Alumni Updates

Steven Willis standing outside Prairie Lights

Writers' Workshop Alumni

Our alumni work as teachers and writers across many disciplines and publish books in every genre. 6 recent U.S. Poets Laureate have been graduates of the Writers' Workshop and some of the most distinctive, celebrated voices in contemporary poetry and fiction have come through our program and used their time here to develop their work and their voice.

"I do not in fact know what I would have done, or who I would have been as an adult, if I hadn’t lived in and around Iowa City"

- Jane Smiley, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, MFA Writers' Workshop

News, Publications, and Awards

Jamel Brinkley wins 2024 Maya Angelou Book Award Juan Felipe Herrera awarded 2024 MacArthur Genius Grant Ruthvika Rao shortlisted for the Center For Fiction First Novel Prize Elizabeth Willis and m.s. RedCherries longlisted for the 2024 National Book Award in Poetry Tony Tulathimutte longlisted for the 2024 National Book Award in Fiction V. V. Ganeshananthan wins the 2024 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction Jayne Anne Phillips wins the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction Jorie Graham, Yiyun Li, and Robyn Schiff are finalists for the 2024 Pulitzer Prizes in Fiction and Poetry

Before the Mango Ripens, by Afabwaje Kurian

Before the Mango Ripens
Afabwaje Kurian
_{September 24, 2024 | Fiction}

The Goner School
Jessica Laser
_{September 27, 2024 | Poetry}

Small Rain
Garth Greenwell
_{September 3, 2024 | Fiction}

Terminal Maladies
Okwudili Nebeolisa

Browse Publications

See Prizes & Awards

The Latest Alumni Updates

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Friday, May 16, 2025

"That Old Beautiful Love," a short film co-executive produced by Kelly Q. Anderson, based on her flash fiction story of the same name & selected for the Midwest Film Festival, will screen tonight, May 16, 7pm CT in Chicago, IL (Link to registration under NEWS+EVENTS) www.thatoldbeautifullovefilm.com https://www.thatoldbeautifullovefilm.com/

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Friday, May 16, 2025

Multi-arts exhibit feat. Michelle Herman & spouse, Glen Holland, related to Herman's book, 'If You Say So', Jun 17-Jul 12 in Columbus, OH at The U. of Ohio's Urban Arts Space. Ongoing performances, classes, panels, & a live-danced piece, If U Say So, co-created by Herman https://uas.osu.edu/news/summer-multisensory-expression-urban-arts-space

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Friday, May 16, 2025

Congratulations to all the finalists for the PEN America Literary Awards! Including alums, Jenny George for Poetry Collection and Jerald Walker for Art of the Essay, and 2024 Iowa Short Fiction Awardee, Marguerite Sheffer for Debut Short Story Collection https://pen.org/announcing-the-2025-pen-america-literary-awards-finalists/

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Friday, May 16, 2025

David Shields’s film, 'How We Got Here', will be screening at the Beacon Cinema in Seattle, WA on Sunday, May 18, at 5 pm; afterward, he will discuss the film with the audience. https://thebeacon.film/calendar/movie/red-may-presents-why-it-happened-here

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Friday, May 16, 2025

Fiction by Colby Vargas @cvargs.bsky.social, "Something Like a Year," upcoming in the Spring 2025 issue of 'The South Carolina Review' https://blogs.clemson.edu/southcarolinareview/

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Friday, May 16, 2025

Fiction by Colby Vargas @cvargs.bsky.social, "Something Like a Year," upcoming in the Spring 2025 issue of 'The South Carolina Review' https://blogs.clemson.edu/southcarolinareview/category/recent-issues/