At the second annual This Is Our Peace, the Iowa Writers' House tackles race in the Iowa City community

This Is Our Peace: Many Races, One Iowa

Uptown Bill’s — Thursday, Aug. 11 at 7 p.m.

Steve Marsden, who passed away last year, reads at the inaugural Iowa Writers' House This Is Our Peace event in 2015 -- photo by Andrea Wilson — Steve Marsden, who passed away last year, reads at the inaugural Iowa Writers’ House This Is Our Peace event in 2015 — photo by Andrea Wilson

The Iowa Writers’ House is following up last year’s inaugural spoken word event (which focused on the 70th anniversary of the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombings) with a program titled Many Races, One Iowa. Once again, the reading will be held at Uptown Bill’s Coffee House (730 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City) on Thursday, Aug. 11 at 7 p.m. It is free to attend.

Samantha Ferm performs at the inaugural This Is Our Peace event in 2015, at Uptown Bill's -- photo by Andrea Wilson — Samantha Ferm performs at the inaugural This Is Our Peace event in 2015, at Uptown Bill’s — photo by Andrea Wilson

Presented in partnership with the Dream Center, this year’s event is an exploration, through poetry and storytelling, of racial inclusion.

The Writers’ House call for submissions, which closed Aug. 6 for inclusion in the spoken word event, asks for “short poems or essays on topic of racial inclusion and living together in harmony.” These showcases are aimed at fostering harmony in the community by opening hearts and minds through sharing and writing. They celebrate the value of writing to heal and to connect, both for the writer and for the audience.

As last year, some of the works presented will be gathered into a publication honoring the theme after the event. The Writers’ House is accepting submissions for this written portion only through Thursday.