Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature

Guild of Book Workers Showcase & Market
2025-10-09 - 2025-10-11 | Graduate by Hilton Iowa City, 210 South Dubuque St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Step into the world of book arts! The Guild of Book Workers is in Iowa City this week for their annual conference, and their Showcase & Market is open to everyone.

October 9, noon – 5 p.m.
October 10, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
October 11, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Browse bookbinding tools, unique and decorative papers, artisanal leather and parchment, artist books, and more.
Vendor List

Abra Mueller Marbled Paper
American Academy of Bookbinding
Campbell-Logan Bindery
Colophon Book Arts Supply
Crowing Hens Bindery
Daniel Mellis
Gabrielle Fox
Hiromi Paper
Harmatan Leather
Herramientas Grosso
Islam Aly
Jim Croft
Jim Freely
J Hewit & Sons
Kerner Marbled
Midwest Marbling
Wake Robin Paper & Books
Washi Arts

John Warner – Only Humans Write: Why You Shouldn’t Outsource Your Humanity to ChatGPT
2025-10-08 19:00 (America/Chicago) | Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
John Warner, author of More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI believes there are important distinctions to be made between the writing of humans and the syntax generation of large language models like ChatGPT. These distinctions are at the root of what he believes we should value, the fact that human communication comes from our “unique intelligences” and that humans are not reducible to patterns and predictions. In this presentation he will talk about how to navigate the tensions that generative AI has introduced into our schools, workplaces, and lives in order to preserve essential and meaningful experiences related to our deepest human selves.
In the book, Warner argues that generative AI programs like ChatGPT not only can kill the student essay but should, since these assignments don’t challenge students to do the real work of writing. To Warner, writing is thinking—discovering your ideas while trying to capture them on a page—and feeling—grappling with what it fundamentally means to be human. The fact that we ask students to complete so many assignments that a machine could do is a sign that something has gone very wrong with writing instruction. More Than Words calls for us to use AI as an opportunity to reckon with how we work with words—and how all of us should rethink our relationship with writing.
This event will be livestreamed and archived at the Iowa City Public Library’s YouTube channel.

Co-Presented by the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Iowa Bibliophiles Presents: Artists’ Books: Critical Writing in the Field with Johanna Drucker
2025-10-08 18:00 | Shambaugh Auditorium, University of Iowa Main Library, 125 W Washington St, Iowa City, IA, 52242, United States
Artists’ books continue to be a hard-to-define and multifaceted field of works made at the intersections of conceptual art, the craft of the book, independent publishing, alternative culture and other aesthetic motivations. No simple single lineage is shared by these works, and even tracking them to an origin point (Illuminated manuscripts? The books of William Blake? The 20th century avant-garde?) can be problematic. Artists’ books have remained more marginalized in the mainstream art world than other forms like video or performance art, in part because they are also difficult to exhibit in a way that lets them be read and experienced. The challenges for critical writing in the field are thus logistical as well as aesthetic. For a quarter of a century, JAB: The Journal of Artists’ Books created a vital forum for critical writing. Literally hundreds of writers from dozens of countries contributed under the editorial vision of Brad Freeman. The University of Iowa Press recently issued The JAB Anthology, a selection of works published from the journal.
This talk looks at the contributions of JAB, relates these to other work in the field including my The Century of Artists’ Books (1994, Granary Books), and includes a personal note on the dilemmas of producing one’s own artists’ books for decades. Brief interview clips with Brad Freeman will also be part of the talk.
Johanna Drucker is an artist, writer, and scholar, Emerita Breslauer and Distinguished Professor, UCLA, who has written and published widely on topics related to visual forms of knowledge production, the historiography of the alphabet, experimental visual poetry, art history, and other topics. Her recent titles include Affluvia: The Toxic Off-Gassing of Affluent Culture (Bridge Books, 2025), Inventing the Alphabet (University of Chicago Press, 2022), and Iliazd: Meta-Biography of a Modernist (Hopkins University Press (2020).

