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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261011T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261011T153000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
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
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261010T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261010T130000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
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:20261010T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261010T103000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260913T222153Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T222153Z
UID:6129-1791628200-1791628200@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: Poetry Exchange
DESCRIPTION:Porchlight’s low-pressure poetry workshop group! Participants should send one poem for workshop at least one week in advance of the gathering. Every participant should read each submission before the meeting and come prepared to share their thoughts during the meeting.  Someone other than the writer will read the poem first\, then the writer. \nFor more information\, head over to their website!
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-poetry-exchange-2/
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/2026/09/Poetry-Exchange-slide-3.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261003T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261003T190000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20261001T161412Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261001T161412Z
UID:6240-1791054000-1791054000@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: International Lights Salon Series
DESCRIPTION:Enjoy conversation\, connection\, and community over light snacks and wine. A collaboration with the International Writing Program\, the International Lights Salon provides a space for visiting International writers\, local artists\, university students\, and community members to engage in dialogue. \nJoin them online or in person. For a zoom link email Jennifer at: jennifer@porchlightliterary.org \nSarah Gilmartin’s short stories have been published in The Dublin Review\, The Tangerine and The Stinging Fly. She won the Máirtín Crawford Short Story Award in 2020. Her novels Dinner Party: A Tragedy (2021)\, Service (2023) and Little Vanities (2026) are published by Pushkin Press. They have been shortlisted for the Irish Books Awards\, the Kate O’Brien Award\, and translated into Italian and German. She was the 2025 Arts Council Writer-in-Residence at Dublin City University. \nMona Sylviana is an Indonesian fiction writer and essayist. Her short story collection Wajah Terakhir (Gramedia Pustaka Utama\, 2011) explores the lives of women in contemporary Indonesia. Her work has been translated into English\, German\, and French\, and published in international anthologies including A Tale of Redemption & Other Stories (Lontar Foundation\, 2015) and Footprints (Dalang Publishing\, 2022). She is the author of Para Penjaga Tanah (dan) Air (Guardians of Land and Water\, Noken Studio Nusantara\, 2026)\, a collection of essays about indigenous communities in Central Sulawesi. She is currently working on a short story collection. \n Louisa Hall’s novels include Reproduction\, Trinity and Speak. Reproduction (Ecco\, 2023)\, is the story of a woman attempting to write a novel about Mary Shelley\, then turning\, instead\, to write a contemporary Frankenstein.  Trinity was shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Award and the winner of the Langum Prize for historical fiction; Speak was a Best Book of the Year in NPR\, Slate\, the Washington Post\, and Men’s Journal. Louisa’s poems have appeared in The New Republic and The Southwest Review\, and other journals\, and her essays have appeared in the New York Times\, LARB\, Slate\, The MIT Technology Review\, and Texas Monthly. 
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-international-lights-salon-series-3/
LOCATION:PorchLight Literary Arts Center\, 1019 E Washington St\, Iowa City\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261003T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261003T130000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260811T154540Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260811T154540Z
UID:5840-1791032400-1791032400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: Flash Forward
DESCRIPTION:Flash Forward is PorchLight’s monthly studio session for writers interested in short form writing: flash fiction\, micro essays\, prose poetry\, and more. Join them and learn more about these miniature marvels. Each session includes a discussion of short form works we love\, a generative writing prompt\, optional sharing\, and light positive feedback. \nWhether you’re new to these very short forms or an old hand\, they would love to have you! \nFirst meeting is free!
