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DTSTART:20260308T080000
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261004T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261004T100000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260708T155437Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260708T155437Z
UID:5674-1791108000-1791108000@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/2026-10-04/
LOCATION:PorchLight Literary Arts Center\, 1019 E Washington St\, Iowa City\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261004T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261004T160000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260904T022515Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260904T022515Z
UID:6082-1791129600-1791129600@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PrairieLights: IWP Sunday Afternoon Reading Series
DESCRIPTION:Join them for their annual IWP Sunday Afternoon Reading Series! This week’s event features IWP Residents Sang Young Park (South Korea) and Yaiza Berrocal Guevara (Spain). They will be joined by Iowa Writers’ Workshop Fiction candidate\, Toye Oladinni\, and Associate Director of Writing Education for the Office of Writing and Communication at the University of Iowa\, Danielle Wheeler. \nSangyoung Park is a prominent South Korean novelist and screenwriter\, internationally recognized for his sharp emotional insight\, wit\, and nuanced exploration of urban life\, intimacy\, and identity. His bestselling novel\, Love in the Big City\, has been translated into more than twenty languages and was longlisted for the International Booker Prize\, the Dublin Literary Award\, and the Prix Médicis étranger. Beyond the page\, Park has established himself as a versatile creator\, serving as the writer and creator for the global television adaptation of his own work. \nYaiza Berrocal Guevara (playwright\, fiction writer\, screenwriter; Spain) is the author of a novel\, several plays and a screenplay. Her literary work includes Curling (2022)\, published in the UK in 2025 and forthcoming in Greek in 2026. She is currently working on her second novel\, Las promesas. As a playwright\, she received Spain’s Calderón de la Barca National Prize for La cadena del frío\, later staged in Sala Beckett\, Barcelona. Her other plays include Intenta viure sense mi\, Ni temeré les feres\, Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses nunca antes representadas (documentary theatre) and Flesh Market. She is also the screenwriter of the animated feature Black Butterflies\, winner of the Goya Award for Best Animated Film\, as well as the Gaudí\, Forqué\, Quirino\, and Platino awards\, and has written for prime-time television series. \nToye Oladinni is a British Nigerian writer and filmmaker from London. His work has appeared in Granta\, The Paris Review Daily\, and The Relegation Reader\, among other places\, and is forthcoming in the London Review of Books. He is currently studying for an MFA in Fiction at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. \nDanielle Wheeler was born in a small town in the Midwest and was the 2010-2011 Rona Jaffe Fellow in Poetry at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop\, an instructor of Creative Writing Studio Workshop for undergraduates\, and a volunteer writing instructor with the Iowa Youth Writing Project. She is currently an instructor of writing and Associate Director\, Writing Education for the Office of Writing and Communication at the University of Iowa. Her first book\, Men of Northern Constellations\, is forthcoming in 2027.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/prairielights-iwp-sunday-afternoon-reading-series-5/
LOCATION:Prairie Lights Books\, 15 S. Dubuque St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261008T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261008T190000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260904T022741Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260904T022741Z
UID:6084-1791486000-1791486000@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PrairieLights: Meghan O’Gieblyn in conv with Dr. Alison Lynch – Will and Attention
DESCRIPTION: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 Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program professor and bestselling author Melissa Febos says: “An elegant and philosophical memoir about addiction whose stakes are no less than what comprises one’s will to live\, what it means to be good\, and the worth of devotion. I savored equally O’Gieblyn’s sentences and the turns of her thought—at once precise as the cut of a razor and as pleasurably discursive as Montaigne.” \nMeghan O’Gieblyn is a writer and the author of God\, Human\, Animal\, Machine\, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Science & Technology. Her first book\, Interior States\, won the 2018 Believer Book Award for nonfiction.  Her criticism and essays have appeared in Harper’s Magazine\, The New Yorker\, n+1\, The Point\, The Baffler\, Wired\, The New York Review of Books\, The Guardian\, The New York Times\, and other publications. \nAlison Lynch\, MD\, MS\, is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Iowa.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/prairielights-meghan-ogieblyn-in-conv-with-dr-alison-lynch-will-and-attention/
LOCATION:Prairie Lights Books\, 15 S. Dubuque St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261009T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261009T190000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260904T022938Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260904T022938Z
UID:6087-1791572400-1791572400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PrairieLights: Elizabeth Metzger\, Andrew Zawacki\, and Devin Johnston – The Going Is Forever\, These Late Eclipses\, Bright Thorn
DESCRIPTION: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. \nElizabeth 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 Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death. Her poems have recently appeared in The New Yorker\, The Paris Review\, The New York Review\, TLS\, and Poetry. She is a poetry editor at The Los Angeles Review of Books and teaches poetry at 92NY and Columbia University. \nAndrew Zawacki is the author of five poetry books\, including Unsun : f/11 (Coach House\, 2019)\, Videotape (Counterpath\, 2013)\, and Petals of Zero Petals of One (Talisman House\, 2009). His poems have appeared in The New Yorker\, The New Republic\, The Nation\, and elsewhere. An editor and translator\, he is Distinguished Research Professor of English at the University of Georgia. \nDevin Johnston was born in 1970 and spent his childhood in North Carolina. He is the author of seven previous books of poetry and two books of prose\, including Creaturely and Other Essays. He works for Flood Editions\, an independent publishing house\, and teaches at Saint Louis University\, in Missouri\, where he lives.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/prairielights-elizabeth-metzger-andrew-zawacki-and-devin-johnston-the-going-is-forever-these-late-eclipses-bright-thorn/
LOCATION:Prairie Lights Books\, 15 S. Dubuque St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261010T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261010T130000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260708T153803Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260708T153803Z
UID:5665-1791637200-1791637200@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: Queer Writers' Check In
DESCRIPTION:Similar to their Long Project Check In\, this group is for queer writers looking to build literary community together. Each session will include free writing\, discussion of works in progress\, and general literary support. Occasionally\, there will be guests and opportunities for trading work. \nVisit their website to RSVP!
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-queer-writers-check-in/2026-10-10/
LOCATION:PorchLight Literary Arts Center\, 1019 E Washington St\, Iowa City\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261011T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261011T153000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260811T152941Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260811T152941Z
UID:5826-1791732600-1791732600@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-2/2026-10-11/
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:20261011T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261011T160000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260904T023206Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260904T023206Z
UID:6090-1791734400-1791734400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PrairieLights: IWP Sunday Afternoon Reading Series
DESCRIPTION:Join them for their annual IWP Sunday Afternoon Reading Series! This week’s event features IWP Residents Radu Vancu (Sibiu\, Romania)\, Harumi Kawaguchi 川口晴美 (Japan)\, and Amber Esau (New Zealand). They will be joined by recent Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate\, Lizzie Cusick. \nRadu Vancu (Sibiu\, Romania\, 1978) is a Romanian poet\, scholar\, and translator. A professor in the Faculty of Letters and Arts at Lucian Blaga University in Sibiu\, he is the editor-in-chief of Transilvania magazine and an editor of Poiesis Internațional. He previously served as as the national editor of the Romanian section of the Poetry International website\, and was president of PEN Romania between 2019–2023. Since 2013\, he has also been president of Sibiu’s international writing festival Poets in Transylvania. Vancu has published nine volumes of poems\, which have been translated into more than 20 languages in anthologies\, magazines\, and books. He has also published two novels\, Transparenta (2018) and Paradis (2025)\, and his first two books of poetry in English translation will be published in the U.S. in October 2026—Kaddish (tr. Sean Cotter\, Zephyr Press) and The Rope in Bloom (tr. Paula Console-Soican and Cyrus Console-Soican\, Phoenix Poets). \nHarumi Kawaguchi 川口晴美 is a poet based in Tokyo. Her latest poetry collection\, やがて魔女の森になる (To the Witches’ Forest\, Shicho-sha\, 2021) received the 30th Hagiwara Sakutarō Prize in 2022\, and her 13th collection\, Tiger is here. (Tiger is here.\, Shicho-sha\, 2015) won the 46th Takami Jun Prize in 2016. Her poetry explores women’s experiences and memory\, while also bridging literature and popular culture\, particularly manga and anime. Her poems have been translated into English\, German\, Italian\, and Korean\, and included in the anthologies such as Poet to Poet: Contemporary Women Poets from Japan (Recent Work Press\, 2017). She is increasingly interested in collaborative poetry translation\, which she started while she was a guest for Poetry on the Move Festival in Canberra in 2017. Her collaborative translations from English to Japanese have been published in the anthologies\, I am Ireland (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade\, Ireland\, 2025) and pleasant troubles (Recent Work Press\, 2018). She has edited several poetry anthologies and has been teaching creative writing over three decades. \nAmber Esau is the author of Hungus\, her debut poetry collection published earlier this year\, and co-editor of a queer poetry anthology\, Spoiled Fruit (2023). She has performed her poetry extensively\, and her work has been published in various journals and anthologies in Aotearoa-New Zealand. She is working on a mixed media speculative fantasy novel set in the South Pacific. \nLizzie Cusick is a poet and dermatologist who recently received her MFA in from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She teaches medical residents and fellows at the University and is interested in writing as a means of attending to both the body and natural world with deep care and close observation. She is currently working on completing her first book of poems for publication.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/prairielights-iwp-sunday-afternoon-reading-series-6/
