The announcement on Thursday morning that Louise Glück had won this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature must have come as a big surprise to British bookies, who famously produce lists of likely winners every year for people to bet on. Glück wasn’t on those lists. But this honor for Glück made sense in Iowa City, […]
Iowa Writers Workshop
Posted inLetters
Letter to the editor: The UI Nonfiction Writing Program responds to Black students’ demands for change
Dear Students, We are deeply grateful for this letter. Thank you for all the painful labor and thought that has gone into it, and for giving us the opportunity to make amends and to change. We want to acknowledge that as a program we have failed and harmed Black students, and you are right to […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Black writers at the University of Iowa describe encounters with racism in Iowa City
Content warning: This article includes stories involving racism and mental health issues, including suicidal ideation. In cities like Minneapolis, Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, the myth of Midwest Nice that has allowed white people to ignore systematic racism for decades is being steadily dismantled. Despite its reputation as a liberal haven, Iowa City — like […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘We the Animals,’ based on the novel by UI alumnus Justin Torres, premieres at FilmScene
There was no way FilmScene wasn’t going to get its hands on We the Animals. The film is not only based on a novel of the same name by Justin Torres, a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, but Torres worked closely with the film’s director to realize his story onscreen.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Students and educators in Iowa City rethink the purpose of school
Across eastern Iowa, teens are getting ready to head back to school. But about 100 teens from Iowa City and surrounding areas never left school for long, spending part of their summer breaks examining education in workshops offered collaboratively by the Iowa Youth Writing Project (IYWP) and Reimagine Iowa City Public Education (RIPE). The programs […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Philip Roth (1933-2018) on Iowa City
Philip Roth, one of the major figures of 20th century literature, died of congestive heart failure on Tuesday night. The author, known for his darkly comic novels and short stories, was 85. His first book, Goodbye Columbus, a collection of five short stories and a novella, won the National Book Award in 1960. The title […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Des Moines Register’s Andie Dominick wins Pulitzer Prize for editorials on Iowa health care
Des Moines Register writer Andie Dominick has won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. She wasn’t the only writer with an Iowa connection to be honored.
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa City’s world-class wrestling, writing and the politics in between
It’s not surprising that Iowa City is hosting an international literary conference and an international wrestling championship in the same week. What is surprising is which of these events is embroiled in international controversy.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Tribute to honor Denis Johnson Friday
The Iowa Writers’ Workshop will hold a tribute on Friday, Sept. 15 at 4 p.m. in honor of Denis Johnson, acclaimed writer and Workshop graduate (and former instructor) who passed away in May.
Posted inCommunity/News
Author, Iowa Writers’ Workshop alumnus Denis Johnson passes away
Author and former University of Iowa Writers Workshop alum and faculty member Denis Johnson passed away Wednesday at the age of 67.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
National Book Award winner Terrance Hayes to read at Dey House
Poet Terrance Hayes, who will be reading on Friday, March 3 at the Dey House in Iowa City, situates himself in a unique juggle. People tend to place things in dichotomies. Poetry is no different, pitting schools of thought against each other: confessional vs post-confessional, description vs exposition, poets of the academy vs poets of […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Writer’s Workshop alum Garth Greenwell makes National Book Award longlist
Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate Garth Greenwell made the longlist for the National Book Award in fiction. His novel, What Belongs to You (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2015), has earned wide international acclaim and even received a separate UK edition. What Belongs to You follows the unlucky and complicated romance between an American high school teacher […]