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-flash-forward/2026-10-03/
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:20260927T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260927T153000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260811T152941Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260811T152941Z
UID:5825-1790523000-1790523000@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-2/2026-09-27/
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:20260925T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260925T183000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260913T221843Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T221843Z
UID:6126-1790361000-1790361000@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: Rooftop Music & Reading Series
DESCRIPTION:Join them on the deck of Market House in IC’s North Side for an evening of music\, poetry\, and prose. The Rooftop Music & Reading Series brings together some of Iowa’s most exciting artists for a one-of-a-kind collaborative program. Bring a buddy\, date\, or come alone. Stay for the lovely views\, and good company. \n \nMatthew Neill Null is a recipient of the Joseph Brodsky Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters\, the Mary McCarthy Prize\, the O. Henry Award\, the Pushcart Prize\, and the Michener–Copernicus Society of America Award. His stories appear in The Kenyon Review\, American Short Fiction\, Ecotone\, Oxford American\, Ploughshares\, Electric Literature\, PEN /O. Henry Prize Stories\, The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses\, and The Best American Mystery Stories. A native of West Virginia\, he holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers’  Workshop and was a fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown\, Massachusetts\, as well as at the American Academy in Rome. His novel\, Honey from the Lion (Lookout\, 2015)\, was short listed for the L.D. and LaVerne Harrell Clark Fiction Prize\, and his story collection\, Allegheny Front (Sarabande\, 2016)\, was named a finalist for Foreword’s INDIE collection of the year. He is currently Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Susquehanna University.  \nHis new novel\, Floodgate\, is forthcoming in August 2026 from Blair.  \nCory Hutchinson-Reuss (she/her) is a poet whose work has appeared in Timber\, Slice\, Zone 3\, Josephine Quarterly\, Crazyhorse (for the Lynda Hull Memorial Prize)\, the Missouri Review online\, and elsewhere. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Iowa and has taught in both academic and community settings. Originally from Arkansas\, she currently lives in Iowa City\, where she has participated in the Writers Workshop at Oakdale Prison\, reads poetry for The Adroit Journal\, and serves on the Advisory Council for Iowa City Poetry\, a nonprofit group that works to make poetry events widely accessible to the local community. A collaborative chapbook of her poems and the visual art of Giselle Simón was published in 2022 as part of the PromptPress Gallery Series. On the elevator or down the aisles or in the kitchen\, Cory is always on the brink of dancing. \nNicole Upchurch is an Associate Director of the Family Folk Machine. She is a singer/songwriter and clawhammer banjo player who performs regularly with Awful Purdies and The Feralings. \nMargaret LeMay is the author of sample.spring\, a poetry collection available from Finishing Line Press. Her work was a recent finalist for The Iowa Review Awards and has been shortlisted for the Four Way Books Levis Prize\, the Marsh Hawk Poetry Prize\, and the Finishing Line Press New Women’s Voices Award. Poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Another Chicago Magazine\, Brink\, the North American Review\, The Cortland Review\, The Iowa Review and elsewhere. Her work also can be dialed up at two U.S. locations of the Telepoem Booth and has served as title and movement titles for a piano quintet commissioned by the Library of Congress.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-rooftop-music-reading-series/
LOCATION:Market House\, 202 N. Linn St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260921T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260921T103000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260714T160440Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260714T160440Z
UID:5685-1789986600-1789986600@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/2026-09-21/
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:20260920T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260920T173000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260831T001439Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260831T001439Z
UID:6030-1789925400-1789925400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: The Free Gen: Iowa City’s Original Generative Workshop
DESCRIPTION:Co-sponsored by PorchLight and Iowa City Poetry\, the Free Generative Writing Workshops provide a space for career writers\, curious beginners\, writers of all income levels and stages of life. Their goal is to make it easy to meet and learn from some of the most talented writer/teachers living in or passing through Iowa City. Every month a new writer leads a generative workshop\, presenting a prompt inspired by their own preoccupations\, passions\, or interests. The Free Generative Writing Workshops are offered in a hybrid format. \nRen Arcamone is an Australian writer living in Iowa City. She attended the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop\, and she’s a recipient of the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. Her fiction has appeared in Gulf Coast\, the Washington Square Review\, Electric Literature\, and elsewhere. She’s at work on a short story collection and a novel.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-the-free-gen-iowa-citys-original-generative-workshop/
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:20260919T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260919T190000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260913T221307Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T221307Z
UID:6123-1789844400-1789844400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: International Lights Salon Series
