One Book Two Book Festival
A celebration of children’s literature in the city of literature
February 21-22, 2026
The One Book Two Book Children’s Literature Festival is made possible by dedicated volunteers, whose generosity, time, and passion make it possible to bring inspiring literary experiences to young readers.
Thank you to the United Way of Johnson & Washington Counties (UWJWC) for their support recruiting volunteers for the One Book Two Book Festival. We are able to present one-of-a-kind, children’s literary programming because of our volunteers, who recognize the importance of celebrating creative writing with young people in our community.
The deadline to submit writing to One Book Two Book 2025 has passed.
Students in grades 1-8 in Iowa City-Cedar Rapids Corridor area school districts, or home school students in those equivalent grades, are encouraged to submit one page of writing for the 2025 One Book Two Book festival from the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature. This can be any type of writing: story, essay, poem, song lyric, graphic novel page, etc. The piece must be an original work, written this school year, and in polished form – ready for publication. It should be on one side of an 8.5×11 page. It can be single-spaced, but must be at least 12-pt. and in Times or equivalent font. The page should have margins of 1” on each side. Submissions that are longer than one page will not be considered.
The student work will be judged by a team from ACT in Iowa City. Recognized students will be honored at a “Write Out Loud” event during One Book Two Book in February 2026. Two grade level winners will be chosen, one in each of the following categories:
- “The Write Stuff”: For language, clarity, structure, and emotional impact.
- “From the Heart”: For creativity, passion, and expressiveness.
These students will be invited to read their winning submissions. In addition, a percentage of all students whose submissions are deemed to be of outstanding quality also will be honored with a “certificate of distinction.” They also will be invited to attend the “Write Out Loud” event. 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.
Questions? Contact John Kenyon with the City of Literature office at (319) 356-5245 or john-kenyon@iowacityofliterature.org.
About the festival
Our community is very supportive of young people. We know who scores the winning touchdown for City High. We celebrate students who make all-state in music for Northwest Junior High. We cheer the top debaters at Regina. But do we know the best young writers in our community?
We should. As a UNESCO City of Literature, we rightly laud the published and soon-to-be published authors among us, but we tend to overlook the most abundant pool of talent in our area: our K-12 schools.
Recognizing and celebrating this talent is a big reason behind the City of Literature organization’s annual One Book Two Book Children’s Literature Festival. Like traditional festivals, it offers the chance for attendees — in this case, children and their families — to hear from published authors about their work. But more important is its ultimate goal: to champion writing by children.
Why Iowa City?
The oldest creative writing program in the country, and still regarded the best. More than forty Pulitzer Prize winners. North America’s only UNESCO City of Literature. How did the midwestern college town of Iowa City, Iowa become the capital of creative writing in America? Check out the City of Literature documentary to find out.
Support the Festival
We are able to present one-of-a-kind, children’s literary programming because of people like you, who recognize the importance of celebrating creative writing with young people in our community. Please donate to the City of Literature and One Book Two Book today!
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