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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261018
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261026
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
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
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ICBF-featured.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261018T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261018T140000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
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
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Christopher-Merrill-web.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261019T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261019T120000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
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:20261020T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261020T180000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
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
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261020T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261020T190000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
CREATED:20260817T172005Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261012T161909Z
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. \nThis event will be streamed live at: www.youtube.com/thelibrarychannel
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:20261021T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261021T180000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
CREATED:20260813T163354Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260917T230604Z
UID:5884-1792602000-1792605600@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. There will be free pizza at the event… first come\, first served!
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:20261021T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261021T173000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
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
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261021T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261021T190000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
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:20261022T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261022T190000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
CREATED:20260817T171632Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260929T162914Z
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\, Darby Harn\, and Seth McDuffee \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:20261024T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T100000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
CREATED:20260821T164135Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261012T161953Z
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. \nThis event will be streamed live at: www.youtube.com/thelibrarychannel
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:20261024T160000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
CREATED:20220823T184021Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261006T150011Z
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 | Fount Literary Magazine | Gray Hawks Writers | Guild Writers | Ice Cube Press | Ink Lit Mag | Iowa City Poetry | Iowa Prison Writing Project | The Iowa Review | Little Village Magazine | 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:20261012T153321
CREATED:20260821T165402Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261012T162011Z
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. \nThis event will be streamed live at: www.youtube.com/thelibrarychannel
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:20261012T153321
CREATED:20260821T185920Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260910T173832Z
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:20261012T153321
CREATED:20260821T190146Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260821T190146Z
UID:5998-1792846800-1792846800@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Ron Rindo: Life\, and Death\, and Giants
DESCRIPTION:Gabriel Fisher was born an orphan\, weighing eighteen pounds and measuring twenty-seven inches long. No one in Lakota\, Wisconsin\, knows what to make of him. He walks at eight months\, communicates with animals\, and seems to possess extraordinary athletic talent. But when the older brother who has been caring for him dies\, Gabriel is taken in by his devout Amish grandparents who disapprove of all the attention and hide him away from the English world. \nBut it’s hard to hide forever when you’re nearly eight feet tall. At seventeen\, Gabriel is spotted working in a hay field by the local football coach. What happens next transforms not only Gabriel’s life but the lives of everyone he meets. \nLife\, and Death\, and Giants is a moving story of faith\, family\, buried secrets\, and everyday miracles.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/ron-rindo-life-and-death-and-giants/
LOCATION:Prairie Lights Books\, 15 S. Dubuque St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Life-Death-and-Giants.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T143000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T143000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
CREATED:20260821T171104Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260821T171210Z
UID:5988-1792852200-1792852200@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Tisa Bryant: Residual
DESCRIPTION:In the aftermath of her mother’s death\, Tisa Bryant’s Residual retrieves and catalogs what remains of her home\, her psyche\, and her creative practice. She filters through the remnants of her mother’s everyday life\, asking what becomes an archive—a bookshelf\, a dresser\, a relationship\, a secret? Drawing on personal memories as well as archives of renowned Black women who died prematurely—including playwright Lorraine Hansberry and science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler—Bryant’s hybrid memoir details the intimate accretion of ephemera\, outrage\, and failure in the wake of loss. \nThis event is co-presented with the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program in celebration of the program’s 50th anniversary.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/tisa-bryant-residual/
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/Residual.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T143000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T143000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
CREATED:20260821T171337Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260821T171404Z
UID:5992-1792852200-1792852200@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Sarah Minor: Carousel
DESCRIPTION:Carousel opens as a professor begins delivering a lecture to a hot room. Her students have the internet in their pockets\, screens on their wrists\, seeing in more directions than students ever could before. But what\, in fact\, are they looking at? \nIn the spirit of John Berger’s Ways of Seeing\, Sarah Minor’s Carousel explores how the pursuit of panoramic vision frames power\, distorts reality\, and implicates both viewer and subject. Across short\, loping sections that weave history with memoir\, close looking with confession\, Minor masterfully fuses the slide lecture with the lyric essay\, tying medieval tapestries to surrealism and Instagram reels to predator drones. In language that captures the disorientation of that other carousel\, the whirling carnival ride\, Minor shows how the more we strive to see\, the more we ultimately reveal ourselves. \nThis event is co-presented with the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program in celebration of the program’s 50th anniversary.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/sarah-minor-carousel/
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/Carousel.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T143000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T143000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
CREATED:20260821T190331Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260821T190355Z
UID:6000-1792852200-1792852200@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Harriet Clark: The Hill
DESCRIPTION:Suzanna Klein was a baby when her mother got up early one morning to rob a bank with a group of fellow radicals. Now\, every Saturday\, Suzanna lines up at the prison gates among the other children\, each dressed as if for celebration. Inside there is a nursery and a cemetery; there are watchful guards and distractable nuns; there are women counting down to release and women like Suzanna’s mother\, who will never be released. \nAt home\, Suzanna is raised by her grandmother\, who is entirely unforgiving of her daughter’s crime and refuses to visit the prison. Surrounding Suzanna are her grandmother’s friends\, who know one another from their years in the Communist Party and still spend extended cocktail hours debating the Hitler-Stalin pact. Though these women once insisted on changing the world\, they are torn between teaching Suzanna how the world works and shielding her from it. \nSuzanna vows to return to the prison forever but her mother wants her to be free. Harriet Clark’s The Hill is an incandescent novel of a child growing up between worlds\, the last of three generations whose fates have been tied to punishment. It is the tale of a family broken apart by the desire for change\, told with irreverent wisdom and visionary force.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/harriet-clark-the-hill/
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-Hill.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T160000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
CREATED:20260819T153744Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260921T172507Z
UID:5943-1792857600-1792857600@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Michael McCarty and Bruce Walters: Eerie Iowa
DESCRIPTION:Witness the Darker Side of the Hawkeye State \nThe farmlands and rural areas of Iowa are no stranger to the weird\, dark and mysterious. Learn about a terrestrial sighting from 1903\, a creepy cryptid that terrorized the town of Van Meter. Find out about Bigfoot sightings in Calhoun County. Peer under the waters of Lake Okoboji to find a huge lake monster. Read the history of a frightening sculpture based on a story by Franz Kafka and hear a premonition that predicted a devastating fire. Five-time Bram Stoker Finalist author Michael McCarty and Professor Emeritus Bruce Walters forge a twisted path through shadowy\, Gothic Iowa. Do you dare follow?