DESCRIPTION:Enjoy conversation\, connection\, and community over light snacks and wine. A collaboration with the International Writing Program\, the International Lights Salon provides a space for visiting International writers\, local artists\, university students\, and community members to engage in dialogue. \n \nJoin online or in person. For a zoom link email Jennifer at jennifer@porchlightliterary.org \n \nSeptember 19th’s topic will revolve around queer aesthetics in writing and creating queer writing communities. The conversationalists will be: \n \nIván HOCHMAN (b. 1994\, Buenos Aires\, Argentina) is an actor\, writer\, screenwriter\, director\, and teacher. His play Decir te amo es un atentado received a National Playwriting Award from the Teatro Nacional Cervantes and was presented at the Bienal de Arte Joven. He was selected for the Cannes Writers Club at Canneseries (2024) for his work as a screenwriter. His first novel\, Por qué te vas (Milena Caserola\, 2020; Alfaguara\, 2023)\, was included in the Mapa de las Lenguas collection (2024). His second novel\, Años luz que no brillamos\, is forthcoming from Alfaguara. He starred in the Netflix series Love After Music\, for which he received several acting awards. He is currently working on a science fiction short story collection and two feature films. He teaches creative writing and mentors long-form literary projects. \nHidayat Nordin is a Singaporean writer\, theatre director\, and cultural practitioner working across fiction\, poetry\, performance\, and film in Malay and English. In 2025\, he won the Golden Point Award — Singapore’s most prestigious literary prize — taking both First Prize and Honourable Mention in short fiction in the same year. He was appointed Duta Bahasa (Malay Language Ambassador) by MBMS in 2025\, in recognition of his sustained contribution to the Malay language and literary arts in Singapore. \nHis poetry has appeared in publications across Singapore\, Malaysia\, and Australia\, including a solo collection\, Optimis (2020)\, supported by the National Arts Council. He is the founder and Artistic Director of Aras Theatre and co-founder of Meja Conteng\, a writers’ collective that has produced three publications and a nationwide poetry competition since its founding in 2024. A practitioner of dikir barat — a Malay oral performance tradition of call and response — he has also represented Singapore internationally at literary festivals in Jakarta\, Kuala Lumpur\, and Perak. \nLionel Ruffel is a French literary scholar\, publisher\, and writer. He is the author of three essays on contemporary literature and culture:  Le Dénouement (Verdier\, 2005)\, Volodine post-exotique (Cécile Defaut\, 2007) Brouhaha\, les mondes du contemporain (Verdier\, 2016\, Minnesota Press\, 2017)\, and three hybrid books that combine memoir\, literary essay\, and political fable: Trompe-la-mort (Verdier\, 2019)\, I Can’t Sleep (Sternberg Press\, 2021)\, and Trois éveils (Corti\, 2024). His next book\, Auto-évaluations\, will be published in January 2027. Since 2005\, he runs the chaoïd series (which focuses on new voices and emerging literature) at Verdier publishing house where he’s also an associate publisher. He is a professor of comparative literature and creative writing at Paris 8 University\, where he co-founded the master’s program in creative writing in 2013 and has been co-director ever since. \nJohanna Kasimow is an Iowa City-based director\, writer\, and performer in the field of theater and performance. Her recent creative research focuses on the interplay of clown and affect in performance in a new play titled The Grüb\, which probes the sensations of hiding\, trans-generational inheritance\, and the rhythms of survival in an underground pit. \nJohanna has worked with artists and companies across the US\, including: Pig Iron Theatre Company\, The Eva Steinmetz Project\, Antigravity Performance Project\, Tiny Circus\, New Paradise Laboratories\, Nell Bang-Jensen\, Talya Chalef\, Lily Kind\, and Alex Tatarsky. In 2023\, Johanna was a participant in the NEH Summer Institute for Preserving and Transmitting American Ensemble-Based Devised Theatre hosted by the Pig Iron Theatre Company. Recently\, Johanna premiered City In Heat\, a site-specific live cinema performance piece\, as part of the Open Air Media Festival at Public Space One in Iowa City. \nJohanna’s teaching and research has focused on clown and mask; civic and social practice art; community-based theatre; theatre of the climate crisis; and contemporary performance. Johanna received an MFA in Devised Performance from the University of the Arts/Pig Iron School in Philadelphia and is an Assistant Professor of Directing in the Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Iowa.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-international-lights-salon-series-2/
LOCATION:PorchLight Literary Arts Center\, 1019 E Washington St\, Iowa City\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Sept-19-IWP-salon_slide.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260913T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260913T153000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260811T152941Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260811T152941Z
UID:5824-1789313400-1789313400@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-2/2026-09-13/
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:20260912T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260912T130000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260708T153803Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260708T153803Z
UID:5664-1789218000-1789218000@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/2026-09-12/
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/2026/07/Porch1.avif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260912T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260912T103000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260708T152842Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260708T152842Z
UID:5659-1789209000-1789209000@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: Poetry Exchange
DESCRIPTION:This writer guided critique group offers poets the chance to receive carefully considered feedback\, and find writerly community.  \nWriters share drafts of work in advance so readers have enough time to provide considered feedback. Feedback is mostly positive\, and descriptive\, but writers can ask for proscriptive feedback if they wish. This workshop model centers the writer\, and gives them control over the amount and type of feedback they receive. \nFor more information on how to join\, visit their website!
