For more than 80 years writers have come to Iowa City to work on their manuscripts and to exchange ideas about writing and reading with each other and with the faculty. Many of them have gone on to publish award-winning work after graduating. With the spirit of an arts colony and the benefits of the research University of which we are a part, the Writers' Workshop continues to foster and to celebrate American literature in all its varied forms.

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Sam Chang and Lara Ehrlich

Lan Samantha Chang, Writers' Workshop director, talks to Laura Ehrlich about balancing writing and motherhood

Events

Events

Live from Prairie Lights | Mario Duarte - My Father Called Us Monkeys promotional image

Live from Prairie Lights | Mario Duarte - My Father Called Us Monkeys

Wednesday, April 24, 2024 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Iowa Writers’ Workshop alum Mario Duarte will read from his new book published by Ice Cube Press, My Father Called Us Monkeys. “Mario Duarte juxtaposes innocent voices against tragic and tender moments while giving us a moving snapshot of a young Mexican American boy growing up in the Midwest. Duarte’s eye for scenic landscape and his ear for captivating dialogue stand out in this debut short story collection.”—Jose B. Gonzalez Mario Duarte is a Mexican American poet and fiction writer whose...

Live from Prairie Lights | Margaret Yapp & Katie Berta- poetry

Friday, April 26, 2024 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Iowa Writers’ Workshop alum, Margaret Yapp will read from Green for Luck: Poems To subscribe to a weekly emailing list of Writers' Workshop events, please fill in the linked form or email iww@uiowa.edu with “Events Mailing List Subscribe” in the subject line.

Jane Smiley at the Iowa City Public Library in conversation with IPR's Charity Nebbe

Sunday, April 28, 2024 2:00pm
Iowa City Public Library
Please join us at the Iowa City Public Library for a special afternoon event with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley, who will read from her new novel, Lucky. She will be joined in conversation by Iowa Public Radio's Charity Nebbe. Lucky is a soaring, soulful novel about a folk musician who rises to fame across our changing times. "Before Jodie Rattler became a star, she was a girl growing up in St. Louis. One day in 1955, when she was just six years old, her Uncle Drew took her to the...