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X-WR-CALNAME:Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T130000
DTSTAMP:20260821T164337
CREATED:20260821T191344Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260821T191344Z
UID:6005-1792846800-1792846800@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Scott Heim: Mysterious Skin
DESCRIPTION:At the age of eight\, Brian Lackey is found bleeding under the crawl space of his house\, having endured something so traumatic that he has blacked out an entire five-hour period. During the following years he slowly recalls details from that night\, fragments that hint at yet cannot explain what happened to him\, leaving him to believe that he may have been the victim of an alien encounter. \nNeil McCormick is fully aware of the events from that summer of 1981. Wise beyond his years\, curious about his developing sexuality\, Neil found what he perceived to be love and guidance from his baseball coach. Now\, ten years later\, he is a teenage hustler\, unaware of the dangerous path he’s on. His recklessness is governed by idealized memories of his coach\, memories that unexpectedly change when Brian comes to Neil for help and\, ultimately\, the truth. \nPresented in partnership with the Refocus Film Festival
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/scott-heim-mysterious-skin/
LOCATION:Iowa City Masonic Building\, 312 E College St\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Mysterious-Skin.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T143000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T143000
DTSTAMP:20260821T164337
CREATED:20260821T171104Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260821T171210Z
UID:5988-1792852200-1792852200@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Tisa Bryant: Residual
DESCRIPTION: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 mother’s everyday life\, asking what becomes an archive—a bookshelf\, a dresser\, a relationship\, a secret? Drawing on personal memories as well as archives of renowned Black women who died prematurely—including playwright Lorraine Hansberry and science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler—Bryant’s hybrid memoir details the intimate accretion of ephemera\, outrage\, and failure in the wake of loss. \nThis event is co-presented with the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program in celebration of the program’s 50th anniversary.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/tisa-bryant-residual/
LOCATION:Iowa City Public Library\, 123 S. Linn St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Residual.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T143000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T143000
DTSTAMP:20260821T164337
CREATED:20260821T171337Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260821T171404Z
UID:5992-1792852200-1792852200@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Sarah Minor: Carousel
DESCRIPTION: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 ever could before. But what\, in fact\, are they looking at? \nIn the spirit of John Berger’s Ways of Seeing\, Sarah Minor’s Carousel explores how the pursuit of panoramic vision frames power\, distorts reality\, and implicates both viewer and subject. Across short\, loping sections that weave history with memoir\, close looking with confession\, Minor masterfully fuses the slide lecture with the lyric essay\, tying medieval tapestries to surrealism and Instagram reels to predator drones. In language that captures the disorientation of that other carousel\, the whirling carnival ride\, Minor shows how the more we strive to see\, the more we ultimately reveal ourselves. \nThis event is co-presented with the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program in celebration of the program’s 50th anniversary.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/sarah-minor-carousel/
LOCATION:Iowa City Public Library\, 123 S. Linn St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Carousel.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T143000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T143000
DTSTAMP:20260821T164337
CREATED:20260821T190331Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260821T190355Z
UID:6000-1792852200-1792852200@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Harriet Clark: The Hill
DESCRIPTION:Suzanna Klein was a baby when her mother got up early one morning to rob a bank with a group of fellow radicals. Now\, every Saturday\, Suzanna lines up at the prison gates among the other children\, each dressed as if for celebration. Inside there is a nursery and a cemetery; there are watchful guards and distractable nuns; there are women counting down to release and women like Suzanna’s mother\, who will never be released. \nAt home\, Suzanna is raised by her grandmother\, who is entirely unforgiving of her daughter’s crime and refuses to visit the prison. Surrounding Suzanna are her grandmother’s friends\, who know one another from their years in the Communist Party and still spend extended cocktail hours debating the Hitler-Stalin pact. Though these women once insisted on changing the world\, they are torn between teaching Suzanna how the world works and shielding her from it. \nSuzanna vows to return to the prison forever but her mother wants her to be free. Harriet Clark’s The Hill is an incandescent novel of a child growing up between worlds\, the last of three generations whose fates have been tied to punishment. It is the tale of a family broken apart by the desire for change\, told with irreverent wisdom and visionary force.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/harriet-clark-the-hill/
LOCATION:Prairie Lights Books\, 15 S. Dubuque St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/The-Hill.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T143000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T143000
DTSTAMP:20260821T164337
CREATED:20260821T190835Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260821T191401Z
UID:6003-1792852200-1792852200@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Matt Singer: Funny Business
