On Saturday, April 5, Peters stood in front of a packed room at Prairie Lights Book Store and read excerpts from her Stag Dance. One of the many literary guests at the Mission Creek Festival, Peters spoke with UI’s Creative Nonfiction grad student Jenny Singer about the genesis of her book, what’s she’s learned about self-publishing and how it has helped her career as a novelist.
Prairie Lights
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For her debut book, Iowa City’s Nina Lohman spent eight years trying to articulate and exorcise chronic pain: ‘We have to tell the truth about our bodies’
How much pain can you handle? This is a question that Nina Lohman asks readers of The Body Alone, her upcoming book set to release July 3 with The University of Iowa Press. The question above comes up repeatedly in Lohman’s book. Sometimes a whole page will be blank save that one simple, barbarous inquiry, […]
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Q&A: Author DK Nnuro talks joy, misery and debut novel ‘What Napoleon Could Not Do’
Opportunity and struggle, promise and disappointment, joy and misery. DK Nnuro’s debut novel, What Napoleon Could Not Do, explores these dualities through the eyes of Jacob and Belinda Nti, Ghanaian-born siblings who aspire to move to the U.S. but have vastly different experiences with the process. What Napoleon Could Not Do comes out on Feb. […]
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In-person readings return to Prairie Lights
There was a time, though it seems so very long ago now, when you could count on Prairie Lights to host in-person events with authors on an fairly aggressive schedule. When the pandemic put those events on indefinite hiatus, it felt as though one of the defining features of the City of Literature had been […]
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The 13th Iowa City Book Festival includes Bob Woodward, a celebration of Dostoevsky and more
Literature lovers should get ready to indulge in a week-long celebration of authors, readers and writing, as the 13th annual Iowa City Book Festival (ICBF) kicks off. This year’s festival runs from Monday, Oct. 18 to Sunday, Oct. 24, and unlike last year’s festival, which was entirely virtual because of the pandemic, it will have […]
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Five questions with: Photographer Barry Phipps
Iowa City multimedia artist Barry Phipps has released his most recent book of photographs, Driving a Table Down (University of Iowa Press). It’s a visual travelogue told over 18 days and 108 pages, detailing a trip taken with his mother from Iowa to Florida, to visit (and deliver the titular furniture to) family. In Zak […]
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Music weaves through all aspects of life for poet-critic Hanif Abdurraqib
Music critic, poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib has made a career writing about music in both a critical and poetic way. The two aspects that aren’t often mixed, but Abdurraqib has seen renowned successes with his four books. He’ll be reading from them at Prairie Lights on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.
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Five questions with: Author Caite Dolan-Leach
Reading: Caite Dolan-Leach, We Went to the Woods Prairie Lights — Friday, July 19 at 7 p.m. Caite Dolan-Leach’s second novel, We Went to the Woods, focuses on the cyclicity of the young person’s desire to abandon all and run with those who share their beliefs. She will read from her newest work at Prairie […]
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Five questions with: Author Leslie Carol Roberts
Leslie Carol Roberts’ most recent book, Here Is Where I Walk, a meticulous examination of nature, identity and the complex relationship between them. Roberts will be reading at Prairie Lights on Thursday, May 2
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Andrew Yang discusses quality of life, fake news prevention and his ‘Freedom Dividend’ in Iowa City
“If you’re in this room,” Andrew Yang said during a combination book signing and campaign stop at Prairie Lights Bookstore on Wednesday afternoon, “it’s quite likely that what you know about me is this: there’s an Asian guy running for president who wants to give everyone $1,000 a month.” “And yeah, those things are true,” […]
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Five questions with: Novelist Salvatore Scibona
Salvatore Scibona’s 2008 debut novel, ‘The End,’ was nominated for the National Book Award. Scibona, a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, now has a second novel on the shelves: ‘The Volunteer.’ Scibona will be reading from ‘The Volunteer’ at Prairie Lights on Monday, March 11.
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Five questions with: Author Mark Mayer
Mark Mayer, graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and inaugural Robert P. Dana Emerging Writer fellow at Cornell College, will read from his debut collection of short stories, ‘Aerialists,’ at Prairie Lights on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.