LOCATION:Prairie Lights Books\, 15 S. Dubuque St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261012
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261013
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260813T185027Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260813T185027Z
UID:5895-1791763200-1791849599@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Paul Engle Day
DESCRIPTION: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. \nCheck out the City of Literature documentary to learn more about Engle and how Iowa City become the capital of creative writing in America. \n\n  \n 
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/paul-engle-day/
LOCATION:IA
CATEGORIES:General
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261015T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261015T190000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260727T155351Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260727T155351Z
UID:5761-1792090800-1792090800@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Sidekick – Reading and signing with Tatiana Schlote-Bonne
DESCRIPTION: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. \nAbout the book: \nThe darkness isn’t empty. It’s hungry. \nAt the edge of the City of the Void\, a massive chasm extends miles into the earth\, its treacherous terrain overrun with vicious monsters and carnivorous plants. For orphaned best friends Petra and Jade\, guiding treasure-seeking tourists down into the Void is the only way to earn enough to pull themselves up out of the slums for good. \nPetra prefers to play it safe and take jobs only in the Void’s upper levels\, where the dangers are better understood\, while Jade wants to risk a decent to the deepest and most mysterious Sixth Layer. Because the deeper they go\, the better the payout\, and the sooner their dreams can become reality. Their friendship is Petra’s whole world\, and Jades approval means everything – so Petra agrees to do it Jade’s way. \nWhen their job goes wring and Jade is lost in the Void\, Petra must plunge deeper than she’s ever dared to save her friend. But she doesn’t know the truth of the Void… or what really waits for her in its depths.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/sidekick-reading-and-signing-with-tatiana-schlote-bonne/
LOCATION:Sidekick Coffee & Books\, 1310 1/2 Melrose Avenue\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52242\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Side-.webp
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261016T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261016T190000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260904T023414Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260904T023414Z
UID:6092-1792177200-1792177200@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PrairieLights: Emily Ogden – Darkness Becomes Bright: On the Brief Life and Immortal Art of Edgar Allan Poe
DESCRIPTION:Emily Ogden will read from her new book\, Darkness Becomes Bright: On the Brief Life and Immortal Art of Edgar Allan Poe. Described as “A fascinating and intimate inquiry into Edgar Allan Poe’s shadowy life and horrifyingly compelling work” (penguinrandomhouse.com)\, Darkness Becomes Bright is praised by Meghan O’Rourke\, author of The Invisible Kingdom\, as “profoundly insightful\,” while Sarah Waters\, author of The Paying Guests\, says: “A wonderfully engaging account of Poe’s troubled life and work that is also a celebration of artistic cross-fertilization. Nimble\, generous\, brimming with insight\, Ogden’s book captures the richness\, the strangeness and the unexpected beauty to be found in our enduring fascination with the dark places of the soul.” \nEmily Ogden is the author of On Not Knowing: How to Love and Other Essays and Credulity: A Cultural History of US Mesmerism. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship\, a Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant\, and a Mellon Fellowship in the Columbia Society of Fellows\, she is a professor of English at the University of Virginia.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/prairielights-emily-ogden-darkness-becomes-bright-on-the-brief-life-and-immortal-art-of-edgar-allan-poe/
LOCATION:Prairie Lights Books\, 15 S. Dubuque St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261018
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261026
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260507T150646Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260819T151923Z
UID:5537-1792281600-1792972799@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Iowa City Book Festival
DESCRIPTION: The Iowa City Book Festival is happening October 18–25\, 2026! Join us for a week of literary events\, author talks\, readings\, and more at various locations throughout downtown Iowa City.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/iowa-city-book-festival-2/