DESCRIPTION:If you were a moviegoer in the early aughts\, you had a front-row seat to a golden age of comedy. Ben Stiller\, Seth Rogen\, Will Ferrell\, Owen Wilson\, Steve Carell\, and Vince Vaughn became unlikely leading men—a band of rowdy wedding crashers\, hungover bachelors\, and 40-year-old virgins dubbed the “Frat Pack” that took Hollywood by storm over the span of a single decade. Then\, seemingly overnight\, Frat Pack movies vanished. Or did they? \nIn Funny Business\, award-winning author and film critic Matt Singer traces the path these gonzo stars and directors took from the fringes of comedy to the mainstream—beginning on tiny stages like Second City and the Groundlings\, then infiltrating into talent incubators like SNL\, eventually leading to the big screen. Along the way\, he shares insider stories of the films that raised a generation\, including: The 40-Year-Old Virgin\, Zoolander\, Borat\, Anchorman\, Old School\, and The Hangover. \nHow did these movies and their stars come to dominate a generation of moviemaking? Who won—and who was left out—of this comedy boom? And can studio comedies make a comeback in our modern digital and streaming world? Funny Business points the way forward to a (possible) new future for cinema—never forgetting that the audience always gets the last laugh. \nPresented in partnership with the Refocus Film Festival
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/matt-singer-funny-business/
LOCATION:Iowa City Masonic Building\, 312 E College St\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/jacket_FUNNY-BUSINESS-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T150000
DTSTAMP:20260821T164337
CREATED:20230705T165321Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260810T173759Z
UID:2924-1792926000-1792940400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Writers Row – Local Author Book Fair
DESCRIPTION: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. \n  \n\nThe Local Author Book Fair is sponsored by Greater Iowa City.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/writers-row-local-author-book-fair/
LOCATION:MERGE\, 136 S Dubuque St\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Local-Author-Book-Fair-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T123000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T123000
DTSTAMP:20260821T164337
CREATED:20260817T170216Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T170216Z
UID:5906-1792931400-1792931400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Poetry in Public Reading featuring Iowa Student Poet Ambassador Josie Nabhan-Warren
DESCRIPTION: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 2026 Selected Poets. This event is live and in-person\, and will be streamed live at: https://www.youtube.com/thelibrarychannel \nFeaturing special guest\, Josie Nabhan-Warren\, the 2026–27 Iowa Student Poet Ambassador. \nIf your poem was selected for Poetry in Public 2026 and you’d like to read it at the event\, please email us at info@iowacityofliterature.org
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/poetry-in-public-reading-featuring-iowa-student-poet-ambassador-josie-nabhan-warren/
LOCATION:Iowa City Public Library\, 123 S. Linn St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Poetry-in-Public-icon.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T133000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T133000
DTSTAMP:20260821T164337
CREATED:20260817T170548Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T170548Z
UID:5908-1792935000-1792935000@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:National Youth Poet Laureate Daniel Somtochukwu Umemezie
DESCRIPTION:Daniel Umemezie is a Nigerian-American poet whose work explores cultural inheritance and displacement\, using bodily transformation as both metaphor and form. His poetry develops a realm between interior experience and external reality. His work has appeared in the North American Review\, Scholastic\, Magpie Journal and many more. He is forthcoming in Polyphony Lit\, and has been recognized as the Iowa Student Poetry Ambassador\, the Kenyon Young Writers Program\, the Iowa Poetry Association\, Humanities Iowa\, and others. As the 10th National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States\, Daniel positions cultural specificity as formal resistance\, creating what he describes as “architecture of consciousness.”
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/national-youth-poet-laureate-daniel-somtochukwu-umemezie/
LOCATION:Iowa City Public Library\, 123 S. Linn St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/National-Youth-Poet-Laureate-of-the-United-States.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T143000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T143000
DTSTAMP:20260821T164337
CREATED:20260819T153744Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260819T153744Z
UID:5943-1792938600-1792938600@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Michael McCarty: Eerie Iowa
DESCRIPTION:Witness the Darker Side of the Hawkeye State \nThe farmlands and rural areas of Iowa are no stranger to the weird\, dark and mysterious. Learn about a terrestrial sighting from 1903\, a creepy cryptid that terrorized the town of Van Meter. Find out about Bigfoot sightings in Calhoun County. Peer under the waters of Lake Okoboji to find a huge lake monster. Read the history of a frightening sculpture based on a story by Franz Kafka and hear a premonition that predicted a devastating fire. Five-time Bram Stoker Finalist author Michael McCarty and Professor Emeritus Bruce Walters forge a twisted path through shadowy\, Gothic Iowa. Do you dare follow?
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/michael-mccarty-eerie-iowa/
LOCATION:Prairie Lights Books\, 15 S. Dubuque St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Eerie-Iowa.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T153000
DTSTAMP:20260821T164337
CREATED:20260811T152941Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260811T152941Z
UID:5827-1792942200-1792942200@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: The Prose Exchange
DESCRIPTION:Ready to get some eyes on your work? This group provides careful readings and positive\, descriptive feedback on works-in-progress. They meet twice a month and workshop two submissions of up to 20 pages at each meeting.  \nThey are currently open to adding one or two more members.  \nThey advise sitting in on a session to determine if this is the workshop for you.  \nFor more information on how to join\, visit their website!
