Writers’ Workshop graduate Jonathan Blum will read from his highly anticipated short story collection, The Usual Uncertainties, published by Rescue Press. In precise, elegant prose, these stories follow characters and communities often consigned to the edge of the frame: a community college dropout, a geriatric care manager, a square dance bar mitzvah, a Scrabble club, an entrepreneurial Thai immigrant, and a South Florida country club. Blum is the author of the novel Last  Word, and his stories have appeared in Gulf Coast,  New…

Iowa City’s Andre Perry will read from his new collection of essays published by Two Dollar Radio, Some of Us Are Very Hungry Now.  He will be joined in conversation by Tameka Cage Conley. Named a "Most Anticipated Book of 2019"  by LitReactor, The A.V. Club, and Big Other, Foreword Reviews declares "Andre Perry is a fresh American voice that demands to be heard." Perry’s debut collection of personal essays travels from Washington, DC, to Iowa City to Hong Kong in search…

Rutgers University Professor Frances Bartkowski will read from her novel, An Afterlife.  This takes place in a small Bavarian town in a displaced persons camp set up by the Allies after World War II.  "Bartkowski delivers a novel that transcends the fiction genre. This work is as detailed and accurate (with brutal and miraculous turns) as the most searing historical documents, folded in a narrative as immediate and vivid as a poetic memoir. The book is written as it must have been…

Join the Iowa Youth Writing Project for their Fall 2019 end-of-semester student reading, featuring brilliant student writers from Johnson and Linn County K–12 schools. Snacks and camaraderie in the café to follow!

Martha Birkett Bordwell will read from her memoir, Missing Mothers.  “By framing her memoir around missing mothers, author Martha Bordwell raises the ethical dilemmas and emotional consequences trans-national adoption has on families. Missing Mothers addresses a challenging and necessary subject in accessible and intimate prose, inviting readers on a complex parenting journey. Through compelling considerations of race, grief, and privilege, we uncover a deep empathy for people in families acting to transform loss and the unknown into acceptance, understanding and love.” -Patricia Cumbie…

"With wit and a straight-forward passion, Robert Leonard writes of the tough and tender daily lives of the Midwestern working class.  He captures the voices and vicissitudes of the barbers and bartenders, farmers and butchers, factory and maintenance workers who are trying to survive and find their balance within their families and communities in today’s rural landscape. A poetry of the people, Deep Midwest rips off the fancy wrapping paper and gives you a glimpse a reality you may know, but…