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

Live from Prairie Lights | John Koethe and Julie Hanson

Monday, June 16, 2025 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Poet and philosopher John Koethe will read from his newest book, Cemeteries and Galaxies, a collection of poems that "unravels timeless questions of death, math, meaning, and much more" (macmillan.com), and Iowa Writers' Workshop alum Julie Hanson will read from her recent poetry collection, The Audible and the Evident, winner of the Hollis Summers Poetry Prize. Heather Treseler of the LA Review of Books praises Cemetaries and Galaxies as a new collection that "looks upward at the most distant...

Live from Prairie Lights | Kelly Dwyer - 'Ghost Mother'

Tuesday, June 17, 2025 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Iowa Writers' Workshop alum and current Iowa Summer Writing Festival instructor Kelly Dwyer will read from her newest novel, Ghost Mother. Compared to stories written by Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, and Henry James, Ghost Mother follows a protagonist named Lilly who's wanting but struggling to have a baby with her husband Jack when they buy an old house that appears to be haunted...or is it? Kate Christensen, PEN/Faulkner award-winning author of The Great Man and Welcome Home, Stranger...

Live from Prairie Lights | Lee Cole - 'Fulfillment'

Monday, June 23, 2025 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Iowa Writers' Workshop alum Lee Cole will read from his newest novel, Fulfillment. Set in contemporary Kentucky and featuring both the successes and failures of two half brothers returning home, Fulfillment is praised by Publishers Weekly as "An evocative tale of ambition, lust, and sibling rivalry in western Kentucky," while Kirkus Reviews says, "Cole mixes the angst and insecurity of class and poverty to craft a Molotov cocktail he lobs with exacting precision."Lee Cole was born and grew up in...