Alumni Updates

Steven Willis standing outside Prairie Lights

Writers' Workshop Alumni

Our alumni work as teachers and writers across many disciplines and publish books in every genre. 6 recent U.S. Poets Laureate have been graduates of the Writers' Workshop and some of the most distinctive, celebrated voices in contemporary poetry and fiction have come through our program and used their time here to develop their work and their voice.

"I do not in fact know what I would have done, or who I would have been as an adult, if I hadn’t lived in and around Iowa City"

- Jane Smiley, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, MFA Writers' Workshop

News, Publications, and Awards

Jamel Brinkley wins 2024 Maya Angelou Book Award Juan Felipe Herrera awarded 2024 MacArthur Genius Grant Ruthvika Rao shortlisted for the Center For Fiction First Novel Prize Elizabeth Willis and m.s. RedCherries longlisted for the 2024 National Book Award in Poetry Tony Tulathimutte longlisted for the 2024 National Book Award in Fiction V. V. Ganeshananthan wins the 2024 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction Jayne Anne Phillips wins the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction Jorie Graham, Yiyun Li, and Robyn Schiff are finalists for the 2024 Pulitzer Prizes in Fiction and Poetry

Before the Mango Ripens, by Afabwaje Kurian

Before the Mango Ripens
Afabwaje Kurian
_{September 24, 2024 | Fiction}

The Goner School
Jessica Laser
_{September 27, 2024 | Poetry}

Small Rain
Garth Greenwell
_{September 3, 2024 | Fiction}

Terminal Maladies
Okwudili Nebeolisa

Browse Publications

See Prizes & Awards

The Latest Alumni Updates

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Monday, March 3, 2025

John Casey, Novelist of Salty, Rough-Hewn Characters, Dies at 86 | 'The New York Times' https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/03/books/john-casey-dead.html

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Monday, March 3, 2025

David Shields’s film 'How We Got Here' is screening at the Roxy Cinema in Tribeca NYC on Saturday, March 22, at 5.30. After the screening, Shields will discuss the film with acclaimed indie documentarian Penny Lane. https://www.roxycinemanewyork.com/screenings/how-we-got-here-qa/

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Friday, February 28, 2025

Tonight! Friday, February 28 at 8 p.m. in the Frank Conroy Reading Room at Dey House/Glenn Schaeffer Library, visiting faculty members Ari Banias and Carmen Maria Machado will read from their work events.uiowa.edu/92769

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Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Thursday! February 27 at 7 p.m. in Prairie Lights bookstore, Writers’ Workshop alumni Lewis Robinson (Fiction) and Aaron McCollough (Poetry) will read from their latest books, 'The Islanders' and 'Salms' events.uiowa.edu/91358