SlamoVision Watch & Judge Party

Iowa City Public Library 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA

Join us for a special SlamoVision judging night! Attendees will watch performances from slam poets representing 17 UNESCO Cities of Literature around the world and help decide the outcome by scoring each one. Enjoy free pizza while you cast your votes—the scores from Iowa City will be combined with those from other cities to help

Laura Julier – Off Izaak Walton Road: The Grace That Comes Through Loss

Iowa City Public Library 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA

Loss and sorrow can overwhelm even the strongest person, forcing them to reckon with their emotions whether they want to or not. In this extraordinary debut, Laura Julier recounts her reckoning, which took place in an old cabin tucked away on a hidden and forgotten gravel road along the Iowa River. In company with silence

Friends Foundation Pop-up Used Book Sale

Iowa City Public Library 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA

Stop by the lobby of the Iowa City Public Library between festival events to browse for a new (to you) book.

Book Fair

MERGE 136 S Dubuque St, Iowa City, IA

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. 508 Press | Fools Magazine | Ice Cube Press | Porch Light Literary Arts Center | The Iowa Review | North American Review | Featherproof

ICON Vendor Hall

Iowa City Masonic Building 312 E College St, Iowa City, IA

The ICON Science fiction convention returns to downtown Iowa City during the Iowa City Book Festival! Browse booksellers, authors, and others at the ICON Vendor Hall, Iowa City Masonic Lodge Social Hall, 312 E College St. Free admission and open to the public.

Ted Geltner: Flagrant, Self-Destructive Gestures

Iowa City Public Library 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA

The year was 1988, and Denis Johnson was at a low point. He caught malaria on a reporting trip into the jungles of the Philippines and was nearly pronounced dead. The disease left him unable to write. His second wife left him. He didn’t have enough money to pay his taxes. His publisher was waiting

Gregory Galloway: All We Trust and Scott Phillips: The Devil Raises His Own

Prairie Lights Books 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City, IA

    In All We Trust, what starts out as a family squabble turns into an international battle between competing crime organizations, moving from small town New England to San Francisco to Mexico. Along the way the brothers encounter betrayal, double-dealing, kidnapping, and ultimately, revenge. The Devil Raises His Own, meanwhile, picks up the story of

John Scalzi: The Shattering Peace

Iowa City Masonic Building 312 E College St, Iowa City, IA

For a decade, peace has reigned in interstellar space. A tripartite agreement between the Colonial Union, the Earth, and the alien Conclave has kept the forces of war at bay, even when some would have preferred to return to the fighting and struggle of former times. For now, more sensible heads have prevailed – and

Jennifer Fawcett: Keep This For Me

Prairie Lights Books 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City, IA

One hot August night in 1993, a young couple go to a party. When their car breaks down, they are picked up by a truck driver who attacks the man and abducts the woman. She is never seen again. That woman was Fiona Green’s mother. When the trucker, Eddie Ward, is caught, a mass grave

Art Cullen: We Crapped In Our Nest

Iowa City Public Library 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, IA

We have fouled our nest over the past half century in a way that was almost unavoidable, given our history of seeking domination — first over the Indigenous people of the Western World, then over their land. Native people for millennia lived with the land in a vital relationship. Europeans set out to transform that

Joe Haldeman and The Forever War

Iowa City Masonic Building 312 E College St, Iowa City, IA

The Forever War, Joe Haldeman’s 1974 novel and the first sci-fi work shaped by the Vietnam War, continues to resonate decades later. Haldeman, a Vietnam veteran and Iowa Writers’ Workshop alum, crafted a story that John Scalzi calls “timeless, because what’s in the book touches on something that never goes away.” Join Haldeman, his wife

Incognito Lounge: Celebrating the work of Denis Johnson

Riverside Theatre 119 E College St, Iowa City, IA

Denis and Cindy Johnson Friends and admirers of the late Denis Johnson read from and discuss his work at this special event co-presented with FilmScene’s Refocus Film Festival and the University of Iowa Office for Writing and Communication. Participants include Chris Offutt, Cindy Lee Johnson, Will Patton, Red Danielson, and James Galvin.