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.

About the Writers' Workshop

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Upcoming Events

Live from Prairie Lights | Peter Bognanni in conversation with Daniel Khalastchi - 'How to Lose Yourself Completely'

Monday, September 21, 2026 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Writers' Workshop graduate Peter Bognanni will read from his new novel, How to Lose Yourself Completely, and will be joined in conversation with Daniel Khalastchi.
Ayane & Paul at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop promotional image

Ayane & Paul at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop

Thursday, September 24, 2026 1:00pm
Dey House
The Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Hancher Auditorium, and the Iowa String Quartet Residency Program present the Isidore String Quartet for an intimate hour-long afternoon concert at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop Frank Conroy Reading Room.
Write at the Stanley: A Generative Writing Workshop promotional image

Write at the Stanley: A Generative Writing Workshop

Sunday, September 27, 2026 2:30pm to 4:15pm
Stanley Museum of Art

Join us monthly to generate new creative writing inspired by works in the Stanley collection. Each session will be led by a different talented writer from our area, who will be offering a new prompt and a new approach to ekphrastic writing (writing inspired by visual art). Bring your own notebook and pencil or computer and leave with the beginning of a newly written piece.

Co-sponsored by Iowa City Poetry. Teen and adult writers in all genres are welcome.

Write at the Stanley meets every fourth...

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Program News

Dua Lipa holds University of Iowa professor Kaveh Akbar's book, Martyr!.

Pop star Dua Lipa recommends UI professor Kaveh Akbar's book Martyr!

Thursday, September 17, 2026
Service95 Book Club
Pop star Dua Lipa recommended UI professor Kaveh Akbar's book Martyr! as her September Monthly Read for her Service95 Book Club.
A headshot of University of Iowa visiting professor Tony Tulathimutte.

A writing life is not a ‘pipe dream’

Thursday, September 17, 2026
Sara Epstein Moninger
Iowa Now
Tony Tulathimutte went from an unhappy career in Silicon Valley to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Now the acclaimed writer is helping University of Iowa students envision their own paths forward.
A headshot of Marilynne Robinson, the F. Wendell Miller Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Iowa.

Marilynne Robinson honored with Distinguished Alumni Award

Monday, August 31, 2026
Center for Advancement
A Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and one of the most influential figures in the history of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Robinson shaped a generation of writers over her 25-year tenure as the F. Wendell Miller Professor of English and Creative Writing.
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