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-poetry-exchange/2026-09-12/
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/2026/07/Porch.avif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260906T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260906T100000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260708T155437Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260708T155437Z
UID:5673-1788688800-1788688800@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/2026-09-06/
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:20260905T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260905T190000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260825T004809Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260825T004809Z
UID:6007-1788634800-1788634800@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: International Lights Salon Series
DESCRIPTION:Enjoy conversation\, connection\, and community over light snacks and wine. A collaboration with the International Writing Program\, the International Lights Salon provides a space for visiting International writers\, local artists\, university students\, and community members to engage in dialogue. \nSeptember 5th’s topic will revolve around queer aesthetics in writing and creating queer writing communities. The conversationalists will be: \n \nNina Dragičević is a poet\, writer\, sound artist\, and sociologist\, the author of nine volumes of poetry\, essays\, and theory\, as well as numerous sound-poetry compositions and installations. Known for a distinct formal and stylistic hybridity\, linguistic precision\, and an articulated queer and feminist stance\, her work has been characterised by critics as “striking\,” “pioneering\,” and “majestic\,” as “strong\, powerful poetry that deserves a lot of attention.” \nDragičević is the recipient of the 2025 Lastovka Award\, the 2023 Werner Düttmann Fellowship (Akademie der Künste\, Berlin)\, the 2023 Dr Ana Mayer Kansky Award (University of Ljubljana)\, the 2021 Jenko Award\, the 2020 Župančič Award\, two 2018 Knight of Poetry Awards\, and was a 2018 Palma Ars Acustica finalist. \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. \nJun Li is a Hong Kong writer director. His film works include Tracey (2018)\, Drifting (2021)\, and Queerpanorama (2025). He won Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director at the 58th and 62nd Golden Horse Film Awards for the latter two. His theatre works include Song of Grief (2018-2019) and In a Perfect World (2025)\, which is nominated for Best Production and Best Play at the Hong Kong Drama Awards. \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. \nElizabeth Rodriguez Fielder is a scholar of twentieth and twenty-first century transnational American literature and culture. Her teaching and research interests include multiethnic literature and culture\, (specifically African American and Latinx Studies)\, performance studies\, women of color feminism\, southern studies\, and social movement activism. She received her PhD from University of Mississippi in English; an MA in American Studies from Columbia University; and a BA in English/Creative Writing from SUNY Binghamton. Her book project “Cultural Activism and the Civil Rights Movement” is a multidisciplinary study of creative activism and performance by minority artists and revolutionaries in the 1960s and 70s. This book engages in the role of creativity in social movements and argues that the aesthetics of cultural production shaped civil rights politics. Rodriguez Fielder presents a vision of social movement activism where the collaborative production of performances and of experimental media overlapped with quotidian activities\, such as farming okra and sewing quilts.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-international-lights-salon-series/
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/ea1687_4a0ed3f546e94a9494a69e94ab145901mv2.avif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260905T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260905T130000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260811T154540Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260811T154540Z
UID:5838-1788613200-1788613200@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: Flash Forward
DESCRIPTION:Flash Forward is PorchLight’s monthly studio session for writers interested in short form writing: flash fiction\, micro essays\, prose poetry\, and more. Join them and learn more about these miniature marvels. Each session includes a discussion of short form works we love\, a generative writing prompt\, optional sharing\, and light positive feedback. \nWhether you’re new to these very short forms or an old hand\, they would love to have you! \nFirst meeting is free!
