Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature

Queer Writers’ Check In
2026-12-12 13:00 - 15:00, 2026-11-14 13:00 - 15:00, 2026-10-10 13:00 - 15:00, 2026-09-12 13:00 - 15:00, 2026-08-08 13:00 - 15:00, 2026-07-11 13:00 - 15:00, 2026-06-13 13:00 - 15:00, 2026-05-09 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) and 6 more dates | PorchLight Literary Arts Center, 1019 E Washington St, Iowa City, 52240, United States
This group is for queer writers looking to build literary community together. Each session will include free writing, discussion of works in progress, and general literary support. Occasionally, there will be guests and opportunities for trading work. The group will meet at PorchLight Literary Arts Center (1019 E Washington St, Iowa City) and is co-hosted by Public Space One.

Paul Engle’s Community of Writers
2025-11-18 19:00 | Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Join us for a special conversation with Paul Engle’s daughter, Mary Burge. Growing up during the early years of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Mary witnessed its history firsthand and will share vivid stories from that time. She will be joined by her partner, Will Boutelle, the “boy next door” in Engle’s American Child sonnets, who will also share memories and reflections.
Featuring special guest, Reed Hagan, winner of the 2025 Paul Engle Glory of the Senses High School Essay Contest.
This program is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
Paul Engle (October 12, 1908 – March 22, 1991), was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on October 12, 1908, and grew up in a frame house in the Wellington Heights area. After graduating from Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Engle attended Coe College and the University of Iowa where he was one of the first students to earn an advanced degree based on a thesis of creative work—a collection of poems. His first published collection, Worn Earth, went on to win the Yale Series of Young Poets. His best-selling second book of poetry, American Song, was heralded on the cover of the New York Times Book Review in a headline declaring him “A New Voice in American Poetry”. After Iowa, Engle travelled as a Rhodes Scholar to Oxford University in England.
Though Engle did not found the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, he built its reputation as the top graduate writing program in the United States. During his tenure as director, he was responsible for luring some of the finest writers of the day to Iowa City: Phillip Roth, John Berryman, Kurt Vonnegut, and many other prominent novelists and poets served as faculty under Engle. Additionally, Engle increased enrollment and oversaw numerous students of future fame and influence, including Flannery O’Connor, John Irving, Raymond Carver, William Stafford, and Robert Bly.
After directing the Writers’ Workshop for twenty-four years, Engle and future-second-wife Nieh Hualing co-founded The University of Iowa’s International Writing Program, which invited dozens of published authors from around the globe to visit the University of Iowa to write and collaborate. For their work with the IWP, Engle and his wife were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976. Engle died at the age of eighty-two, having published fourteen books of poetry, a novel, a memoir, and an opera libretto, and his literary legacy lives on in the lives and works of those authors he helped to educate and inspire.
In 2000, nearly a decade after his death, Paul Engle was declared Iowa’s “Poet of the Century” and then-Governor Tom Vilsack declared that Engle’s birthday, October 12th, would hereafter be known as “Paul Engle Day” to honor this life of creativity, mentorship, and generosity.
Learn more about Paul Engle by watching our documentary, City of Literature