LOCATION:Downtown Iowa City
CATEGORIES:General
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261018T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261018T140000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260902T144746Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260902T145505Z
UID:6041-1792332000-1792332000@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Christopher Merrill Receives the 2026 Paul Engle Prize
DESCRIPTION:Christopher Merrill has been named the 15th recipient of the Paul Engle Prize\, presented by the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature organization. \nThe prize\, established in 2011\, honors an individual who\, like Paul Engle\, represents a pioneering spirit in the world of literature through writing\, editing\, publishing\, or teaching\, and whose active participation in the larger issues of the day has contributed to the betterment of the world through the literary arts. \nThe prize includes a $25\,000 award and a one-of-a-kind work of art. Merrill\, who retired at the end of 2025 after 25 years as the director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa\, will receive the award at a ceremony at 2 p.m. on Oct. 18\, at the Coralville Public Library. Loren Glass\, chair of the UI English Department\, will interview Merrill as part of the program. The event\, which kicks off the 2026 Iowa City Book Festival\, is free and open to the public. \nMerrill said he was honored to receive the prize. \n“Paul Engle set a dynamic example of literary engagement\, as a poet and writer\, teacher and director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and International Writing Program (IWP). And his creative thinking has been for me a spur to try new things during my tenure in Iowa\, and so it is a thrill to receive an award in his name.” \nMerrill was born in Northampton\, Massachusetts and raised in New Jersey. He holds two degrees: a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middlebury College\, and a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Washington. \nHe has published more than 10 collections of poetry\, including Watch Fire\, for which he received the Lavan Younger Poets Award from the Academy of American Poets\, and On the Road to Lviv; many edited volumes and translations; and seven books of nonfiction\, among them\, Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars\, Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain\, and The Tree of the Doves: Ceremony\, Expedition\, War. His writings have been translated into nearly 40 languages; his journalism appears widely; his honors include a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from the French government\, numerous translation awards\, and fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial and Ingram Merrill Foundations. \nAs director of IWP\, Merrill conducted cultural diplomacy missions to more than 50 countries. He served on the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO from 2011-2018\, and in April 2012 President Barack Obama appointed him to the National Council on the Humanities. \nThe Paul Engle Prize is made possible through the generous support of the City of Coralville\, which is home to 11 permanent sculptures with artistic and literary ties to Iowa. The sculptures all have ties to work found in The Iowa Writers’ Library\, housed in the Hyatt Regency Coralville Hotel\, which features about 800 books written by former students\, graduates and faculty of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. \nThe Engle Prize itself is a one-of-a-kind work of art. Each piece is crafted to reflect the work and impact of the recipient\, while tying it to the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature. \nPaul Engle (October 12\, 1908 – March 22\, 1991)\, though best remembered as the long-time director of the Writers’ Workshop and co-founder with his wife\, Hualing Nieh Engle\, of the UI’s International Writing Program\, also was a well-regarded poet\, playwright\, essayist\, editor and critic. In 2000\, then-Gov. Tom Vilsack declared Engle’s birthday\, Oct. 12\, as “Paul Engle Day” in Iowa. \nPrevious winners of the prize are James Alan McPherson\, Kwame Dawes\, Luis Alberto Urrea\, Roxane Gay\, Alexander Chee\, Dina Nayeri\, Toi Derricotte\, Cornelius Eady\, Dr. Eve L. Ewing\, Rebecca Solnit\, Joan Naviyuk Kane\, Camille Dungy\, and Cole Swensen. Visit www.iowacityofliterature.org/paul-engle-day for more information about the prize and past winners.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/christopher-merrill-receives-the-2026-paul-engle-prize/
LOCATION:Coralville Public Library\, 1401 5th St.\, Coralville\, IA\, 52241\, United States
CATEGORIES:General,Iowa City Book Festival
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261019T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261019T103000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260714T160440Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260714T160440Z
UID:5686-1792405800-1792405800@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: Write Now - Community Supported Writing Group
DESCRIPTION:PorchLight’s Write Now Writer’s Group provides community\, and learning opportunities for beginning to intermediate writers. At their monthly meetings\, share short craft lessons\, generate writing from prompts\, and\, on occasion\, provide responses to participants’ work in progress. Writers working in any genre are welcome. \nThis is a great group for writers who have not had the time or opportunity to pursue a traditional MFA. \nRSVP one week in advance on their website!
