Vi Khi Nao will read from her new novel, The Italy Letters, called by Ms Magazine a Most Anticipated Feminist Book of 2024, and by The Millions a Most Anticipated Book of Summer 2024! A mesmerizing tale of a sensual queer love affair set against the backdrop of Las Vegas' gritty underbelly, The Italy Letters is an unforgettable...
Iowa City author Tim Johnston will read from the new paperback edition of Distant Sons, named a Best Mystery Fiction of 2023 by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine. "Distant Sons is a mystery about a serial killer, yes, but it’s also not that at all: It’s a heartbreaking story about family, failure, and the fallout from violence. Tim...
Cait West will talk with Iowa City author Lori Erickson about Rift: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy. This debut memoir is West's story of being raised in a strict, religious family, homeschooled, and ruled by authoritarian discipline and a literal interpretation of the Bible. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly calls Rift “A powerful meditation...
Former University of Iowa professor Michael Miller will read from his new historical fiction, The High Bridge. Author Sally Roesch Wagner calls The High Bridge "A highly engaging and thought-provoking journey into what might have resulted if suffragist Matilda Joslyn Gage and future president Grover Cleveland, who lived in the upstate village of Fayetteville at...
Iowa photographer Justin E. Tedford will talk about his new book, Iowa: Land Between Two Rivers, and share insights into the process of capturing Iowa's essence through photography. This new paperback book showcases the stunning landscapes and rich narratives of Iowa and will appeal to photography enthusiasts and anyone interested in the cultural and natural heritage of...
Suzanne Scanlon will read from her intimate, unsparing chronicle of surviving mental illness, Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen. She will be joined in conversation by Mieke Eerkens. "Suzanne Scanlon’s memoir Committed is a lyrical and illuminating account of a young woman’s struggle with mental illness and institutionalization. Mining the metaphors endemic to the institutional setting—the way madness or insanity is “a...
Alex Award-winning Iowa City author Bart Yates will read from his latest novel, The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl. The subject of this intriguing and innovative novel, historian Isaac Dahl, encapsulates his remarkable life in this chronicle of twelve remarkable days. "The life course of a gay man born at the end of World War...
Hollywood singer and choral director Sally Stevens will read from her new work of historical fiction, The Odyssey of Mrs. Naomi Billingsley. “Come with us on the magical journey of the sweetly insane and delusional Mrs. Naomi Billingsley, who has created fantastic, magical and delightful fantasies to break the humdrum existence of her daily midwestern life....
Anthony Varallo and Jared Joseph will read from their new fiction, What Did You Do Today? and Danny the Ambulance. Anthony Varallo will read from What Did You Do Today?, winner of the 2023 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction. “There are few authors working in the flash form today who write with as much grace and mastery...
Grinnell College assistant professor of English and Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad Santiago Jose Sanchez will read from their debut novel, Hombrecito. They will be joined in conversation by novelist Claire Lombardo. Hombrecito is a queer coming-of-age story about a young immigrant’s complex relationships with his mother and his motherland. “Hombrecito is a gorgeous novel of the in-between, the waiting...
Iowa Writers' Workshop alum Melissa Mogollon will read from her coming of age comedy, Oye: A Novel. “Funny and smart, Oye grapples with the messy inheritance of intergenerational trauma and how it manifests in the everyday conversations with the people we love. Mogollon has written a beautiful book.”—Claire Jimenez “Heartbreaking and humorous, mature and mischievous, Oye feels like home in delicious and furious ways....
Charles Holdefer will read from his new collection of stories, Ivan the Terrible Goes on a Family Picnic. "Did the Russians invent baseball? Is there a connection between Babe Ruth’s cross-dressing and Gertrude Stein’s secret mission to New York? What does history tell us about what lies beyond heaven? From the American heartland to Hiroshima, to...
