Poet, translator, and essayist Hai-Dang Phan is the author of the poetry collection Reenactments (Sarabande, 2019) and the translator of Phan Nhiên Hạo’s selected volume of poems, Paper Bells (The Song Cave, 2020). Phan has taught at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is currently an Associate Professor of English at Grinnell College.

Jake Fournier will read from his new poetry collection, Punishment Bag. Described as "In conversation with collections like John Ashbery's Some Trees and Wallace Stevens's Harmonium," Punishment Bag is "a daring poetry debut that carves its own unsettling territory" (simonandschuster.com). D. A. Powell, author of Low Hanging Fruit, praises Punishment Bag as "a book marvelously held together by the attempt to see what can often only be felt," while Cody-Rose Clevidence, author of Aux/Arc Trypt...

V. V. Ganeshananthan (she/her) is the author of the novels Brotherless Night (winner of the 2024 Women's Prize for Fiction and the 2024 Carol Shields Prize, a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and an NPR Book of the Year) and Love Marriage (longlisted for the Women's Prize and named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post). Her work has appeared in Granta, The New York Times, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading, among other publications.

A former vice president of the South...

Join us monthly to generate new creative writing inspired by works in the Stanley collection. Each session will be led by a different talented writer from our area, who will be offering a new prompt and a new approach to ekphrastic writing (writing inspired by visual art). Bring your own notebook and pencil or computer and leave with the beginning of a newly written piece.

Co-sponsored by Iowa City Poetry. Teen and adult writers in all genres are welcome.

Write at the Stanley meets every fourth...

Students, join the book club that meets monthly inside the iconic Old Capitol Museum, with books of all genres, chosen by you. Come read, wonder, and connect as we transform this timeless building into a cozy retreat for shared stories and spirited discussion in the Pentacrest Museums first ever student book club.

For the Spring 2026 semester, Book Club @ the Museum will meet on the following Mondays from 7 to 8 p.m. at Old Cap:

Feb. 2 (Please note: for February's book club meeting, we'll get to...