2025 Paul Engle Prize Ceremony Honoring Cole Swensen
2025-11-16 14:00 | Coralville Public Library, 1401 5th St., Coralville, IA, 52241, United States
Cole Swensen has been named the 14th recipient of the Paul Engle Prize, presented by the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature organization.
The prize, established in 2011, honors an individual who, like Paul Engle, represents a pioneering spirit in the world of literature through writing, editing, publishing, or teaching, and whose active participation in the larger issues of the day has contributed to the betterment of the world through the literary arts.
Swensen is a poet, editor, and translator, who taught in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop from 2001 to 2012. She then taught at Brown University until her retirement in 2023.
She is the author of 20 collections of poetry, including And And And, a finalist for the Griffin Poetry Prize, Art in Time, Gravesend, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award in Poetry; Goest, a finalist for the National Book Award; Try, winner of the Iowa Poetry Prize and the San Francisco State University Poetry Center Book Award; and New Math, winner of the National Poetry Series.
Swensen has translated more than 30 books of French poetry, creative nonfiction, and art criticism, and won the 2024 National Translation Award from ALTA and the 2025 Stephen Mitchell Translation Prize. She was awarded a 2006 Guggenheim Fellowship and has been a writer-in-residence at Yale’s Beinecke Library, the Pratt Institute, and Temple University. Swensen was the founder and editor of La Presse, an imprint of Fence Books that was dedicated to the translation of contemporary French poetry.
Swensen will receive the award at a ceremony at 2 p.m. on November 16, at the Coralville Public Library. Christopher Merrill will join Swensen in conversation. The event is free and open to the public. Book signing and reception to follow.
The Paul Engle Prize is made possible through the generous support of the City of Coralville, which is home to 11 permanent sculptures with artistic and literary ties to Iowa. The sculptures all have ties to work found in The Iowa Writers’ Library, housed in the Hyatt Regency Coralville Hotel, which features about 800 books written by former students, graduates and faculty of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
Paul Engle (October 12, 1908 – March 22, 1991), though best remembered as the long-time director of the Writers’ Workshop and co-founder with his wife, Hualing Nieh Engle, of the UI’s International Writing Program, also was a well-regarded poet, playwright, essayist, editor and critic. In 2000, then-Gov. Tom Vilsack declared Engle’s birthday, Oct. 12, as “Paul Engle Day” in Iowa.
Previous winners of the prize are: James Alan McPherson, Kwame Dawes, Luis Alberto Urrea, Roxane Gay, Alexander Chee, Dina Nayeri, Toi Derricotte, Cornelius Eady, Dr. Eve L. Ewing, Rebecca Solnit, Joan Naviyuk Kane, and Camille Dungy. Visit www.iowacityofliterature.org/paul-engle-day for more information about the prize and past winners.

Writing from Stillness: A Workshop on Mindfulness, Presence, and Creative Clarity
2025-11-16 09:30 - 11:30 | PorchLight Literary Arts Center, 1019 E Washington St, Iowa City, 52240, United States
In her book Relational Mindfulness: A Handbook for Deepening Our Connection with Ourselves, Each Other, and the Planet, Deborah Eden Tull writes that “Deep listening is an act of love. Listening to life as it unfolds moment by moment, with our full presence, is the essence of meditation.” In this workshop we’ll explore–through writing and mindfulness exercises– how paying close, mindful attention to what’s around us, and within us, can enhance both our writing and our lived experience as creators. We’ll learn how mindful awareness can quiet the inner critic, calm our hearts, sharpen our powers of observation, and deepen our writing practice. With the help of guided meditations and generative writing prompts, participants will leave feeling more grounded, open, and creatively engaged. This workshop may be of benefit to writers, professionals, creatives, journalers, or anyone seeking clarity and calm through mindful writing.
Link: This workshop is free but registration is required.
Instructor Bio:
Stephen Pradarelli is the communications director for the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation, a global Buddhist organization founded by Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. In 2016, he founded Winding Path Sangha, which offers regular sitting and walking meditation opportunities. He’s a former journalist, communications strategist, crisis manager, book editor, essayist, and fiction writer. He’s also a private pilot and loves reading, hiking, traveling, and playing guitar.

Little Village Presents: Roast of Iowa City
2025-10-12 18:00 | ReUnion Brewery, 113 E College St, Iowa City, 52240, United States
Year after year, some of the area’s most treasured comics and writers gather together to relentlessly burn and mock everything sacred and dear about our town. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
This year is hosted by Karen Vásquez and features a lineup of talented comics, plus LV’s Dear Kiki Live!, where we read your anonymous love and relationship questions and Kiki answers them on the spot. The Roast of Iowa City is sponsored by Romantix, who said they’ll be sending a box of “fun prizes for on-stage giveaways.” =
This is and always has been a free event, but guests are encouraged to make a donation so Little Village can continue doing what they do (journalism, etc.) well into our dystopian future.

Kazim Ali with Rajaa Alsanea and Yu Yuen Lan
2025-10-12 15:30 | Prairie Lights Books, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Poet, novelist, and essayist Kazim Ali will read as a special guest of the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program. He is joined by IWP participants Rajaa Alsanea (Saudi Arabia) and Yu Yuen Lan (Hong Kong), who will also read from their work.

