Nicholas Russell will read from his new novel, Observer, and will be joined in conversation with 2026 Iowa Writers' Workshop Visiting Associate Professor (and Writers' Workshop graduate) Tony Tulathimutte. Publisher Ecco Press describes Observer as "A disquieting, atmospheric debut horror novel about a young woman investigating her mother’s disappearance at an abandoned Nevada observatory, for fans of Jeff

Enjoy conversation, connection, and community over light snacks and wine. A collaboration with the International Writing Program, the International Lights Salon provides a space for visiting International writers, local artists, university students, and community members to engage in dialogue. Join them online or in person. For a zoom link email Jennifer at: jennifer@porchlightliterary.org Sarah Gilmartin’s

Meghan O’Gieblyn will read from her new memoir, Will and Attention, and will be joined in conversation with Dr. Alison Lynch. Described as a "luminous memoir of secret drinking, fragile recovery, and the deep pull of religion," Will and Attention is praised by bestselling author Jia Tolentino as "one of the best memoirs of the decade," while University of

Elizabeth Metzger and Iowa Writers' Worshop graduates, Andrew Zawacki and Devin Johnston, will read from their new poetry collections: The Going Is Forever, These Late Eclipses, and Bright Thorn, respectively. Elizabeth Metzger is the author of The Going Is Forever and Lying In, as well as The Spirit Papers, winner of the Juniper Prize for Poetry. She has published two chapbooks, Bed and The

Porchlight's low-pressure poetry workshop group! Participants should send one poem for workshop at least one week in advance of the gathering. Every participant should read each submission before the meeting and come prepared to share their thoughts during the meeting.  Someone other than the writer will read the poem first, then the writer. For more

In 2000, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack declared Oct. 12 to be “Paul Engle Day,” in honor of the Iowa-born poet who served as head of the Writer’s Workshop from 1942 to 1977, helping to develop it from an obscure experimental program to an internationally renowned literary center. Check out the City of Literature documentary to

Join Sidekick Coffee and Books for a reading by author Tatiana Schlote-Bonne for her new book "What Feeds Below." Purchase of one book admits two guests. About the book: The darkness isn't empty. It's hungry. At the edge of the City of the Void, a massive chasm extends miles into the earth, its treacherous terrain