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-flash-forward/
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_15977cbd84104d329b0338a9257e9979mv2.avif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260830T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260830T153000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260811T152941Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260811T152941Z
UID:5823-1788103800-1788103800@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-2/2026-08-30/
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
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260828T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260828T190000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260811T154033Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260811T154033Z
UID:5835-1787943600-1787943600@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: Rooftop Music and Reading Series
DESCRIPTION:Join PorchLight on the deck of Market House in IC’s North Side for an evening of music\, poetry\, and prose. The Rooftop Music & Reading Series brings together some of Iowa’s most exciting artists for a one-of-a-kind collaborative program. Bring a buddy\, date\, or come alone. Stay for the lovely views\, and good company. \nOur August session features: \nJordan Sellergren: Jordan Sellergren is the owner and publisher of Little Village\, Iowa’s independent news\, arts and culture magazine. Her second full-length album\, “Sweet\, Bitter Tears” was released in 2020. \nElizabeth Willis: Elizabeth Willis’s most recent book is Liontaming in America (New Directions\, 2024). Her previous books of poetry include Alive: New and Selected Poems (New York Review Books\, 2015)\, which was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry; Address (Wesleyan University Press\, 2011)\, recipient of the PEN New England/L. L. Winship Prize for Poetry; Meteoric Flowers (Wesleyan University Press\, 2006); Turneresque (Burning Deck\, 2003); The Human Abstract (Penguin\, 1995); and Second Law (Avenue B\, 1993). She also writes about contemporary poetry and has edited a volume of essays entitled Radical Vernacular: Lorine Niedecker and the Poetics of Place (University of Iowa Press\, 2008). \nMark Levine: Mark Levine is the author of five books of poems\, most recently Sound Fury (2022)\, as well as Debt (1993)\, Enola Gay (2000)\, The Wilds (2006)\, and Travels of Marco (2016)\, and a book of nonfiction reportage\, F5 (2007). A twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Debt\, with an introduction by Srikanth Reddy\, was published in 2018. Recipient of a Whiting Writers’ Award\, an NEA\, and a Hodder Fellowship from Princeton\, Levine’s poems have be featured in anthologies including Best American Poetry\, Pushcart Prize Anthology\, American Hybrid: A Norton Anthology\, and American Poets in the Twenty-First Century: The New Poetics. Levine has also worked extensively as a long-form journalist for publications including The New York Times Magazine\, The New Yorker\, Outside\, New York\, and Men’s Journal\, and his work has been selected for Best American Magazine Writing and Best American Sports Writing. He is the longtime editor of the Kuhl House Poets series at University of Iowa Press. \nSarah Minor: Dr. Sarah Minor is a writer and interdisciplinary artist and the author of books Slim Confessions: The Universe as a Spider or Spit\, winner of the Noemi Press Book Award for Prose (2021)\, Bright Archive (Rescue Press\, 2020)\, a finalist for the CLMP Firecracker Award in Nonfiction\, and winner of the Big Other Award in Nonfiction and the hybrid chapbook\, The Persistence of The Bonyleg: Annotated (Essay Press 2016)\, winner of the Essay Press Digital Chapbook Contest. Her newest book\, Carousel\, was recently published by Yale University Press in July 2026.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-rooftop-music-and-reading-series/
LOCATION:Market House\, 202 N. Linn St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260826T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260826T183000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260819T152425Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260819T152425Z
UID:5938-1787769000-1787769000@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: Survivor’s Stories with Margaret Yapp
DESCRIPTION:Join us for the first writing class of DVIP/RVAP’s new initiative: Survivors’ Stories\, a series of five writing classes between August 2026-July 2027. All are free and open to the public\, and survivors are encouraged to attend.  \nAll classes will be trauma-informed\, and focused on themes of reclaiming one’s story\, releasing shame\, healing\, resilience\, and building community. Each workshop will last approximately 1.5 hours and conclude with an optional sharing opportunity for participants who wish to read their work aloud.  \nA trained DVIP/RVAP advocate will be present at each session to provide support if needed.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-survivors-stories-with-margaret-yapp/
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_1ce30bc39c0741bba7a3270e9d5bc0d1mv2.avif
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260821T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260821T190000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260811T153541Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260811T153541Z
UID:5832-1787338800-1787338800@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: Send It In!