The Making of a Book: A Conversation with Johanna Drucker
2025-10-08 13:00 | University of Iowa Main Library room 2032 (second floor), 125 W Washington St., Iowa City, IA, 52242, United States
Join the University of Iowa Libraries for an intimate conversation with author, artist, and scholar Johanna Drucker about her new book, Affluvia: The toxic off-gassing of affluent culture. In this talk, Drucker will discuss her book, along with its development , and publication. It’s your chance to learn the ins and outs of writing and publishing your book.

Donika Kelly: The Natural Order of Things
2025-10-07 19:00 | Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
What does a life look like on the other side of survival, and can the one who survived come to recognize that she did?
Donika Kelly’s poetry is known for its resonant, unflinching confrontations with trauma and inheritance, translated through myth and nature. The Natural Order of Things expands these explorations into a new realm: one defined by joy and connection. It is an ode to companionship with people, animals, and our planet, and reveals the reparative power of intimacy. In poems inventive, playful, and formally nimble, Kelly pays homage to the voices and people she comes from, the songs of her lineage. Other poems follow the early stirrings of love to erotic transcendence with the lover and the self. Throughout, Kelly finds mirror and marvel in nature, art, and precious friendships. Though it once seemed impossible, she realizes a surprising place for herself, a rightness in the larger world.
Donika Kelly is the author of Bestiary, winner of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and The Renunciations, winner of the Anisfield Wolf Book Award and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
This event will be livestreamed at the Iowa City Public Library’s YouTube channel.

Steve Kemp: An Exaltation of Parks
2025-10-06 19:00 | Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
America’s national parks are facing unprecedented challenges. With visitation pressures mounting and the National Park Service struggling to keep up, author, former park ranger, and Iowa City native Steve Kemp looks toward one exceptionally effective historical example of conservation philanthropy and park building—the collaboration between John D. Rockefeller Jr. and NPS legends Stephen Mather, Horace Albright, and Arno Cammerer.
Kemp’s latest book, An Exaltation of Parks reveals the inspiring story of this collaboration, showing how the partnership transformed some of America’s most cherished national parks, including Acadia, Grand Teton, Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone, and Yosemite. It recounts Rockefeller’s lifelong dedication to conservation, digging into his own pockets and toiling as a volunteer to achieve his goals for converting private land into public use. Bringing to life the history and significance of America’s most magnificent landscapes, this volume is both a tribute to past conservation victories and a call to action for the future, emphasizing the need for continued vigilance to preserve these national treasures for generations to come.
This event will be livestreamed and archived at the Iowa City Public Library’s YouTube channel.

Curator Guided Tour: Paper Engineering in Art, Science, and Education
2025-10-06 16:00 | University of Iowa Main Library Gallery, 125 W Washington St, Iowa City, IA, United States
Join co-curators Giselle Simón, Elizabeth Yale, and Damien Ihrig for a special guided tour of the current University of Iowa Libraries Main Library Gallery exhibition, Paper Engineering in Art, Science, and Education. All are welcome to attend this free event, which is being held in partnership with the Iowa City Book Festival.
About the exhibit:
Paper Engineering in Art, Science, and Education showcases the fascinating world of movable books and paper technologies. The exhibition invites visitors to enjoy seeing flap books, pop-ups, tunnel books, volvelles, and books that use paper to make sounds while learning about their historical and contemporary significance.
Paper has long held a crucial role in communicating information to artists, scientists, and students. Medical flap books from the 16th to the 19th centuries provided an affordable way for physicians to gain hands-on knowledge about the body. Children’s books from the 18th century onwards used movable elements to instruct and entertain, acting as precursors to interactive media. Artist’s books from the last century demonstrate how paper technologies can engage viewers in new and exciting ways. Through these and other rare materials from University of Iowa Libraries collections, this exhibition celebrates the creativity, design, and ingenuity of paper engineering.
Learn more: lib.uiowa.edu/gallery.