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-write-now-community-supported-writing-group/2026-10-19/
LOCATION:PorchLight Literary Arts Center\, 1019 E Washington St\, Iowa City\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-14-at-10.57.53-AM.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261019T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261019T120000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20240913T163814Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T181858Z
UID:3943-1792411200-1792411200@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Tree Tour: Literary Grove at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop
DESCRIPTION:Explore the Literary Grove with University of Iowa Arborist Andy DahlTake a guided stroll through the Literary Grove\, where each tree has a story to tell. Arborist Andy Dahl will share the unique histories and literary connections of these remarkable trees\, many linked to celebrated authors from the world-renowned Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/tree-tour/
LOCATION:Dey House\, 102 Dey House\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52242\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Tree-Tour.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261019T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261019T190000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260825T155004Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260903T194314Z
UID:6010-1792436400-1792436400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Marilynne Robinson and Nicholas Kristof
DESCRIPTION:Marilynne Robinson and Nicholas Kristof in Conversation \nMarilynne Robinson is the author of the novels Housekeeping\, Gilead\, Home\, Lila\, and Jack. Gilead won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award\, while Home received the Orange Prize for Fiction and Lila won the National Book Critics Circle Award. \nRobinson is also the author of numerous books of essays\, including Reading Genesis\, The Givenness of Things\, When I Was a Child I Read Books\, and Mother Country\, a finalist for the National Book Award. Her honors include the National Humanities Medal\, the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction\, and the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. \nA longtime member of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop faculty\, Robinson taught at the University of Iowa for 25 years before retiring as the F. Wendell Miller Professor in 2016. She remains one of America’s most acclaimed novelists and essayists. \nNicholas Kristof is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and columnist for The New York Times\, where his twice-weekly opinion columns have appeared since 2001. He joined the newspaper in 1984 and has served as a correspondent in Los Angeles\, Hong Kong\, Beijing\, and Tokyo\, as well as Associate Managing Editor of the Sunday editions. \nKristof won his first Pulitzer Prize with his wife\, journalist Sheryl WuDunn\, for their coverage of China’s Tiananmen Square democracy movement. He received a second Pulitzer Prize for commentary that brought international attention to the genocide in Darfur and other humanitarian crises. \nOver the course of his career\, Kristof has reported from more than 140 countries. He is the co-author\, with WuDunn\, of China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power and Thunder from the East: Portrait of a Rising Asia. \nPresented in partnership with The Geneva Lecture Series \nThe University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication supports Nicholas Kristof and Marilynne Robinson as 2026 Bernard and Ethel Adler Hurwitz Lecturers.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/marilynne-robinson-and-nicholas-kristof/
LOCATION:Macbride Auditorium\, 17 N. Clinton 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/covers-2-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261020T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261020T180000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260813T160527Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260813T164525Z
UID:5879-1792519200-1792519200@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Bonnie Jo Campbell: The Spirits
DESCRIPTION:Bonnie Jo Campbell\, a master of rural American fiction\, brings us a hair-raising winter tale to warm us by the fireside. In this contemporary Christmas Carol\, Campbell has created a gritty\, spooky\, and ultimately heartening holiday story that unfolds in an isolated farmhouse. It is the night before Christmas in a small town in Michigan\, and a young woman is haunted by her father’s death. She has been silently penitent for nine years\, but her guilt and grief have estranged her from her community and her family. She has taken refuge in the natural world of the plants and trees she tends\, but on this anniversary of the tragedy\, the supernatural landscape is rattling its chains. \nWhen a surprise guest appears at the (dreaded) Christmas Eve dinner\, the family begins to open up and reveal dangerous secrets and crimes nobody is willing to face. Within this darkest chaos\, a sliver of light appears\, showing a way to reclaim communion and even a sense of humor. While redemption is never easy or wholesale\, the story that a family creates together can heal wounds.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/bonnie-jo-campbell-the-spirits/
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-Spirits.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261020T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261020T190000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260817T172005Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T172136Z
UID:5914-1792522800-1792522800@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Megan Greenwell: Bad Company
