We all know, read, and send our writing to literary magazines and journals, and for many of us, publication in their pages is the first time we see our work in print, our first professional nod. But where did this practice come from? Has the mission of a literary journal changed or stayed the same over time? Furthermore, who are these editors that writers are trying to impress? What makes one journal more renowned or popular than another? In this lecture, we’ll consider the literary journal as a...

Mark your calendar for our 100-Word Microstory Contest — a free online writing competition for a variety of age groups. You don’t have to be an Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad — or even have participated in a flash writing contest before — to join in the fun. Just create a story in 100 words or less that uses one of two specific writing prompts. We will announce the writing prompts here on Monday, July 15, 2024, at 9 a.m. CDT.

New York Times Best-selling author and Writers' Workshop alum Claire Lombardo will read from her highly anticipated second novel, Same As It Ever Was. She will be joined in conversation by Doubleday Executive Editor Lee Boudreaux. "Witty and insightful ... a powerful exploration of marriage, motherhood, and self." —Bonnie Garmus Claire Lombardo is the author of the New York Times best-selling novel The Most Fun We Ever Had, which has been optioned for television by Reese Witherspoon. She lives...

Writers' Workshop alum Joe Fassler will read from his new novel, The Sky Was Ours. "The Sky Was Ours is an immersive fever dream of a novel, beautifully written and boldly imagined. It's a dark fairy tale with a gripping human pulse; attuned to global crisis but also rooted deeply in the psyches of its characters, animated by their grief and most of all by their longing--longing for wonder, escape, transcendence, hope for our profit-rotted world; a longing that soars through these pages with an...