DESCRIPTION:Curious about where and how to submit your writing to journals or contests? Would some camaraderie help you finally send off that finished piece or complete that residency or fellowship application? Putting your work out there can be hard in a discipline in which rejection is par for the course. \nEach session a different writer will present on an aspect of the submission process. Then\, browse through PorchLights resources or find a cozy chair and get to work! \nThis session’s host will be Scott Russell Morris\, who will talk about poetry versus prose submissions\, how to manage simultaneous submissions\, and how to find the right literary journal for your work. Scott is a writer and enthusiast. He is the author of Points of Tangency: Essays (Cornerstone Press\, Sept 2024) and is the editor and creator of Magpie Zines\, a zine about tarot\, magpies\, and found meaning. He is the Poet Laureate of Mt Vernon\, IA\, and an Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing at Cornell College. \nDrinks and snacks will be served. \nThis session is just for members.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-send-it-in/
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_2ae9848d0c414570ad07b7eff8da91dbmv2.avif
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260817T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260817T103000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260714T160440Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260714T160440Z
UID:5684-1786962600-1786962600@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/2026-08-17/
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:20260816T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260816T173000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260707T173339Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260708T152948Z
UID:5652-1786901400-1786901400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Free Generative Writing Workshop for July: Griffin Rockwell
DESCRIPTION:Co-sponsored by Iowa City Poetry and PorchLight Literary Arts Center \nThe Free Generative Writing Workshops provide a space for career writers\, curious beginners\, writers of all levels and stages of life. Their goal is to make it easy to meet and learn from some of the most talented writer/teachers living in or passing through Iowa City. Every month a new writer leads a generative workshop\, presenting a prompt inspired by their own preoccupations\, passions\, or interests. \nGriffin Rockwell is a queer poet who often writes about gender\, science\, pop culture\, and unusual connections. Xe is the author of the chapbooks listen— (Interstellar Flight Press)\, body in motion (perhappened press)\, and Lexicon of Future Selves (VA Press). Their work has also appeared in AGNI\, Okay Donkey\, Santa Fe Review\, Poet Lore\, Whale Road Review\, HAD\, and elsewhere. They earned their MFA at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and their MLitt at the University of Dundee \nFor more information visit the websites of Iowa City Poetry and/or PorchLight Literary Arts Center!
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/free-generative-writing-workshop-for-july-griffin-rockwell/
LOCATION:PorchLight Literary Arts Center\, 1019 E Washington St\, Iowa City\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Free-Gen-Griffin.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260816T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260816T153000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260811T152941Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260811T152941Z
UID:5821-1786894200-1786894200@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/
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:20260813T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260813T100000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260708T155437Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260708T155437Z
UID:5672-1786615200-1786615200@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/2026-08-13/
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/2026/07/Porch3.avif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260808T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260808T130000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260708T153803Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260708T153803Z
UID:5663-1786194000-1786194000@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/2026-08-08/
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/2026/07/Porch1.avif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260808T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260808T103000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260708T152842Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260708T152842Z
UID:5658-1786185000-1786185000@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: Poetry Exchange
DESCRIPTION:This writer guided critique group offers poets the chance to receive carefully considered feedback\, and find writerly community.  \nWriters share drafts of work in advance so readers have enough time to provide considered feedback. Feedback is mostly positive\, and descriptive\, but writers can ask for proscriptive feedback if they wish. This workshop model centers the writer\, and gives them control over the amount and type of feedback they receive. \nFor more information on how to join\, visit their website!