DESCRIPTION: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 equity upended their employers and communities: a Toys R Us floor supervisor\, a rural doctor\, a local newspaper journalist\, and an affordable housing organizer. Taken together\, their individual experiences also pull back the curtain on a much larger project: how the relentless pursuit of shareholder value reshaped the American economy to serve its own interests\, creating a new class of billionaires while stripping ordinary people of their livelihoods\, their health care\, their homes\, and their sense of security.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/megan-greenwell-bad-company/
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/Bad-Company.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261021T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261021T160000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260813T142300Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260813T142300Z
UID:5876-1792598400-1792598400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Curator Guided Tour: It’s Been Wonderful Knowing You: Wildlife Conservation and Advocacy Through the Lens of Jay N. “Ding” Darling
DESCRIPTION:Join co-curators Collin Vandewalle and Lindsay Moen for a special guided tour of the current University of Iowa Libraries Main Library Gallery exhibition\, It’s Been Wonderful Knowing You: Wildlife Conservation and Advocacy Through the Lens of Jay N. “Ding” Darling. Oct. 21 is also Darling’s birthday\, so stop by for birthday treats before or after the tour! (Gluten-free and vegan options available.) \nAll are welcome to attend this free event\, which is being held in partnership with the Iowa City Book Festival. \nAbout the exhibit:\nA Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist for The Des Moines Register\, Jay N. “Ding” Darling (1876–1962) was also one of the nation’s most influential figures in the American conservation movement. Appointed director of the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey (later part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) by President Franklin D. Roosevelt\, Darling made historic attempts to answer his growing concerns about industrialism’s impact on the environment. \nIn celebration of the 150th anniversary of his birth\, this exhibition explores the transformation of Iowa’s environmental landscape during Darling’s life and his contributions to environmental and wildlife conservation advocacy nationwide. It also showcases how his legacy lives on today both locally and across the country\, and how other Iowans have played key roles in our state’s conservation efforts. Curated by librarians Lindsay Moen and Collin Vandewalle\, It’s Been Wonderful Knowing You highlights the Jay N. “Ding” Darling Papers from Special Collections and Archives\, specimens from the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History\, and more from across the Libraries.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/curator-guided-tour-its-been-wonderful-knowing-you-wildlife-conservation-and-advocacy-through-the-lens-of-jay-n-ding-darling/
LOCATION:University of Iowa Main Library Gallery\, 125 W Washington St\, Iowa City\, IA\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Ding-sketching.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261021T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261021T173000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260902T141514Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260902T141514Z
UID:6037-1792603800-1792603800@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Pilar Quintana: La perra (The Bitch)
DESCRIPTION:On a bluff overlooking Colombia’s rough Pacific coast\, at the edge of the jungle—a world where nothing is taken for granted –Damaris lives in a shack with her fisherman husband. Her dream of a child unfulfilled and the warmth of her marriage cooled\, she has reached the age “when women dry up\,” as her uncle puts it. When the opportunity arises\, she takes in a motherless puppy with eagerness and immediate affection. She does not yet know the risk she is taking in forging a bond that touches her most painful losses and her tenderest yearnings. \nIn prose as terse as the villagers Damaris lives among\, The Bitch evokes the double-edged force of the instinct to nurture and the desperate desire to be nurtured in turn.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/pilar-quintana-la-perra-the-bitch/
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/2026/07/The-Bitch.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261021T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261021T180000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260813T163354Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260813T163354Z
UID:5884-1792605600-1792605600@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Slamovision: International Slam Poetry Judging
DESCRIPTION: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 for the 2026 Slamovision title. Scores from this international competition will help determine the winner\, who will be crowned at the Slamovision final on November 1 at The James Theater in Iowa City.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/slamovision-international-slam-poetry-judging/
LOCATION:Iowa City Public Library\, 123 S. Linn St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SlamOVision-1024x1024-1.gif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261021T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261021T190000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260902T141750Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260902T141750Z
UID:6039-1792609200-1792609200@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Mark Leidner: Elegy for Pangaea
DESCRIPTION:Mark Leidner’s third poetry collection\, Elegy for Pangaea\, is as funny\, strange\, and epic as his two previous collections\, Returning the Sword to the Stone and Beauty Was the Case that They Gave Me. His new poems explore faith\, grief\, money\, myth\, parenting\, and poetry itself to create a collection as full of tantalizing ideas and dilemmas as “an enormous library with a waterbed floor.” As mystical as it is satirical\, as audacious as it is personal\, as hysterical as it is disconcerting\, in Elegy for Pangaea\, Leidner once again shows us that the only way out of irony is through.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/mark-leidner-elegy-for-pangaea/