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-the-prose-exchange-2/2026-10-25/
LOCATION:PorchLight Literary Arts Center\, 1019 E Washington St\, Iowa City\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/avif:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/82ce62_8350b311c14c44f8b461627d4c759adcmv2.avif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261107T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261107T130000
DTSTAMP:20260821T164337
CREATED:20260811T154540Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260811T154540Z
UID:5841-1794056400-1794056400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: Flash Forward
DESCRIPTION:Flash Forward is PorchLight’s monthly studio session for writers interested in short form writing: flash fiction\, micro essays\, prose poetry\, and more. Join them and learn more about these miniature marvels. Each session includes a discussion of short form works we love\, a generative writing prompt\, optional sharing\, and light positive feedback. \nWhether you’re new to these very short forms or an old hand\, they would love to have you! \nFirst meeting is free!
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-flash-forward/2026-11-07/
LOCATION:PorchLight Literary Arts Center\, 1019 E Washington St\, Iowa City\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/avif:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/82ce62_15977cbd84104d329b0338a9257e9979mv2.avif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261108T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261108T153000
DTSTAMP:20260821T164337
CREATED:20260811T152941Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260811T152941Z
UID:5828-1794151800-1794151800@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: The Prose Exchange
DESCRIPTION:Ready to get some eyes on your work? This group provides careful readings and positive\, descriptive feedback on works-in-progress. They meet twice a month and workshop two submissions of up to 20 pages at each meeting.  \nThey are currently open to adding one or two more members.  \nThey advise sitting in on a session to determine if this is the workshop for you.  \nFor more information on how to join\, visit their website!
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-the-prose-exchange-2/2026-11-08/
LOCATION:PorchLight Literary Arts Center\, 1019 E Washington St\, Iowa City\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/avif:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/82ce62_8350b311c14c44f8b461627d4c759adcmv2.avif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261115T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261115T100000
DTSTAMP:20260821T164337
CREATED:20260708T155437Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260708T155437Z
UID:5675-1794736800-1794736800@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: Writing Grief
DESCRIPTION:Grief Writing – A monthly exploration of loss and heartbreak \nJennifer New leads this monthly group that uses writing as a reflective tool to explore loss. Francis Weller’s Five Gates of Grief provides a backbone to consider grief from multiple angles\, e.g.\, death of loved ones\, loss of health or ability\, grief for the world. This is an ongoing group; you’re welcome to attend once or each time. No writing experience is needed.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-writing-grief/2026-11-15/
LOCATION:PorchLight Literary Arts Center\, 1019 E Washington St\, Iowa City\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/avif:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Porch3.avif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261122T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261122T153000
DTSTAMP:20260821T164337
CREATED:20260811T152941Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260811T152941Z
UID:5829-1795361400-1795361400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: The Prose Exchange
DESCRIPTION:Ready to get some eyes on your work? This group provides careful readings and positive\, descriptive feedback on works-in-progress. They meet twice a month and workshop two submissions of up to 20 pages at each meeting.  \nThey are currently open to adding one or two more members.  \nThey advise sitting in on a session to determine if this is the workshop for you.  \nFor more information on how to join\, visit their website!
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-the-prose-exchange-2/2026-11-22/
LOCATION:PorchLight Literary Arts Center\, 1019 E Washington St\, Iowa City\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/avif:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/82ce62_8350b311c14c44f8b461627d4c759adcmv2.avif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261205T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261205T130000
DTSTAMP:20260821T164337
CREATED:20260811T154540Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260811T154540Z
UID:5842-1796475600-1796475600@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: Flash Forward
DESCRIPTION:Flash Forward is PorchLight’s monthly studio session for writers interested in short form writing: flash fiction\, micro essays\, prose poetry\, and more. Join them and learn more about these miniature marvels. Each session includes a discussion of short form works we love\, a generative writing prompt\, optional sharing\, and light positive feedback. \nWhether you’re new to these very short forms or an old hand\, they would love to have you! \nFirst meeting is free!
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-flash-forward/2026-12-05/
LOCATION:PorchLight Literary Arts Center\, 1019 E Washington St\, Iowa City\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/avif:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/82ce62_15977cbd84104d329b0338a9257e9979mv2.avif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261206T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261206T153000
DTSTAMP:20260821T164337
CREATED:20260811T152941Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260811T152941Z
UID:5830-1796571000-1796571000@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: The Prose Exchange
DESCRIPTION:Ready to get some eyes on your work? This group provides careful readings and positive\, descriptive feedback on works-in-progress. They meet twice a month and workshop two submissions of up to 20 pages at each meeting.  \nThey are currently open to adding one or two more members.  \nThey advise sitting in on a session to determine if this is the workshop for you.  \nFor more information on how to join\, visit their website!
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-the-prose-exchange-2/2026-12-06/
LOCATION:PorchLight Literary Arts Center\, 1019 E Washington St\, Iowa City\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/avif:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/82ce62_8350b311c14c44f8b461627d4c759adcmv2.avif
END:VEVENT
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