Writers’ Workshop graduates G.C. Waldrep and Karla Kelsey will read from their new work. G.C. Waldrep will read from his recent poetry collection feast gently. “This is a book of visions, one that gives us a sound heard in extremity . . . This is a last moment, when no story we pretend to tell of ourselves ever will suffice. Only the lyric will, its belling of a spell. I love Waldrep’s work.” — Ilya Kaminsky, author of Deaf Republic and Dancing in Odessa G.C. Waldrep is the author, most...

Bosnian writer Asja Bakić will read from her new story collection Mars. She will be in conversation with translator and Iowa Translation/Nonfiction Workshops alum Jennifer Zoble, and leading Slavic languages scholar and visiting professor Ellen Elias-Bursać. Mars “strikingly examines sci-fi tropes from not only the point of view of women, but also from the voice of an effortlessly gifted writer.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review Asja Bakić is a Bosnian poet, writer, and translator. She was...

National Book Award finalist Salvatore Scibona will read from his new novel, The Volunteer. “Scibona exhibits a command of language and demonstrates a knack for dramatizing the tidal pull of history on individual destiny.  The novel accrues real power as its vividly imagined characters try to make sense of an often senseless world. This is a bold, rewarding novel.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review Salvatore Scibona's first novel, The End, was a finalist for the National Book Award and winner...

Writers’ Workshop graduate Nickolas Butler will read from his new book, Little Faith.  A Wisconsin family grapples with the power and limitations of faith when one of their own falls under the influence of a radical church. “Breathtaking yet devastating.... Butler weaves questions surrounding faith, regret, and whether it’s possible to love unconditionally into every page of this potent book.... This is storytelling at its finest.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) Nickolas Butler was born in...