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-poetry-exchange/2026-08-08/
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/2026/07/Porch.avif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260731T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260731T190000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260714T164752Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260714T164857Z
UID:5688-1785524400-1785524400@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:PorchLight: Rooftop Music & Reading for July
DESCRIPTION:Join PorchLight on the deck of MarketHouse in IC’s North Side for an evening of music\, poetry\, and prose. The Rooftoop Music & Reading Series brings together some of Iowa’s most exciting artists for a one-of-a-kind collaborative program. Bring a buddy\, date\, or come alone. Stay for the lovely views\, and good company. Purchase tickets for the event on the PorchLight website! \n  \nThe July session features: \n \nLauren Haldeman is the author of Instead of Dying (winner of the 2017 Colorado Prize for Poetry)\, Calenday\, and The Eccentricity is Zero. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Poetry\, Tin House\, The Colorado Review\, Fence\, Tupelo Quarterly\, among others. A graphic novelist and poet\, she’s received an Iowa Arts Fellowship\, a Sustainable Arts Foundation Award\, and fellowships from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. \n \nScott Russell Morris is a writer and enthusiast. He is the author of Points of Tangency: Essays (Cornerstone Press\, Sept 2024) and is the editor and creator of Magpie Zines\, a zine about tarot\, magpies\, and found meaning. He is the Poet Laureate of Mt Vernon\, IA\, and an Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing at Cornell College. \n \nDeb Talan grew up in the small town of Pelham\, Massachusetts. She later attended Brown University\, where she was a member of the Chattertocks\, Brown’s oldest all-female a cappella group\, before moving to Oregon\, where she was a member of Hummingfish\, a Portland band\, for six years. Talan’s recurring lyrical motifs include celestial objects\, birds\, nature\, and various historical figures (e.g.\, Marc Chagall in “Painting By Chagall\,” Amelia Earhart in “Thinking Amelia\,” and Vincent van Gogh in “Vincent”). Jonathan Lethem’s novel Motherless Brooklyn inspired Talan to write “Tell Your Story Walking”. This song appears on the 2002 album Songs Inspired by Literature (Chapter One)\, a benefit of the organization Artists for Literacy. “Tell Your Story Walking” was the winner of Artists for Literacy’s 2002 songwriting contest. In addition to the Weepies’ albums\, (Steve Tannen is the other half of the duo)\, Talan and Tannen collaborated with singer/actress Mandy Moore on her 2007 album Wild Hope. Together\, they wrote and recorded five songs with Mandy — the single “Extraordinary\,” the title track “Wild Hope\,” “All Good Things\,” “Few Days Down” and “Looking Forward to Looking Back.”[1] “Forgiven” played over the closing credits of the 2001 film Lovely & Amazing. \n \nKeith Pilapil Lesmeister is the author of the story collections Ask Me About the Money and We Could’ve Been Happy Here. A graduate of the Bennington Writing Seminars\, his work has received support from the Anderson Center\, Iowa Arts Council\, and Springboard for the Arts. His fiction has appeared in American Short Fiction\, december magazine\, Gettysburg Review\, New Stories from the Midwest\, North American Review\, Redivider\, Terrain\, and elsewhere. He’s a founding editor of Cutleaf and teaches at Northeast Iowa Community College.
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/porchlight-rooftop-music-reading-for-july/
LOCATION:Market House\, 202 N. Linn St.\, Iowa City\, IA\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-14-at-11.37.19-AM.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260720T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260720T103000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260714T160440Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260714T160440Z
UID:5682-1784543400-1784543400@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/
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:20260719T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260719T173000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260707T172655Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260708T153006Z
UID:5648-1784482200-1784482200@www.iowacityofliterature.org
SUMMARY:Free Generative Writing Workshop for July: Leslie Pyo
DESCRIPTION:Co-sponsored by Iowa City Poetry and PorchLight Literary Arts Center  \nThe Free Generative Writing Workshops provide a space for career writers\, curious beginners\, writers of all levels and stages of life. Their goal is to make it easy to meet and learn from some of the most talented writer/teachers living in or passing through Iowa City. Every month a new writer leads a generative workshop\, presenting a prompt inspired by their own preoccupations\, passions\, or interests. \nLESLIE PYO received a Fulbright for Creative Writing in Korea in 2023-24. She is currently completing that project\, a surreal\, bilingual (Korean and English) picture book about the emotional dimensions of heritage language loss and reacquisition. \nFor more information visit the websites of Iowa City Poetry and/or PorchLight Literary Arts Center!
URL:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/free-generative-writing-workshop-for-july-leslie-pyo/
LOCATION:PorchLight Literary Arts Center\, 1019 E Washington St\, Iowa City\, 52240\, United States
CATEGORIES:General
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Free-gen-Leslie.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260719T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260719T100000
DTSTAMP:20261012T134218
CREATED:20260708T155437Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260708T155437Z
UID:5670-1784455200-1784455200@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/
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/2026/07/Porch3.avif
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR