Iowa Writers' Workshop alum and current Iowa Summer Writing Festival instructor Jared Joseph will read from his newest book, Soft Lighting. Bench Editions describes Soft Lighting as "written almost exclusively in the first-person singular and plural, and stages a motley of narrators (or only one) who respond to one another or who do not, and if not, I wonder whether desire for interpersonal connection withers, or excruciates. There is no setting. See if you are in it" (bencheditions.com).

Jared...

Former Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program director Robin Hemley will read from his newest book, How to Change History: A Salvage Project. Described as a grappling with "the individual’s navigation of history and the conflict between personal and public histories," How to Change History meditates on a range of media, from photos and historical markers to "incontinent dachshunds," and attempts to "restore, resurrect, and reclaim what might otherwise be lost" (robinhemley.com). Lia Purpura, author of ...