Chris Pio: Nicknames & Mascots book series
2025-10-05 14:00 | Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Author Chris Pio, from Cedar Rapids discusses his “Nicknames and Mascots” series which describes the origins, evolution and relevant meaning of collegiate athletic team nicknames and the colorful, physical mascot characters that represent the schools.

Slamovision 2025 Qualifying Slam
2025-09-09 18:00 | PS1 Close House, 538 S Gilbert St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Slam poets from around Iowa are invited to participate in a special slam on Sept. 9 that will pick our entrant for an international slam competition.
SlamoVision is a project of the international UNESCO Cities of Literature. Slam poets in 18 of the 53 Cities of Literature around the world will compete in their home cities. One poet from each participating city will move on to an international competition to be judged by fans from the other cities. At the end of the process, one poet will be named the SlamoVision champion for 2025.
Caleb “The Negro Artist” Rainey, winner of the 2023 Iowa City event, will emcee the slam.
The Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature and Iowa City Poetry will co-host Iowa City’s slam poetry event at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at Close House, 538 S. Gilbert St. Poets from across Iowa may participate. Sign-up begins at 6 p.m., the slam begins at 6:30 p.m. Each poet has three minutes to perform. At the completion of three rounds, the winning poet will be chosen to represent Iowa City in the international competition.

A video of the winning poet from the Sept. 9 event will be entered into the contest. Iowa City poets and poetry lovers will convene during the Iowa City Book Festival, to watch and rank the poets from the other participating cities. This same process will happen in the other Cities of Literature. That judging event will be held at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 10, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library. The scores will be tabulated and an international SlamoVision poet will be crowned during an online event at noon on Nov. 5, hosted by the Dublin City of Literature.
Participating Cities of Literature are Bremen, Germany; Dublin, Ireland; Exeter, UK; Gothenburg, Sweden; Heidelberg, Germany; Iowa City; Kozhikode, India; Ljubljana, Slovenia; Manchester, UK; Melbourne, Australia; Nottingham, UK; Odessa, Ukraine; Quebec City, Canada; Reykjavik, Iceland; Slemani, Iraq; Tartu, Estonia; Vilnius, Lithuania; and Wroclaw, Poland.

Write Out Loud Student Award Ceremony
2025-02-23 13:00 - 14:00 | Macbride Auditorium, 17 N. Clinton St., Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Students in grades 1 through 8 in Corridor area districts have been invited to submit writing to One Book Two Book! Those submissions were evaluated by a team at ACT in Iowa City. Grade-level winners have been selected in two categories:

The Write Stuff, which is judged based on language, clarity, structure, and emotional impact.
From the Heart, judged based on creativity, passion, and expressiveness.

Recognized students will read their winning submissions at “Write Out Loud,” a special award ceremony Sunday, February 23, at 1 p.m. in Macbride Auditorium, on the campus of the University of Iowa. In addition, a percentage of all students whose submissions were deemed to be of outstanding quality also will be honored with a “certificate of distinction.” All recognized students will receive certificates and prizes at the event. The grade-level prize winners will have their work published in a booklet available at the festival.

Maisy Mouse Storytime!
2025-02-22 14:30 - 15:00 | FilmScene at The Chauncey, 404 E College St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Join us for a fun-filled Maisy Mouse storytime, featuring plenty of adventures with everyone’s favorite curious little mouse!

Book Character Meet & Greet
2025-02-22 14:00 - 14:30, 2025-02-22 12:00 - 12:30 | FilmScene at The Chauncey, 404 E College St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Bring your camera and snap a picture with Little Critter, Zoom Squirrel, Clifford, and Maisy!

Sing-Along
2025-02-22 13:30 - 14:00 | FilmScene at The Chauncey, 404 E College St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
The Iowa Children’s Museum Sing Along will feature creature sounds, animal songs and dancing for the whole family!