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/eerie-iowa/
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/Eerie-Iowa.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T160000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
CREATED:20260918T165029Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261012T162055Z
UID:6179-1792857600-1792857600@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Nonfiction Writing Program 50th Anniversary Panel
DESCRIPTION:As graduates of the University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program gather to celebrate the program’s 50th anniversary\, we will hear from three about their most recent work and their time writing in Iowa City: Helen Betya Rubenstein (Feels Like Trouble)\, Stephanie Krzywonos (The Blue Hours)\, and Angela Pelster (The Evolution of Fire)  \nThis event will be streamed live at: www.youtube.com/thelibrarychannel
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/nonfiction-writing-program-50th-anniversary-panel/
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/2026/09/NWP-50TH-ANNIVERSARY-INVITES-MOCKUP-8.11-1-e1789750212142.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T150000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
CREATED:20230705T165321Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260810T173759Z
UID:2924-1792926000-1792940400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Writers Row – Local Author Book Fair
DESCRIPTION:Local Author Book Fair! Join us as local authors present their latest works\, answer questions\, and sign books. Browse each author’s table where various books will be available for purchase. \n  \n\nThe Local Author Book Fair is sponsored by Greater Iowa City.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/writers-row-local-author-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/2023/07/Local-Author-Book-Fair-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T123000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T123000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
CREATED:20260817T170216Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T170216Z
UID:5906-1792931400-1792931400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Poetry in Public Reading featuring Iowa Student Poet Ambassador Josie Nabhan-Warren
DESCRIPTION:Poetry in Public celebrates our community’s rich literary tradition and local writing talent by displaying poems by writers of all ages. Hear from some of the 2026 Selected Poets. This event is live and in-person\, and will be streamed live at: https://www.youtube.com/thelibrarychannel \nFeaturing special guest\, Josie Nabhan-Warren\, the 2026–27 Iowa Student Poet Ambassador. \nIf your poem was selected for Poetry in Public 2026 and you’d like to read it at the event\, please email us at info@iowacityofliterature.org
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/poetry-in-public-reading-featuring-iowa-student-poet-ambassador-josie-nabhan-warren/
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/2022/08/Poetry-in-Public-icon.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T133000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T133000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
CREATED:20260817T170548Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T170548Z
UID:5908-1792935000-1792935000@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:National Youth Poet Laureate Daniel Somtochukwu Umemezie
DESCRIPTION:Daniel Umemezie is a Nigerian-American poet whose work explores cultural inheritance and displacement\, using bodily transformation as both metaphor and form. His poetry develops a realm between interior experience and external reality. His work has appeared in the North American Review\, Scholastic\, Magpie Journal and many more. He is forthcoming in Polyphony Lit\, and has been recognized as the Iowa Student Poetry Ambassador\, the Kenyon Young Writers Program\, the Iowa Poetry Association\, Humanities Iowa\, and others. As the 10th National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States\, Daniel positions cultural specificity as formal resistance\, creating what he describes as “architecture of consciousness.”
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/national-youth-poet-laureate-daniel-somtochukwu-umemezie/
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/National-Youth-Poet-Laureate-of-the-United-States.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T150000
DTSTAMP:20261012T153321
CREATED:20260918T155034Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261006T190743Z
UID:6156-1792940400-1792940400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:John Ira Thomas: TIRE!
DESCRIPTION:Version 1.0.0\nJohn Ira Thomas returns to Daydreams Comics for another helping of TIRE! He’ll be reading from THE BEST OF TIRE CLASSIFIEDS\, a collection of TIRE Magazine’s most brazen attempts to get your money\, and maybe your soul. Hear about Twinkie groves\, UFO abduction resorts\, and the New Dolphin Order! Chase the unapproved Stevenson dimes! Find out where your lost hair went! Discover what’s really on blank media!
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/john-ira-thomas-tire/
LOCATION:Daydreams Comics\, 229 E Washington St\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:Iowa City Book Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Tire.jpg
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR