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Stay updated with the latest literary events happening both on campus and around town, from author readings and book signings to lectures, discussions and other literary events. Find free in-person events and online events here.

This Week

"Behind the Book: The Labor of Acquisitions Editing" — Lecture by Sara Jo Cohen promotional image

"Behind the Book: The Labor of Acquisitions Editing" — Lecture by Sara Jo Cohen

Tuesday, November 4, 2025 5:00pm
111 Church Street

Publishing a scholarly book is not a solitary act of authorship, but a collaborative process in which scholars work with a team of editors. Scholars don’t just submit manuscripts; they engage in sustained dialogue with editors who help to shape, refine, and position their work. Far from being gatekeepers, acquisition editors are collaborators, advocates, and stewards of knowledge. Their work is especially critical as they align the intellectual ambitions of scholars with the practical demands of...

Live from Prairie Lights | Emily Wilson - 'Burnt Mountain'

Thursday, November 6, 2025 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books

Iowa Writers' Workshop graduate Emily Wilson will read from her newest poetry collection, Burnt Mountain. University of Iowa Press describes Burnt Mountain as "set on the rugged slopes of an inauspicious mountain, densely wooded, long ago scoured by fire, and marked by generations of human presence... Fiercely attuned to the match and mismatch between mind and mountain — the ways in which the natural and the human construct and deconstruct each other in the contested realms of art, wilderness...

Live from Prairie Lights | Sara Gilmore and Alicia Wright

Friday, November 7, 2025 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books

Two Workshop grads will read from their debut books of poetry, Sara Gilmore from, The Green Lives, forthcoming in October from Fonograf Editions, and Alicia Wright from, You’re Called by the Same Sound, forthcoming from Thirdhand Books in August.

To subscribe to a weekly emailing list of Writers' Workshop events, please fill in the linked form or email iww@uiowa.edu with “Events Mailing List Subscribe” in the subject line.
Readings at Prairie Lights are sponsored by the Writing University.

All Events

"Behind the Book: The Labor of Acquisitions Editing" — Lecture by Sara Jo Cohen promotional image

"Behind the Book: The Labor of Acquisitions Editing" — Lecture by Sara Jo Cohen

Tuesday, November 4, 2025 5:00pm
111 Church Street

Publishing a scholarly book is not a solitary act of authorship, but a collaborative process in which scholars work with a team of editors. Scholars don’t just submit manuscripts; they engage in sustained dialogue with editors who help to shape, refine, and position their work. Far from being gatekeepers, acquisition editors are collaborators, advocates, and stewards of knowledge. Their work is especially critical as they align the intellectual ambitions of scholars with the practical demands of...

Live from Prairie Lights | Emily Wilson - 'Burnt Mountain'

Thursday, November 6, 2025 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books

Iowa Writers' Workshop graduate Emily Wilson will read from her newest poetry collection, Burnt Mountain. University of Iowa Press describes Burnt Mountain as "set on the rugged slopes of an inauspicious mountain, densely wooded, long ago scoured by fire, and marked by generations of human presence... Fiercely attuned to the match and mismatch between mind and mountain — the ways in which the natural and the human construct and deconstruct each other in the contested realms of art, wilderness...

Live from Prairie Lights | Sara Gilmore and Alicia Wright

Friday, November 7, 2025 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books

Two Workshop grads will read from their debut books of poetry, Sara Gilmore from, The Green Lives, forthcoming in October from Fonograf Editions, and Alicia Wright from, You’re Called by the Same Sound, forthcoming from Thirdhand Books in August.

To subscribe to a weekly emailing list of Writers' Workshop events, please fill in the linked form or email iww@uiowa.edu with “Events Mailing List Subscribe” in the subject line.
Readings at Prairie Lights are sponsored by the Writing University.

One Community, One Book: A Conversation with Author & Attorney Carolyn Chalmers and Litigant Dr. Jean Jew promotional image

One Community, One Book: A Conversation with Author & Attorney Carolyn Chalmers and Litigant Dr. Jean Jew

Monday, November 10, 2025 5:00pm to 6:15pm
University of Iowa Main Library

The University of Iowa Center for Human Rights' Fall 2025 One Community, One Book (OCOB) selection is They Don't Want Her There: Fighting Sexual and Racial Harassment in the American University, by Carolyn Chalmers. OCOB is an annual community-wide reading project. This conversation with the author and litigant Jean Jew is free and open to the public. This event will be hosted in person at Shambaugh Auditorium in the University of Iowa Main Library. Paid public parking is available in the...

UI Center for the Book - MFA in Book Arts Info Session promotional image

UI Center for the Book - MFA in Book Arts Info Session

Friday, November 14, 2025 12:00pm
Virtual
UICB Book Arts MFA Info Session
Write at the Stanley: A Generative Writing Workshop promotional image

Write at the Stanley: A Generative Writing Workshop

Sunday, November 23, 2025 2:30pm to 4:15pm
Stanley Museum of Art

Write at the Stanley: A Generative Writing Workshop is back for the Fall Semester!

Join us monthly to generate new creative writing inspired by works in the Stanley collection. Each session will be led by a different talented writer from our area, who will be offering a new prompt and a new approach to ekphrastic writing (writing inspired by visual art). Bring your own notebook and pencil or computer and leave with the beginning of a newly written piece.

Co-sponsored by Iowa City Poetry. Teen and...

Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, December 5, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces.

Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists.

Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each session and...

Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, February 6, 2026 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces.

Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists.

Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each session and...

Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, March 6, 2026 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces.

Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists.

Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each session and...

Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, April 3, 2026 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces.

Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists.

Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each session and...

Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, May 1, 2026 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces.

Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists.

Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each session and...

Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, June 5, 2026 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces.

Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists.

Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each session and...

Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, August 7, 2026 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces.

Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists.

Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each session and...

Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, September 4, 2026 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces.

Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists.

Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each session and...

Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, October 2, 2026 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces.

Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists.

Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each session and...

Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, December 4, 2026 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History

Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces.

Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists.

Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each session and...

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