Workshop – Today We Celebrate (Or Not!)
2025-02-22 13:00 - 15:00 | The Tuesday Agency, 404 E College St, Unit 408, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Looking for silly ways to be happy in spite of it all? Join us for a two hour workshop where we’ll use writing to find and celebrate all the ways we come together in our lives – from the perfect bubble tea, to binge watching our favorite series, family dinner, or sitting with our friends at lunch. In this low-stakes workshop, we’ll try out different writing genres, including poetry, memoir, and fiction. Whether you’re new to writing or have been doing it forever, you’re welcome to come celebrate creativity with us!
There will be light snacks (cookies!)
FREE, 6-8th graders are welcome to sign up!
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INSTRUCTORS
Born and raised in Michigan, Lisa K. Roberts has taught literature and composition in Hong Kong, Charlottesville, Virginia, Las Vegas, and Lincoln, Nebraska. After moving to Iowa City, she worked as Assistant Director of the Iowa Youth Writing Project to bring free creative writing workshops to children and teens. Today she serves as Director of Iowa City Poetry, a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to redistributing poetry resources with writers of all ages, incomes, identities, and experience levels. In this role, she co-produces The Free Generative Writing Workshops, IC Speaks Slam Team, Iowa City Poetry Al Fresco, Write at the Stanley, and Mic Check Poetry Fest. Her poetry has been published in Plainsongs, The Untidy Season, Little Village, Backchannels Journal, and she has been a featured spoken word performer at various venues, including Voice Box, Was the Word, NewBo PoJam, and Poetry in Motion.
Ruth “Ruben” Thomas is a poet and Iowa City local. Originally a fiction writer, she was introduced to spoken word poetry in 2019 and has been writing poetry ever since. She has competed in both local slams and state competitions, and has opened for poets such as Patricia Smith, Ebony Stewart, and Rudy Francisco. Reuben volunteers with youth program IC Speaks as an assistant director, youth coordinator, and slam team coach. When not behind the mic stand, she loves to still be on stage acting and singing, or finding somewhere quiet to drink boba, crochet, and binge watch video essays.

Readers Theater with the Montessori School of Iowa City
2025-02-22 13:00 - 13:30 | FilmScene at The Chauncey, 404 E College St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Montessori School of Iowa City’s elementary students present a readers’ theatre inspired by the Montessori Second Great Lesson: The Coming of Life. Montessori Elementary students are encouraged to be curious and wonder while developing an understanding of the Universe as a whole. This impressionistic Readers’ Theater invites children to initially learn about how life came to be on Earth while leaving room to ask questions and explore different topics.

Libraries Storytime
2025-02-22 12:30 - 13:00 | FilmScene at The Chauncey, 404 E College St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Join your favorite librarians from Coralville Public Library, Iowa City Public Library, and North Liberty Library for a very special storytime!

Drop-in Illustration Workshop with Matt Laux
2025-02-22 12:00 - 14:00 | MERGE, 136 S Dubuque St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Children can free draw with Iowa City artist Matt Laux. Matt is a father, chef, and artist, inviting everyone to be creative and joyful. We will provide the paper and drawing tools, you provide the creativity!

Animal Poems from IC Speaks
2025-02-22 11:30 - 12:00 | FilmScene at The Chauncey, 404 E College St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
IC Speaks poets will perform their own original poems about animals, along with some classics.
IC Speaks seeks to develop and sustain an inclusive, thriving spoken-word poetry community in Iowa City that empowers youth from all backgrounds to speak their truths.
Learn more at IC Speaks :: Iowa City Poetry

A Visit with Owl Friends
2025-02-22 11:00 | FilmScene at The Chauncey, 404 E College St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Head upstairs to Theater 3 for Owls!
Meet real live owls and learn about their fascinating behaviors and habitats from an expert handler. Discover what makes these majestic birds so extraordinary in this engaging, family-friendly event!

