For more than 80 years writers have come to Iowa City to work on their manuscripts and to exchange ideas about writing and reading with each other and with the faculty. Many of them have gone on to publish award-winning work after graduating. With the spirit of an arts colony and the benefits of the research University of which we are a part, the Writers' Workshop continues to foster and to celebrate American literature in all its varied forms.

Upcoming Events

Events

Signature Saturdays: Writer's Workshop with Molly Biskupic at the Lisbon, IA Public Library promotional image

Signature Saturdays: Writer's Workshop with Molly Biskupic at the Lisbon, IA Public Library

Saturday, March 8, 2025 10:00am
Lisbon Public Library
Are you a writer that is interested in improving your skills or connecting with other local writers? Have you ever wondered what it might be like to participate in a workshop at the world-renowned Iowa Writers' Workshop? Molly Biskupic from the Iowa Writers' Workshop will join us at the Public Library to provide a workshop experience right here in Lisbon!  Attendees are invited to bring or submit a short sample of your work to share with the group so that everyone can get a feel for each other...
Live from Prairie Lights | Curtis Sittenfeld in conversation with Lan Samantha Chang promotional image

Live from Prairie Lights | Curtis Sittenfeld in conversation with Lan Samantha Chang

Monday, March 10, 2025 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Bestselling author and Iowa Writers’ Workshop alum Curtis Sittenfeld will read from her newest book and second story collection, Show, Don’t Tell. Publishers’ Weekly describes Show, Don’t Tell as “Witty . . . In one sparkling comedy of manners after another, [Curtis Sittenfeld] documents with a clear and affectionate eye how tiny prejudices and blind spots lead her protagonists astray,” while Kirkus Reviews says, “Sittenfeld’s candor and matter-of-factness make for compellingly intimate and at...

Live from Prairie Lights | GC Waldrep & Karen An-Hwei Lee

Tuesday, March 11, 2025 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Poets GC Waldrep and Karen An-Hwei Lee will read from their newest collections, Beautiful Immunity and The Opening Ritual. GC Waldrep’s The Opening Ritual is described by bestselling author and novelist Kaveh Akbar as “the kind of furiously curious, unabashedly ambitious poetry book I want to show everyone, to prove such books can still be written.” G.C. Waldrep was born and raised in the South. He earned his BA from Harvard University, a PhD in history from Duke University, and an MFA in...