Events Archive

Current Semester

Live from Prairie Lights | Madeline McDonnell in conv with Stephen Lovely - 'Lonesome Ballroom'

Wednesday, June 25, 2025 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Iowa Writers' Workshop alum Madeline McDonnell will read from her newest novel, Lonesome Ballroom, and will be joined in conversation with fellow Writers' Workshop alum and current director of the Iowa Young Writers' Studio, Stephen Lovely. Set in a bar in the early-aughts and featuring a far-ranging conversation between patron/protagonist Betty Block and bartender Lizzie about everything from "gender’s relationship to popular aesthetics that swirls from ancient epics to turn-of-the-millennium...

Live from Prairie Lights | Michelle Huneven - 'Bug Hollow'

Tuesday, June 24, 2025 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Iowa Writers' Workshop alum and former visiting instructor Michelle Huneven will read from her newest novel, Bug Hollow. Featuring and examining the lives of a family rocked by the tragic death of their oldest child Ellis shortly after he graduated from high school, Bug Hollow is praised by Booklist as "a gift" and "a family story that speaks of the joys, sorrows, and surprising possibilities of human connection," while Ann Napolitano, bestselling author of Hello Beautiful, says, "Reading the...
Live from Prairie Lights | Lee Cole - 'Fulfillment' promotional image

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...

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...