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.

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Upcoming Events

2026 Truman Capote Award Ceremony and Reception promotional image

2026 Truman Capote Award Ceremony and Reception

Wednesday, October 14, 2026 4:00pm
Old Capitol Museum

Nicholas Boggs, writer and assistant professor of English and creative writing at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York, has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism in Memory of Newton Arvin.

[Press release]

Boggs is honored for Baldwin: A Love Story, published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux in 2025. It is the first major biography of American writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin in more than three decades.

The award ceremony will...

Live from Prairie Lights | Erika Meitner & Kiki Petrosino — 'Assembled Audience' & 'Perfect Italian' promotional image

Live from Prairie Lights | Erika Meitner & Kiki Petrosino — 'Assembled Audience' & 'Perfect Italian'

Thursday, October 15, 2026 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Erika Meitner & Workshop alumnus Kiki Petrosino will read from their new books, 'Assembled Audience' and 'Perfect Italian'
Iowa City Book Festival | Tree Tour: Literary Grove at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop promotional image

Iowa City Book Festival | Tree Tour: Literary Grove at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop

Monday, October 19, 2026 12:00pm
Dey House

Explore the Literary Grove with University of Iowa Arborist Andy Dahl
Take a guided stroll through the Literary Grove, where each tree has a story to tell. Arborist Andy Dahl will share the unique histories and literary connections of these remarkable trees, many linked to celebrated authors from the world-renowned Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

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Program News

A portrait of Nicholas Boggs, who received the Truman Capote Literary Trust Award administered by the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop.

Nicholas Boggs receives 2026 Truman Capote Award from Writers' Workshop

Thursday, October 8, 2026
Iowa Now
Nicholas Boggs, a writer and assistant professor of English and creative writing at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York, has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the Truman Capote Literary Trust Award for Literary Criticism in Memory of Newton Arvin.
A portrait of University of Iowa alumna Brenda Hillman.

Iowa Writers’ Workshop alumna named finalist for National Book Award

Thursday, October 8, 2026
Sara Epstein Moninger
Iowa Now
Poet Brenda Hillman, who earned an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1976, is a 2026 finalist for the prestigious National Book Award.
A portrait of University of Iowa professor Matthew Neill Null.

Matthew Neill Null helps students find a distinctive voice

Thursday, October 1, 2026
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
The Iowa Writers’ Workshop alumnus and associate professor brings a unique approach to fiction and a commitment to helping students develop their own artistic voices.
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