Iowa Writers' Workshop alum Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo will read from her debut novel, The Tiny Things Are Heavier, and will be joined in conversation by local writer, translator, and professor, Bruna Dantas Lobato. Named a Best Book of 2025 by Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, The Tiny Things Are Heavier follows Sommy, a Nigerian woman who comes to the United States for graduate school two weeks after her brother, Mezie, attempts suicide. Plagued by the guilt of leaving Mezie behind, Sommy struggles to...

Chamber quartet, Room 1078 will give a free concert in the Frank Conroy Reading Room at Glenn Schaeffer Library/ Dey House.

From the quartet's website:

Room 1078’s mission is to support the 21st-century evolution of performance as "classical" musicians, using innovative takes on contemporary repertoire, improvisation, and folk music to break down barriers between musicians and audience members. For us, the process is about connecting with you as much as with each other, and we are constantly...

Iowa Summer Writing Festival instructor Karen Bender will read from her newest book, The Words of Dr. L & Other Stories. Described by publisher Counterpoint Press as "speculative stories of parents and children, together and apart, surviving near-future dystopias that feel all-too-possible — and realities that can be even stranger," The Words of Dr. L is Karen's third short story collection and fifth book. Matthew Klam, author of the novel Who Is Rich?, praises The Words of Dr. L as "beautifully...