Iowa City Book Festival
Downtown Iowa CityThe 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.
Loading view.
Christopher Merrill Receives the 2026 Paul Engle Prize
Coralville Public Library 1401 5th St., Coralville, IAChristopher Merrill has been named the 15th recipient of the Paul Engle Prize, presented by the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature organization. The prize, established in 2011, honors an
PorchLight: Write Now – Community Supported Writing Group
PorchLight Literary Arts Center 1019 E Washington St, Iowa CityPorchLight'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
Tree Tour: Literary Grove at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop
Dey House 102 Dey House, Iowa City, IAExplore 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
Marilynne Robinson and Nicholas Kristof
Macbride Auditorium 17 N. Clinton St., Iowa City, IAMarilynne Robinson and Nicholas Kristof in Conversation Marilynne Robinson is the author of the novels Housekeeping, Gilead, Home, Lila, and Jack. Gilead won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the
Bonnie Jo Campbell: The Spirits
Prairie Lights Books 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City, IABonnie 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,
Megan Greenwell: Bad Company
Iowa City Public Library 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IAAcclaimed 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
Curator Guided Tour: It’s Been Wonderful Knowing You: Wildlife Conservation and Advocacy Through the Lens of Jay N. “Ding” Darling
University of Iowa Main Library Gallery 125 W Washington St, Iowa City, IAJoin 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
Pilar Quintana: La perra (The Bitch)
Prairie Lights Books 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City, IAOn 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.
Slamovision: International Slam Poetry Judging
Iowa City Public Library 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IAJoin 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
Mark Leidner: Elegy for Pangaea
Prairie Lights Books 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City, IAMark 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.
Melissa Tedone: The Poison Book Project
University of Iowa Main Library 125 W Washington St,, Iowa City, IAThe 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.
