It takes a fair amount of finesse to get my teenage daughter to accompany me to a book reading at Prairie Lights. And by finesse, I mean free coffee. She’s in one of those adolescent literary moments where reading YA romance sounds a lot more fun than a grown-up book signing, especially with a politician. […]
Prairie Lights Bookstore
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Mindy Mejia’s latest thriller is inspired by her own Iowa-based trauma
Mindy Mejia was only at the University of Iowa for one year of undergrad, but she still remembers the storm. “During one trip back [to UI] to visit friends, I actually got caught in an ice storm, so very similar to the setting of the book,” the Minnesota-based author recalled. “Everything was shut down, only […]
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ESPN sportscaster Jesse Rogers to bring ‘The Franchise: Chicago Cubs’ book tour to Iowa City
Jesse Rogers and Bruce Miles want to cut to the heart of what makes the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago Cubs. In their new book, The Franchise: Chicago Cubs, the season reporters go beyond well-known narratives to uncover the team’s unique identity. Rogers, an ESPN sportscaster, defined that identity while speaking with Little Village in advance […]
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Iowa City’s Mic Check Poetry Festival to return with a slam in November after ‘phenomenal’ 2021 turnout
Iowa City Poetry’s Mic Check Poetry Festival will return Nov. 11-12 after organizers Caleb “The Negro Artist” Rainey and Lisa Roberts received what Rainey called a “phenomenal showing” of support and enthusiasm last year. The November festival will be only two days this year instead of three, but it will include expanded offerings and an […]
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Melissa Febos talks ‘Girlhood’ and Iowa transitions ahead of Friday reading
In interviews, Melissa Febos is invariably asked about what it is like to be so open and honest in her writing. Little wonder, as her debut memoir from 2010, Whip Smart, details her former career as a professional dominatrix, and she has since written with the same fierce intimacy about relationships, sexuality and addiction. At […]
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Review: Author Garth Greenwell parsed the contradictions of desire with Writers’ Workshop colleague Novuyo Rosa Tshuma at Prairie Lights
On Monday, Jan. 27, Novuyo Rosa Tshuma joined Garth Greenwell at Prairie Lights Books to talk about Cleanness, his newest book of fiction. Graceful as it is reckless, brutal and vulnerable, dazzling and heavy with pain, Cleanness proves amidst the true hideousness of a subject lies magnificence, loneliness and the ultimate desire to be loved.
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Stephanie Burt prepares to see her poetry in motion with Mission Creek’s visual poetry synthesizer
Adulthood is complex. Often, as adults, we leave behind the people we were in childhood, and focus our identities forward to who we think we should be. Dr. Stephanie Burt, poet, literary critic and professor of English at Harvard University, would say “Fuck that.”
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‘We need a moral and spiritual awakening in this country’: Marianne Williamson brings her 2020 presidential campaign to Prairie Lights
Marianne Williamson isn’t a traditional political candidate, but like a veteran politician, she began her campaign event at Prairie Lights Bookstore on Saturday with a joke. “I know there are about 1,736 people who’ll be running for the Democratic nomination, and I’m just honored to be one of them,” Williamson said. But then she added, […]
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Three workshop graduates bring new poetry back to Iowa City
Chris Martin, Daniel Poppick and Adrienne Raphel Prairie Lights — Wednesday, March 29 at 7 p.m. Three Iowa Writers’ Workshop alumni — Chris Martin, Daniel Poppick and Adrienne Raphel — return to their old haunt Prairie Lights on Wednesday, March 29 to read from their latest poetry collections. Chris Martin’s third and most recent collection, […]
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‘Iowa Review’ annual reading at Prairie Lights
Reading: ‘Iowa Review’ Prairie Lights Bookstore — Thursday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. The fall 2016 issue of the Iowa Review is on shelves, and the University’s beloved journal will be hosting their annual Iowa City reading at Prairie Lights tomorrow, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. Editor Harry Stecopoulos will be hosting local artists Jenny […]
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Dog sledder and UI Nonfiction alum Blair Braverman to read at Prairie Lights
Blair Braverman Reading and Q&A Prairie Lights Bookstore — Thursday, Aug. 25 at 7 p.m. Blair Braverman, a graduate of the University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program, will be returning to Iowa City to read from her debut memoir, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North […]
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Prairie Lights, Barnes and Noble bring together a magical community
Harry Potter Countdown to Midnight Barnes and Noble Coralville — Saturday, July 30 at 8 p.m. Harry Potter Midnight Release Prairie Lights Bookstore — Sunday, July 31 at 12 a.m. There are few things that can bring a community together like a midnight release. The excitement is electric when fans come together, hyped up on […]
