“Nowhere near famous but still infamous,” Psalm One is a legend to rap nerds, scholars, and “heads,” and has gone on to work with the brightest names in rap and have her work celebrated and taught around the globe. In Her Word Is Bond, Psalm One tells her own story, from growing up in Englewood, Chicago through
All Harriet Szász has ever known is life onstage with her sister, Josie. As “The Sisters Sweet,” they pose as conjoined twins in a vaudeville act conceived of by their ambitious parents, who were once themselves theatrical stars. But after Josie exposes the family’s fraud and runs away to Hollywood, Harriet must learn to live
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. Featuring: Lisa Avelleyra Nina Barragan Judith F. Brenner Lois A. Buntz Erin Casey Aprille Clarke Richard R. DiPirro Joseph Dobrian Corinne Stanley Mary Helen Stefaniak
A reading by Iowa Student Poet Ambassador, Johnnie Each, and Iowa Poet Laureate Debra Marquart. This event is live and in-person, and will be streamed live at: https://www.youtube.com/thelibrarychannel
Create a Creepy Costume for your Cherished Critter! Join author/illustrator Jennifer Black Reinhardt and the Sidekick Team for a SPOOKTACULAR costume party for you AND your stuffie! Jennifer will read her most recent picture book, Always by My Side and Sidekick will supply all sorts of crafty materials for you to create a costume for your stuffie!
"Iowa Intersections," a partnership between the City of Literature and the University of Iowa's Center for Language and Culture Learning, is a community-based multilingual digital storytelling initiative. Working with partners such as Kirkwood Community College, Open Heartland, and the Congolese Association, this initiative works with recent immigrants to the area to help them tell their stories. A
Hear some of this years’ International Writing Program residents read from their work. Readers TBA.
Tickets are SOLD OUT! Join us as we celebrate the 160th anniversary of the publication of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables with a concert of selections from the musical "Les Misérables" by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg. The evening will feature Jessica Pray Patel, soprano; and Thaddeus Ennen, baritone; accompanied by Daniel Kleinknecht on piano. With dramatic
Special Collections & Archives is home to the Thomas Ollive Mabbott Papers, an intriguing collection of materials compiled by Mabbott, who was editor of the Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe. The papers include sources and inspirations for Poe’s work, first printings, and more. See select items up close before meeting the master of Gothic horror himself,
In this session, two of Iowa's leading spiritual writers discuss their work. Spiritual writing is a growing subgenre in fiction as well as in memoir, poetry, meditations, and self-help. It may or may not be aligned with an organized religion, faith, belief system, or philosophy, yet all spiritual writing seeks to discover human truths and also typically
Jerald Walker, author of the 2020 National Book Award finalist How to Make a Slave and Other Essays, will discuss that work and more. For the black community, Jerald Walker asserts in How to Make a Slave, “anger is often a prelude to a joke, as there is broad understanding that the triumph over this destructive emotion lay
Sit in on a one-of-a-kind conversation with Iowa Writers’ Workshop director and renowned novelist Lan Samantha Chang (93MFA), who will chat with host Charity Nebbe, of Iowa Public Radio’s Talk of Iowa, and read from her most recent book, The Family Chao. Oprah Daily Insider recognized Chang as one of eight women writers changing the world—and The Family Chao appeared