Panel Discussion – The Black Superwoman & Mental Health: Power & Pain
2025-10-12 14:30 | DREAM CITY, 611 Southgate Avenue, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Panelists will discuss this new anthology, The Black Superwoman & Mental Health: Power & Pain by Venise Berry and Janette Taylor.
It is not easy to reveal oneself and to be vulnerable in a public way as the authors in this book have done. This is the act of resisting the voices and social scripts that say we do not air our “dirty laundry”, we should keep “secrets” to remain safe, yet unhealthy. We must find safe spaces to speak our truths, to heal. It is through the process of seeking, doing, and being, sometimes in public like this anthology and sometimes in private (counseling or psychotherapy), that many of us learn to acknowledge, analyze, speak, and eventually write the truth of/about our lives in order to move closer to being whole Black women. Enjoy poetry, short stories, essays, and assessable research in this powerful anthology.
Featuring: Venise Berry, Professor of Journalism and African American Studies, University of Iowa; Averi Bryant, Graphic Arts Designer & Social Media Promoter; Katrina Harden-Williams, Doctoral Candidate in School of Education, Drake University; Tianna Newell, First Lady of Purpose Place Church in Iowa City; Tiana Warner, Spoken Word Artist, Writer.

Panel Discussion: Beyond Publishing – Writing as Joy, Healing, and Priority
2025-10-12 13:00 | MERGE, 136 S Dubuque St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
This panel will explore writing beyond publishing, focusing on how the practice itself can bring joy, healing, and meaning. Panelists will also consider how books, reading, and art can serve as medicine, balm, or even dessert, nourishing both mind and spirit.
Featuring: Erin Casey, Kellee Forkenbrock, Mackie Garrett, and Morgan Webb | Moderated by Jesus “Chuy” Renteria

Poetry in Public Reading Featuring Iowa’s Student Poet Ambassador, Daniel Umemezie
2025-10-12 12:30 | Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Daniel Umemezie, 2025–26 Iowa Student Poet Ambassador
Poetry in Public celebrates our community’s rich literary tradition and local writing talent by displaying poems by writers of all ages. Hear from some of the 2025 Selected Poets. This event is live and in-person, and will be streamed live at: https://www.youtube.com/thelibrarychannel
Featuring special guest, Daniel Somotochukwu Umemezie, the 2025–26 Iowa Student Poet Ambassador.
Participating Poets:
Kiley Adkins | Philip Beck | Dan Campion | Melanie Hester | Jennifer Horn-Frasier | Jessica Moore | Anna Moyers Stone | Charlotte Pearl | Mazzy Sleep | Rich Sokoli | Anjali Strand
If your poem was selected for Poetry in Public 2025 and you’d like to read it at the event, please email us at info@iowacityofliterature.org

Writers Row – Local Author Book Fair
2025-10-12 11:00 - 15:00 | MERGE, 136 S Dubuque St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Local Author Book Fair! Join us as local authors present their latest works, answer questions, and sign books. Browse each author’s table where various books will be available for purchase.
R.C. Davis | Jason Liegois | Erin Casey | Jose M. Rodriguez Jr. | J. A. Webb | Bill Witherspoon | David Markward | Todd Cohenour | Mike Cal Cahalan | David Hankins

The Local Author Book Fair is sponsored by Greater Iowa City.

Sidekick Coffee and Books Presents: It’s Getting Plot in Here A Romance Book Festival
2025-10-11 18:00 - 21:00 | Sidekick Coffee & Books, 1310 1/2 Melrose Avenue, Iowa City, IA, 52242, United States
Join Sidekick Coffee and Books for the Romance Book Festival, a night of romance, creativity, and community.
$35 — available now! bit.ly/Sidekick_Romance_Book_Festival
Author Meet & Greet Line-Up:

Chloe Angyal – Pointe of Pride, Pas de Don’t, Barre Fight
Kelly Farmer – Fanning the Flames, Secret Spark, It’s a Fabulous Life
Gin Griffith – Holy Smoke, Cat Fight
Megan Murphy – Fake It Like You Mean It, Heart Racer
Esha Patel – Offtrack, Overdrive
Elise Wayland – Rivals to Lovers
Denise Williams – Just Our Luck, Do You Take This Man

What’s included with your ticket:
Meet & Greets with incredible romance authors
Blind Date with a Book (free book included!)
Champagne shooters
Book embellishment station – bedazzle your book and get creative!
Flirty photo ops & cozy fall vibes

John Ira Thomas: Tire Magazine
2025-10-11 16:30 - 17:30 | Daydreams Comics, 229 E Washington St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Join John Ira Thomas for a journey through the mystical and the mundane through the metafictional series of Tire magazine! John will read from Tire June 2000, Tire Annual 2021, Tire May 2038, and work in progress from The Best of Tire Classifieds. Alternate timeline John’s life may have been ruined by a New Age boomlet fixated on something he drew when he was nine, but the John of this universe is happy to share and laugh along.