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/LEIDNER_ElegyCover-2026.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261022T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261022T170000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260813T164421Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260813T164421Z
UID:5887-1792688400-1792688400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Melissa Tedone: The Poison Book Project
DESCRIPTION: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. Research focuses on identifying potentially toxic pigments used in bookbinding components and how to handle and store potentially toxic collections more safely. \nMelissa Tedone is Assistant Professor in the Department of Art Conservation at the University of Delaware and Associate Director of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. A specialist in the conservation of library and archival materials\, she previously served as Library & Archives Conservator at Iowa State University.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/melissa-tedone-the-poison-book-project/
LOCATION:University of Iowa Main Library\, 125 W Washington St\,\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52242\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/green-book-godeys.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261022T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261022T190000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260817T171632Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T180655Z
UID:5911-1792695600-1792695600@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Panel Discussion: Weirdos Writing for Weirdos: A Contemporary Approach to Speculative Fiction
DESCRIPTION:Sci-fi\, fantasy\, and horror used to be the outcasts of literature\, but now more than ever these speculative genres are growing in popularity–and in quality. With huge properties like Fourth Wing\, Dungeon Crawler Carl\, and other “weird” series running rampant across the NYT bestseller lists\, it’s evident that readers crave these odd genres\, and more and more authors are answering the call to deliver captivating stories–many of them independent of traditional publishing altogether. \nFeaturing Ben Wolf and Darby Harn \nPresented by the Iowa City Book Festival and ICON\, Iowa’s Longest Running Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/panel-discussion-weirdos-writing-for-weirdos-a-contemporary-approach-to-speculative-fiction/
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/Weirdos-Writing-for-Weirdos.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261023T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261023T193000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260601T162606Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260813T164906Z
UID:5549-1792783800-1792783800@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:An Evening with Pulitzer Prize Winner Yiyun Li
DESCRIPTION: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 little more than six years after her older son died in the same manner. \nThe Princeton University professor is the author of 12 books—and was a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. In addition\, she is the recipient of the PEN/Faulkner Award\, a PEN/Malamud Award\, a PEN/Hemingway Award\, a PEN/Jean Stein Book Award\, a MacArthur Fellowship\, and a Windham-Campbell Prize. Time Magazine also included Li on its list of 100 Most Influential People for 2026. \nMelissa Febos\, director of the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program\, will join Li in conversation. Febos is the national bestselling author of five books and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship\, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship\, and the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism. \nThis event is possible due to generous support from Linda Maxson\, professor emerita and former dean of the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences\, and her husband\, Rick. It is being held in conjunction with the Iowa City Book Festival. \nLiterary Legends represents a special collaboration among the UI Nonfiction Writing Program\, Iowa Writers’ Workshop\, UI Lecture Committee\, University of Iowa Center for Advancement\, and Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/an-evening-with-pulitzer-prize-winner-yiyun-li/
LOCATION:Levitt Center for University Advancement\, 1 East Park Road\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52242\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Yiyun-Li.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T100000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260821T164135Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260831T161744Z
UID:5976-1792836000-1792836000@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Lori Erickson: Travels with the Muse
DESCRIPTION: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 Família to the rhythms of the Mississippi Blues Trail\, from quilting traditions in Nebraska to the turning dance of the whirling dervishes in Türkiye\, Erickson explores what happens when we approach art not as experts\, but as beginners willing to pay attention. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAlong the way\, she sketches\, listens\, and learns from artists and places\, discovering that creativity is less about talent than about presence. At its heart\, Travels with the Muse is an invitation to see more deeply\, make something with your own hands\, and recognize the sacred woven through the world around us.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/lori-erickson-travels-with-the-muse/
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/Travels-with-the-Muse-cover.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T150000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20230915T171850Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260901T143614Z
