Megan Greenwell: Bad Company

Iowa City Public Library 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA

Acclaimed journalist Megan Greenwell’s Bad Company unearths the hidden story of corporate greed and the world of private equity by examining the lives of four American workers that were devastated as private

Slamovision: International Slam Poetry Judging

Iowa City Public Library 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA

Join Iowa City poets and poetry lovers during the Iowa City Book Festival to watch and rank slam poets from UNESCO Cities of Literature around the world as they compete

Melissa Tedone: The Poison Book Project

University of Iowa Main Library 125 W Washington St,, Iowa City, IA

The Poison Book Project is an interdisciplinary research initiative at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library and the University of Delaware. This ongoing investigation explores the materiality of Victorian-era publishers’ bindings.

An Evening with Pulitzer Prize Winner Yiyun Li

Levitt Center for University Advancement 1 East Park Road, Iowa City, IA

Internationally acclaimed author Yiyun Li won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for her resonant memoir, Things in Nature Merely Grow, a deeply moving account of losing her younger son to suicide a

Lori Erickson: Travels with the Muse

Iowa City Public Library 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA

Travels with the Muse is a journey into the creative life, told through Lori Erickson’s travels to places where art and spirit meet. From the luminous interior of Barcelona’s Sagrada

Book Fair

MERGE 136 S Dubuque St, Iowa City, IA

A diverse collection of titles, journals, magazines, and book arts from local and regional publishers and literary organizations. A unique opportunity for book lovers to discover new authors and genres.

James Geary: The World in a Phrase

Iowa City Public Library 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA

Aphorisms are literature’s hand luggage. Light and compact, they contain everything you need to get through a rough day at the office or a dark night of the soul. Aphorisms,

Tiffany Hanssen: My Name was Gerry Sass

Iowa City Public Library 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA

Gerry Sass is not who he appears to be. On the surface, he is the proud owner of a local country music station outside of Mystic, Iowa. Beneath it, he’s

Tisa Bryant: Residual

Iowa City Public Library 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA

In the aftermath of her mother’s death, Tisa Bryant’s Residual retrieves and catalogs what remains of her home, her psyche, and her creative practice. She filters through the remnants of her

Sarah Minor: Carousel

Iowa City Public Library 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA

Carousel opens as a professor begins delivering a lecture to a hot room. Her students have the internet in their pockets, screens on their wrists, seeing in more directions than students