Panel Discussion: Importance of Genre
2025-10-11 16:00 | Iowa City Masonic Building, 312 E College St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
A lively conversation with writers exploring how genre shapes stories, readers, and the writing process.
Featuring:
Anna Bruno, Gregory Galloway, Scott Phillips, and Tatiana Schlote-Bonne. Moderated by Nina Lohman.

Patricia Lockwood: Will There Ever Be Another You
2025-10-11 16:00 | Prairie Lights Books, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Amid a global pandemic, one young woman is trying to keep the pieces together – of her family, stunned by a devastating loss, and of her mind, left mangled and misfiring from a mystifying disease. She’s afraid of her own floorboards, and “WHAT IS LOVE? BABY DON’T HURT ME” plays over and over in her ears. She hates her friends, or more accurately, she doesn’t know who they are.
Has the illness stolen her old mind and given her a new one? Does it mean she’ll get to start over from scratch, a chance afforded to very few people? The very weave of herself seems to have loosened: time and memories pass straight through her body. “I’m sorry not to respond to your email,” she writes, “but I live completely in the present
now.”
Will There Ever Be Another You is the brain-shredding, phosphorescent story of one woman’s dissolution and her attempt to create a new way of thinking, as well as a profound investigation into what keeps us alive in times of unprecedented disorientation and loss, from one of our most original writers.

Anna Barker: 13 Notes from Napoleon, Iowa: Musings on the Edge of the French Empire
2025-10-11 16:00 | Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Born on August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, Napoleon was the ruler of Iowa between 1800 and 1803 when he served as the First Consul of the French Republic. Iowa City, Iowa, evolved out of the 1838 settlement named after him — Napoleon, Iowa — the location marked today by Napoleon Park, off Napoleon Lane, just south of Iowa City. The book illuminates aspects of Iowa’s French past, such as cities named after the Napoleonic battles of Marengo and Waterloo, and explains the mystery of Iowa’s distinctly French-looking flag. Along the way, the author muses on other Napoleon-related matters, such as Empire waist gowns, Goethe’s and Byron’s Bonapartism, the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo, the Congress of Vienna, and to what extent Europe’s current internal contradictions have been impacted by its Napoleonic past.

Christina Ward: Holy Food
2025-10-11 14:30 | Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Does God have a recipe? Christina Ward’s Holy Food: How Cults, Communes, and Religious Movements Influenced What We Eat – An American History investigates the explosion of religious movements since the Great Awakenings that birthed a cottage industry of food fads and cookbooks. Ward uncovers the interconnectivity between obscure sects and communities of the 20th Century who dabbled in vague spirituality and used food to both entice and control followers. Holy Food draws on a range of sources, including academic studies, interviews, cookbooks, and religious texts, to offer sharp insights into American history in this highly readable journey through the American kitchen.
“Looks yummy!”
— John Waters
“Holy Food is a titanic feat of research and a fascinating exploration of American faith and culinary rites. Christina Ward is the perfect guide – generous, wise, and ecumenical.” — Adam Chandler, author of Drive-Thru Dreams

Tatiana Schlote-Bonne: The Mean Ones
2025-10-11 14:30 | Prairie Lights Books, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
So what if Sadie hears talking dead animals and a strange, comforting male voice in her head? The therapist insists these are just symptoms of PTSD. It makes sense considering that she hid under the bed and watched as her best friends were slaughtered.
But the murders were seventeen years ago, back when her name was Sabrina. Now, she’s Sadie: a perfectly normal 29-year-old. She works as a physical therapist assistant and lifts weights with her boyfriend, Lucas, who’s the sweetest, most considerate man—as long as he’s not angry. But when Lucas spontaneously agrees to join a couples trip to a cabin in the woods, the visions get worse, a strange figure stalks her during the night, and that male voice in Sadie’s head keeps calling, asking her to do things she’s never fathomed.
Sadie’s not sure if it’s her paranoia or something else entirely . . . But she is sure of one thing—this time, she’s not going to sit idly by as everything starts to unravel.
Tatiana will be joined in conversation with Carey Dunne.