UID:3177-1792836000-1792854000@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Friends Foundation Pop-up Used Book Sale
DESCRIPTION:Stop by the lobby of the Iowa City Public Library between festival events to browse for a new (to you) book.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/friends-foundation-pop-up-used-book-sale/
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/2023/09/Friends-Foundation.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T160000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20220823T184021Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260901T152234Z
UID:1769-1792836000-1792857600@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Book Fair
DESCRIPTION: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. \n508 Press | Annie’s Foundation | Catharsis | Earthwords | EastOver Press | Gray Hawks Writers | Guild Writers | Ice Cube Press | Ink Lit Mag | Iowa City Poetry | The Iowa Review | Midwest Writing Center | New Moon Magazine | North American Review | Orlando Literary Magazine | Porchlight Literary Arts Center | PromptPress | snapshots | The Writers’ Rooms | Translate Iowa Project | University of Iowa Press\n \n\nThe Book Fair is sponsored by Greater Iowa City\, Inc.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/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/2022/08/Book-Fair-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T113000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260821T165402Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260821T165402Z
UID:5978-1792841400-1792841400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:James Geary: The World in a Phrase
DESCRIPTION: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\, the oldest written art form on the planet\, have been going viral for thousands of years\, delivering the short\, sharp shock of old forgotten truths. Today\, visual artists are mixing pithy language with compelling imagery and using social media to take the form into the future. In a world of disinformation and deepfakes\, aphorisms point to the power of fresh debate over tired dogma and inconvenient truths over comfortable lies. \nStarting in ancient China and ending with contemporary meme-makers and street artists\, The World in A Phrase tells the story of the aphorism through brief biographies of some of its greatest practitioners: sages like Lao-tzu and the Buddha\, philosophers like Schopenhauer and Nietzsche\, writers like George Eliot and Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach\, humorists like Mark Twain and Dorothy Parker\, activists like James Baldwin and Audre Lorde\, poets like Langston Hughes and Kay Ryan\, and artists like Jenny Holzer and David Byrne. \nThe World in A Phrase is for lovers of words and seekers of wisdom. This new edition of The New York Times bestseller features 26 additional aphorists and explores the aphorism in the age of social media\, showing why these short sentences are the ultimate deep dives in an era when TL;DR has become a cultural catchphrase.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/james-geary-the-world-in-a-phrase/
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/2025/06/The-World-in-a-Phrase.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T113000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260821T185920Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260821T185920Z
UID:5996-1792841400-1792841400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Patricia Foster: A Marriage in Startled Air
DESCRIPTION:In A Marriage in Startled Air\, Patricia Foster shares the dramatic story of how the diagnosis of her husband’s rare cancer changed the dynamics of their marriage and opened the door to the hidden world of his childhood\, revealing the seeds of trauma and childhood PTSD. In vivid\, often poetic prose\, Foster reflects on how the journey of recovery—and discovery—between two artists in a relatively happy marriage leads to difficult conversations about family\, memory\, identity\, and aging. Within this unburdening\, Patricia and David discover a new map of intimacy: Once the illusion of normalcy is broken\, what emerges is something sweeter and deeper\, as if the broken thing becomes\, ironically\, the healing thing.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/patricia-foster-a-marriage-in-startled-air/
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/A-Marriage-in-Startled-Air.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T130000
DTSTAMP:20260908T063017
CREATED:20260821T165556Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260821T165556Z
UID:5980-1792846800-1792846800@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Tiffany Hanssen: My Name was Gerry Sass
DESCRIPTION: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 a mob-connected hitman-for-hire who launders money through the station WIOA. \nOne morning in 1986\, his life of crime catches up to him when two men march him out into the woods and shoot him in the back of the head. Plunged into purgatory\, he’s doomed to a painful examination of his life. Unbeknownst to the assassins\, Gerry’s closest friend\, a Catholic priest named Father Dan\, witnesses his execution yet does nothing to stop it. \nMeanwhile\, Gerry’s daughter\, Early\, jumps into his prized Mustang with a thirst for revenge. On her adrenaline-fueled hunt\, she comes to realize that she’s more like Gerry than she ever chose to admit. \nAlternating between the voices of a grieving and adrenaline-fueled daughter\, a guilt-ridden priest with no one he can trust\, and the voice of a dead killer not quite yet gone\, My Name Was Gerry Sass exposes the complicated natures of family\, grief\, and God in this propulsive and darkly funny novel.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/tiffany-hanssen-my-name-was-gerry-sass/
LOCATION:Iowa City Public Library\, 123 S. Linn St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/MyNameWasGerrySassHC-340x509-1.png
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR