty
Pulitzer Prize for Drama (2003)
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Frank Conroy
Fiction | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
National Book Award nomination, Grammy Award
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Paul Conrad
Journalism | Alumni
Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Cartooning (1984, 1971, 1964)
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Max A Collins, Jr.
Fiction | Alumni | English Department
Shamus Award (1984, 1992)
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John Cochran
Journalism | Alumni | School of Journalism
Chief Correspondent for the Congress, ABC News
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Rick Cleveland
Dramatic Writing | Alumni | Playwrights Workshop
Emmy Award, Writers Guild of America Award
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Marquis Childs
Journalism | School of Journalism
Pulitzer Prize (1970)
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John Cheever
Fiction | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize (1971), National Book Critics Circle Award, National Book Award (1981), National Medal for Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters
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Charles d’Ambrosio
Fiction | Alumni | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Whiting Award, Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Lannan Foundation Fellowship
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Raymond Carver
Fiction | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Guggenheim Fellowship
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Edward Carey
Fiction | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop | International Writing Program
Guggenheim Fellowship
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Ethan Canin
Fiction | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship, PEN West Book Prize
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John Camp (John Sandford)
Journalism | School of Journalism | Alumni
Pulitzer Prize for Journalism Feature Writing (1986)
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Robert Olen Butler
Fiction | Dramatic Writing | Alumni | Playwrights Workshop
Pulitzer Prize (1993)
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Tom Brokaw
Journalism | Alumni | School of Journalism
Emmy Award, Peabody Award, Presidential Medal of Freedom
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T. C. Boyle
Fiction | Iowa Writers' Workshop | Alumni
PEN/Faulkner Award (1988)
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Susan Boyd
Poetry | Alumni | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Stanford Fellowship
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Eavan Boland
Poetry | International Writing Program | Alumni
Lannan Literary Award for Poetry
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Robert Bly
Poetry | Iowa Writers' Workshop
National Book Award for Poetry (1968)
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Eula Biss
Nonfiction | Alumni | Nonfiction Writing Program
National Book Critics Circle Award
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John Berryman
Poetry | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Pulitzer Prize (1965), National Book Award for Poetry (1968), Bollingen Prize (1968)
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Steve Berry
Journalism | Faculty | School of Journalism
Pulitzer Prize (1993)
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Venise Berry
Fiction | Journalism | School of Journalism
Honor Book Award (2001)
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Mildred Wirt Benson (Carolyn Keene, Nancy Drew series)
Fiction | Journalism | Alumni | School of Journalism
Edgar Award (2001)
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Marvin Bell
Poetry | Alumni | Faculty | Iowa Writers' Workshop
Iowa Poet Laureate, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Arts
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Jo Ann Beard
Nonfiction | Alumni | Nonfiction Writing Program
Whiting Award (1997), Guggenheim Fellow (2005)
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Dan Beachy-Quick
Fiction | Poetry | Nonfiction
Guggenheim Fellowship
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Sebastian Barry
Fiction | Poetry | Dramatic Writing
Costa Book of the Year
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John Banville
International Writing Program | Poetry
James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1976), Man Booker Prize (2005), Franz Kafka Prize (2011), Royal Society of Literature Fellow
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Gun-Aajav Ayurzana
Poetry | International Writing Program
National Literary Award Altan Od (2002)
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Udupi R Ananthamurthy
Fiction | Poetry | Nonfiction | Dramatic Writing | International Writing Program
Nominated, Man Booker International Prize (2013)
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Karim Alrawi
Fiction | International Writing Program
John Whiting Award, Fulbright
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Sherman Alexie
Poetry | Iowa Writers' Workshop
American Book Awards (1996), National Book Award (2007), PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (2010)
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Taleb al-Refai
Fiction | Alumni | International Writing Program
Kuwaiti State Prize for Literature