Events Archive

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Live from Prairie Lights | Chris Offutt in conversation with Dean Bakopoulos - 'The Reluctant Sheriff' promotional image
Live from Prairie Lights | Chris Offutt in conversation with Dean Bakopoulos - 'The Reluctant Sheriff'
Wednesday, April 9, 2025 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books

Iowa Writers' Workshop alum and bestselling author Chris Offutt will read from his newest book, The Reluctant Sheriff, which is a continuation of his Mick Hardin thriller series. Praised by bestselling author Ian Rankin as “righteous Kentucky noir with top notes of Daniel Woodrell and S. A. Cosby,” The Reluctant Sheriff follows sheriff Mick Hardin as he navigates the "treacherous terrain of a town’s festering secrets and the violent forces who want to keep them hidden" (groveatlantic.com). Lesa...

Mission Creek Festival: Srikanth Reddy in conversation with Donika Kelly promotional image
Mission Creek Festival: Srikanth Reddy in conversation with Donika Kelly
Saturday, April 5, 2025 2:00pm
FilmScene (Chauncey)

Srikanth Reddy in conversation with Donika Kelly

Literature

Venue: FilmScene Theater 3

Date: Saturday, April 5

Doors: 1:45 PM

Srikanth Reddy: 2:00 PM

Admission: Free and open to the public!

Srikanth Reddy is a poet, literary editor, and occasional book critic with an interest in inkblots, underworlds, erasures, and uncertain translations, among other topics. Since 2003, he has taught at the University of Chicago, where he offers courses on parody, obscenity, and contemporary literary publishing.

His...

Mission Creek Festival: Lit Walk promotional image
Mission Creek Festival: Lit Walk
Friday, April 4, 2025 5:00pm
Choose venue by readers:

Featured literary event - Literary crawl through downtown Iowa City

Venue: Various

Date: Friday, April 4

Round 1: 5:00 - 5:50 PM

Round 2: 6:00 - 6:50 PM

Round 3: 7:30 - 8:20 PM

Afterparty at The Greenhouse: 8:30 PM

Admission: Free and open to the public!

The annual MCF Lit Walk returns in 2025 with several rounds of speakers at your favorite local hotspots. Bringing Iowa City to life in new ways, hear an unexpected variety of work from a mix of talented local and out-of-town writers.

Round One (5:00):

Rev...

Live from Prairie Lights | Karen Russell in conversation with Kaveh Akbar
Wednesday, April 2, 2025 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books

Karen Russell will read from her new novel, The Antidote, in conversation with Kaveh Akbar.

Karen Russell is the author of five books of fiction, including the NYT bestsellers Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove. She is a MacArthur Fellow and a Guggenheim Fellow, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the recipient of two National Magazine Awards for Fiction, the Shirley Jackson Award, the 2023 Bottari Lattes Grinzane prize, the 2024 Mary McCarthy Award, and selected for the National Book...