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

VIEWS Presents: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Reading & Q&A promotional image

VIEWS Presents: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Reading & Q&A

Monday, October 12, 2026 7:00pm to 8:00pm
English-Philosophy Building

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah was raised in Spring Valley, New York, and now lives in the Bronx. His debut collection, Friday Black, was a New York Times bestseller, won the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Award and the Dylan Thomas Prize. His first novel, Chain-Gang All-Stars, was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction, winner of the Inside Literary Prize, shortlisted...

Book Club at the Museum promotional image

Book Club at the Museum

Monday, October 12, 2026 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Old Capitol Museum

Students, join the book club that meets monthly inside the iconic Old Capitol Museum, with books chosen by you. Come read, wonder, and connect as we transform this timeless building into a cozy retreat for shared stories and spirited discussion in the Pentacrest Museums first ever student book club.

For the Fall 2026 semester, Book Club @ the Museum will meet on the following Mondays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Old Cap:

Sept. 14: We'll pick a book and make "junk journals" together.

Oct. 12: Bookmark...

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

The award ceremony for the 2026 Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism in Memory of Newton Arvin will take place at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in the Old Capitol Senate Chamber. The event will feature remarks by the winner and a reception in the Old Capitol Rotunda. Both the ceremony and reception are open to the public.

To subscribe to a weekly emailing list of Writers' Workshop events, please fill in the linked form or email iww@uiowa.edu with “Events Mailing List Subscribe” in the...

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
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
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
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.