On Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, Walter Biggins, editor-in-chief at University of Pennsylvania Press, will offer his perspective as both a longtime acquiring editor and as a writer on how the advent of AI affects the present and possible futures of scholarly publishing. In particular, he will discuss how the emerging technology creates concerns and unresolved tensions — ethical, legal, and otherwise — in publishing around intellectual property...

Students from the UI Department of Theatre Arts bring the page to life in an evening of staged readings of work by the International Writing Program Fall Residents.

Global Express is a unique opportunity for writers from around the world and performers at Iowa to meet, work together, and present their work live on stage. Global Express, now, in its 25th year, help us to recognize our common humanity while celebrating our differences. The Express, part dramatic reading, part solo-turn, part poetry...

Read on the Rug is back with monthly offerings but we're moving to FRIDAYS!

Join us on the second Friday of each month in Iowa Hall at the UI Museum of Natural History for Read on the Rug. Ideal for families or caregivers with kiddos aged 2-5, all are welcome to this free educational program. This program series was designed with our youngest museum lovers in mind. Come along as we build community and inspire a sense of wonder, curiosity, and respect for our natural and cultural worlds with...

By Warren Riley

The life of a very cool girl is put on hold when her family friend/reluctant peer falls into a fairy-tale-like slumber.

Please be advised this play contains mild depictions of transphobia, minimal references to suicidality, and sexual content.

Part of Theatre Arts' Reading Series

Tickets:
Tickets for readings are free of charge; seating is limited.

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah was raised in Spring Valley, New York, and now lives in the Bronx. His debut collection, Friday Black, was a New York Times bestseller, won the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Award and the Dylan Thomas Prize. His first novel Chain-Gang All-Stars was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction, winner of the Inside Literary Prize, shortlisted...

Students, join the book club that meets monthly inside the iconic Old Capitol Museum, with books chosen by you. Come read, wonder, and connect as we transform this timeless building into a cozy retreat for shared stories and spirited discussion in the Pentacrest Museums first ever student book club.

For the Fall 2026 semester, Book Club @ the Museum will meet on the following Mondays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Old Cap:

Sept. 14: We'll pick a book and make "junk journals" together.

Oct. 12: Bookmark...

The award ceremony for the 2026 Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism in Memory of Newton Arvin will take place at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in the Old Capitol Senate Chamber. The event will feature remarks by the winner and a reception in the Old Capitol Rotunda. Both the ceremony and reception are open to the public.

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...

Explore the Literary Grove with University of Iowa Arborist Andy Dahl
Take 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.

The following is copied from https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/marilynne-robinson-and-nicholas-kristof/:

How Can We Hope When It All Feels Hopeless? An evening with Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas Kristof and Marilynne Robinson

Marilynne Robinson is the author of the novels Housekeeping, Gilead, Home, Lila, and Jack. Gilead won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award, while Home received the Orange Prize for Fiction and Lila won the National Book Critics...

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 adult writers in all genres are welcome.

Write at the Stanley meets every fourth...

The Nonfiction Writing Program presents Alia Hanna Habib, vice president and literary agent at The Gernert Company, for a publishing talk.

At The Gernert Company, Habib represents MacArthur Fellows, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, National Book Award finalists, and numerous New York Times bestselling authors. She was profiled by New York Magazine for their special issue on “The 49 Most Powerful New Yorkers (You’ve Never Heard Of).”

Her book, Take it From Me, a guide to nonfiction writing...

Dan Sinykin is the author of American Literature and the Long Downturn: Neoliberal Apocalypse (Oxford 2020), Big Fiction: How Conglomeration Changed the Publishing Industry and American Literature (Columbia 2023), and, with Johanna Winant, Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century (Princeton 2025). He is working on a manuscript about the rise of, and alternatives to, Zionism in the Pale of Settlement. His talk will be titled "The Novel in a Time of Textpocalypse."

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...

Students, join the book club that meets monthly inside the iconic Old Capitol Museum, with books chosen by you. Come read, wonder, and connect as we transform this timeless building into a cozy retreat for shared stories and spirited discussion in the Pentacrest Museums first ever student book club.

For the Fall 2026 semester, Book Club @ the Museum will meet on the following Mondays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Old Cap:

Sept. 14: We'll pick a book and make "junk journals" together.

Oct. 12: Bookmark...

Read on the Rug is back with monthly offerings but we're moving to FRIDAYS!

Join us on the second Friday of each month in Iowa Hall at the UI Museum of Natural History for Read on the Rug. Ideal for families or caregivers with kiddos aged 2-5, all are welcome to this free educational program. This program series was designed with our youngest museum lovers in mind. Come along as we build community and inspire a sense of wonder, curiosity, and respect for our natural and cultural worlds with...

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 adult writers in all genres are welcome.

Write at the Stanley meets every fourth...

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...

Read on the Rug is back with monthly offerings but we're moving to FRIDAYS!

Join us on the second Friday of each month in Iowa Hall at the UI Museum of Natural History for Read on the Rug. Ideal for families or caregivers with kiddos aged 2-5, all are welcome to this free educational program. This program series was designed with our youngest museum lovers in mind. Come along as we build community and inspire a sense of wonder, curiosity, and respect for our natural and cultural worlds with...

Students, join the book club that meets monthly inside the iconic Old Capitol Museum, with books chosen by you. Come read, wonder, and connect as we transform this timeless building into a cozy retreat for shared stories and spirited discussion in the Pentacrest Museums first ever student book club.

For the Fall 2026 semester, Book Club @ the Museum will meet on the following Mondays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Old Cap:

Sept. 14: We'll pick a book and make "junk journals" together.

Oct. 12: Bookmark...

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 adult writers in all genres are welcome.

Write at the Stanley meets every fourth...

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 adult writers in all genres are welcome.

Write at the Stanley meets every fourth...

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 adult writers in all genres are welcome.

Write at the Stanley meets every fourth...