Middle School Writing Jam…And That’s When Things Got Weird…
2025-02-22 10:30 - 12:30 | The Tuesday Agency, 404 E College St, Unit 408, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
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Featuring guest author, Mike Meginnis
Meginnis is the author of Drowning Practice (2022, Ecco) and Fat Man and Little Boy (2014, Black Balloon). His short fiction and essays have appeared in Hobart, PANK, The Lifted Brow, Recommended Reading, Booth, The Pinch, The Collagist, The Sycamore Review, Fanzine, American Book Review, and Writer’s Digest. His story “Navigators” appeared in Best American Short Stories 2012. He lives and works in Iowa City.

I Hear a Búho with Raquel MacKay
2025-02-22 10:30 - 11:00 | FilmScene at The Chauncey, 404 E College St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
I Hear a Búho is a rhyming story with text in English and Spanish, which encompasses language, the parent-child bond, nature, and the benefit of being still, and listening.
A mother and daughter are snuggling together on their porch, listening to the sounds of the night. A girl makes animal calls and her mother responds sweetly. To their surprise a real owl appears and flies across the night sky.

Raquel MacKay resides in Iowa City, Iowa with her husband, two young sons, and big white dog. During the day, she teaches English language learners from many cultural backgrounds. She also teaches Spanish at a little school that she started for young kids in her community (La Escuelita). In her free time, she enjoys dancing, going on outdoor adventures with her family, working on projects, reading, and so much more. There is always something to see, learn, or do. And there’s always a story to tell.

Book Fair at One Book Two Book
2025-02-22 10:00 - 15:00 | FilmScene at The Chauncey, 404 E College St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
At FilmScene at The Chauncey
Join us for a celebration of children’s literature and writing! Books, author readings, writing workshops, film screenings, crafts, costume characters, and more!

Candice Broersma | Coralville Public Library | IC Speaks | Iowa City Public Library | Iowa Youth Writing Project | Montessori School of Iowa City | North Liberty Library | PaperPie | Porchlight Literary Arts Center | Riverside Theatre | Scattergood Friend’s School | Sidekick Coffee & Books | The Book End | The Iowa Children’s Museum | Willowwind School

Trains!
2025-02-22 10:00 - 15:00 | MERGE, 136 S Dubuque St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Full steam ahead for Lego and BRIO train fun with Dan Daly. Stop in at MERGE on the pedmall and play all day! (136 S. Dubuque Street Iowa City, next to the library and playground)

Free Flicks: I LOVE TO SINGA and DUCK DODGERS IN THE 241⁄2TH CENTURY
2025-02-22 10:00 - 12:00 | FilmScene at The Chauncey, 404 E College St, Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
FilmScene presents free screenings of classic Looney Tunes films, I Love to Singa and Duck Dodgers in the 241⁄2TH Century. The films run on a loop all morning.

Let’s Move The Needle: Art and Activism in Community
2024-12-01 14:00 - 16:00 | Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Join author, artist and craftivist Shannon Downey for a community stitching event and book launch. Filled with reflection, activities, exercises, prompts, and stories, her new book, Let’s Move the Needle, is both a how-to guide and a testament to the power of art and handwork to build community and make change. Everyone can be a changemaker, and change-making can be enjoyable, and a bit sassy!
Shannon Downey is the founder of Badass Cross Stitch and Seriously Badass Women, and is an artist, activist, craftivist, community builder, and general instigator. She is on the faculty at Columbia College Chicago and currently lives in Chicago, Illinois.
2-3:00 PM Reading, Q&A and book-signing – Prairie Lights Books will be here with copies of Shannon Downey’s Let’s Move the Needle for sale.
3-4:00 PM Community Stitch-Fest – Get inspired and have some fun! Bring a project or we’ll have instructions and a pattern for learning.
Cosponsored by Prairie Lights Books and Home Ec Workshop.

Tisa Bryant – Unexplained Presence
2024-10-20 16:00 | Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
A multidisciplinary performance melding film with live readings inspired by Bryant’s book of hybrid essays.
This event is co-presented by Refocus Film Festival.

Corban Addison – Wastelands: The True Story of Farm Country on Trial
2024-10-20 15:00 - 16:30 | Old Brick, 26 E. Market St., Iowa City, IA, 52245, United States
The Fall 2024 One Community, One Book selection is Wastelands: The True Story of Farm Country on Trial by Corban Addison. This event will be hosted in person at Old Brick, 26 E. Market Street Iowa City. This event is free and open to the public and sponsored by the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights, Hubbell Environmental Law Initiative, and the Iowa City Book Festival. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m. Author Keynote will begin at 3:00 p.m. and will last approximately 75 minutes. Author book signing will occur immediately following the lecture.

Anne Frank’s Diary – A Multilingual Multimedia Reading
2024-10-20 14:00 | Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA, 52240, United States
Students from Iowa City, fluent in 15 different languages, will present passages from Anne Frank’s diary. This event provides an opportunity for attendees to engage in meaningful dialogue, reflect on the Holocaust and other tragic global events, and foster a sense of community as the 95th anniversary of Frank’s diary is commemorated.
The event will include remarks by National Book Award winner Theodore Rosengarten, a writer, teacher, and a social activist from McClellanville, South Carolina. Rosengarten taught the history of the Holocaust for decades in the Jewish Studies Program at the College of Charleston and in the Honors College at the University of South Carolina.
The first Anne Frank Initiative Little Library, created in partnership with Clear Creek Amana Middle School, will be unveiled at the event. Co-presented by the Anne Frank Initiative in International Programs at the University of Iowa.

A Lunch and Conversation with Natalie Goldberg
2024-10-20 13:00 - 15:00 | PorchLight Literary Arts Center, 1019 E Washington St, Iowa City, 52240, United States
NOTE: This event is sold out.
Natalie Goldberg has influenced generations of aspiring creative writers with books like Writing Down the Bones and Wild Mind. Her books offer down-to-earth guidance for developing a meaningful writing practice in the real world, however different that is for each of us. In her new book, Writing on Empty, she opens up about a new experience; that of losing her will to write, and finding her way back to it. Join Natalie at this limited seating, intimate event. PorchLight director Jennifer Colville will talk with Natalie about how to use her new book. There will be a group conversation and a light lunch. The price of the event includes a copy of “Writing on Empty.”
Natalie Goldberg is the author of fifteen books, including Writing Down the Bones (Shambhala, 1986), which has sold over one million copies, has been translated into fourteen languages, and started a revolution in the way we practice writing in this country.
She recently co-edited a collection of talks by revered zen teacher Katherine Thanas, The Truth of This Life (Shambhala, 2018). In her latest memoir Let the Whole Thundering World Come Home(Shambhala, 2018), she shares her experience with cancer grounded in her practice of zen and writing. Her other books include The Great Spring: Writing, Zen, and This Zigzag Life (Shambhala, 2016), the novel Banana Rose (Bantam, 1995), and the beloved Long Quiet Highway: Waking Up in America, a memoir about her zen teacher Katagiri Roshi.
Natalie is also a prolific painter. Her book Living Color: Painting, Writing, and the Bones of Seeing (Abrams, 2014), describes painting as her second art form. Top of My Lungs (Overlook Press, 2004) contains forty poems, twenty of her paintings in color, and an essay, “How Poetry Saved My Life.” Natalie’s paintings are available to view on this website.
For more than forty years Natalie has practiced zen and taught seminars in writing as a practice. People from around the world attend her life-changing workshops, and she has earned a reputation as a great teacher. The Oprah Winfrey Show sent a film crew to spend the day with Natalie for a segment on Spirituality that covered her writing, teaching, painting, and walking meditation. She lives in Northern New Mexico.
Ticket link: https://www.porchlightliterary.org/event-details/a-lunch-and-conversation-with-natalie-goldberg
