The 16th annual Iowa City Book Festival, taking place from Oct. 13-20, will showcase a dynamic mix of original events and collaborative programs, all celebrating the power of the written word and the exchange of ideas. Fans of fiction, poetry, social engagement, politics, and the craft of writing will find several events of interest among the usual mix of authors and topics.
Highlights among the 50 events in this year’s festival include appearances by Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate and Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Kidder, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Forrest Gander, UI graduates and award-winning translators Jennifer Croft and Bruna Dontas Lobato, and National Book Award-longlisted Workshop poet Elizabeth Willis. They are among more than 30 authors and presenters who will take part in 45 events that will keep festival-goers busy during the week.
All of the following events are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated. FilmScene’s Refocus Film Festival overlaps with the Book Festival, and includes a full slate of ticketed films and events.
For more information, see www.iowacitybookfestival.org.
SUNDAY, OCT. 13
Roast of Iowa City, ReUnion Brewery downtown, Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
The week begins with thoughtful discussions on poetry and prose with a now-beloved tradition: The Roast of Iowa City, an evening of playful mockery aimed at all we hold sacred and dear. This lively event is sponsored by Little Village Magazine.
MONDAY, OCT. 14
Tree Tour: Literary Grove at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Dey House, noon. Join University of Iowa Arborist Andy Dahl for a tour of the Literary Grove, featuring trees with connections to famous authors at the world-famous Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
It Can’t Happen Here, Meeting Room A, Iowa City Public Library, 6:30 p.m. A staged reading of the Sinclair Lewis play that offers a cautionary dark satire about the fragility of democracy and how fascism can take hold even in the land of liberty. Led by local theater mainstay Josh Sazon.
Stuart Dybek, Prairie Lights Books, 7 p.m. Dybek, a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a distinguished writer-in-residence at Northwestern University, will read from his work, which includes the story collections Ecstatic Cahoots, Paper Lantern, and I Sailed with Magellan.
TUESDAY, OCT. 15
Curator Guided Tour: Hawkeye Histories | Sporting Stories, University of Iowa Main Library Gallery, 4 p.m. Join Dr. Jennifer Sterling for a special guided tour of this exhibition, which explores well-known and lesser-known Hawkeye sports histories, and features items from the University Archives, the Iowa Women’s Archives, and more.
From Peter the Great to Napoleon the Lesser: Dostoevsky and the Great Men of History, Meeting Room A, Iowa City Public Library, 4:30 p.m. A lecture by University of Iowa Adjunct Assistant Professor Anna Barker on the works of Dostoevsky, including Notes from Underground and Crime and Punishment. This event is in conjunction with the screening of “Taxi Driver” that follows at 6 p.m.
“Taxi Driver,” Meeting Room A, Iowa City Public Library, 6 p.m. Martin Scorsese’s 1976 famous film is an adaptation of Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground. This screening is held in conjunction with the Dostoevsky lecture by Anna Barker at 4:30 p.m., and will be followed by a discussion of the film led by Barker.
Bruna Dantas Lobato, Prairie Lights, 6 p.m. Dantas Lobato, a 2023 National Book Award winner for translation, now debuts with her own novel, Blue Light Hours, expanded from a short story that first appeared in The New Yorker.
Literary Legends: Tracy Kidder, Iowa Memorial Union Main Lounge, 7:30 p.m. Sit in on a one-of-a-kind evening with writer and University of Iowa graduate Tracy Kidder as he reflects on his lengthy literary career and reads from some of his bestselling work. The Pulitzer Prize winner will be in conversation with fellow Iowa Writers’ Workshop alum Stuart Dybek
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 16
Megan Rosenbloom, Shambaugh Auditorium, 6 p.m. A talk by Iowa Bibliophiles’ guest Megan Rosenbloom, author of Dark Archives: A Librarian’s Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin. This award-winning book explores Rosenbloom’s work, weaving together stories of doctors, murderers, and the modern-day curators and scientists trying to discover the truth behind these macabre and controversial items.
Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz, Prairie Lights Books, 7 p.m. The Indian Card by University of Iowa Associate Professor Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz is a groundbreaking and deeply personal exploration of Tribal enrollment, and what it means to be Native American in the United States. Through in-depth interviews, she shares the stories of people caught in the mire of identity-formation, trying to define themselves outside of bureaucratic processes. She will be joined in conversation by former network TV broadcaster Harry Smith.
Nancy Miller Gomez, PorchLight, 7 p.m. A reading and workshop with poet Nancy Miller Gomez, author of Inconsolable Objects. Part cautionary tale, part love letter to the broken objects and people of this world, the book is driven by the search for beauty in the forsaken.
THURSDAY, OCT. 17
Nightbitch, a film adaptation of the debut novel by Iowa City writer Rachel Yoder, will be screened as a part of FilmScene’s Refocus Film Festival. Englert Theatre, 7 p.m. See refocusfilmfestival.org for details and ticket information.
FRIDAY, OCT. 18
IWP panel: Balancing Life as an Artist, Meeting Room A, Iowa City Public Library, noon. University of Iowa International Writing Program participants discuss their work. Featuring Lisa Allen-Agostini (Trinidad and Tobago), Putra Hidayatullah (Indonesia), Mélanie Werder-Avilés (Spain), and Daryl Li (Singapore).
Typedancing, Weatherdance Fountain Stage, 2 p.m. Typedancing is a collaborative interdisciplinary performance featuring musicians, poets, dancers and visual artists making music with and dancing to obsolete office equipment. With audience participation, it also includes live-produced zines from the artifacts of the performance.
John Ira Thomas, Daydreams Comics, 3 p.m. Thomas will read from issues of TIRE Magazine, part of the ongoing metafictional narrative prompted by his ejection from church at age nine.
Ezra Claytan Daniels, Daydreams Comics, 4:30 p.m. Daniels will talk about his projects, which include Upgrade Soul and “We Are Not Alone,” the short comic that is the basis for a film that will be shown during the Refocus Film Festival.
“Racialism and the Media,” Meeting Room A, Iowa City Public Library, 5:30 p.m. A presentation by University of Iowa Professor Venise Berry and Steve Berry, professor emeritus from Howard University. Includes a screening of the hour-long film and a post-screening Q&A with the Berrys. Racialism includes, but moves beyond traditional racism. It involves images, ideas, and issues that are produced, distributed, and consumed repetitively and intertextually based on stereotypes, biased framing, historical myths, as well as traditional racism. These representations are normalized through the media, ultimately shaping and influencing societal ideology and behavior.
SATURDAY, OCT. 19
Book Fair, MERGE, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. A diverse collection of titles, journals, magazines, and book arts from local and regional publishers and literary organizations. A unique opportunity for book lovers to discover new authors and genres. See www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/book-fair for a complete list of vendors.
Friends Foundation Pop-up Used Book Sale, Iowa City Public Library, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Stop by the lobby of the Iowa City Public Library between festival events to browse for a new (to you) book.
Amanda Jones, Meeting Room A, Iowa City Public Library, 10 a.m.
Amanda Jones has been an educator for 23 years at the same Louisiana middle school she attended as a child. In That Librarian, Jones maps the book banning crisis occurring all across the nation, drawing the battle lines in the war against equity and inclusion, calling book lovers everywhere to rise in defense of our readers.
Christopher Merrill, Masonic Building, 10 a.m.
Merrill will discuss After the Fact, a lively and imaginative conversation between two legendary poets: the late Marvin Bell, writing from Iowa City and Port Townsend, and Christopher Merrill, writing from around the world. An intimate look into collaboration at its best.
Panel discussion: A Sense of Place, Iowa City Senior Center, 10 a.m.
In this panel, writers will discuss place and setting as key in many kinds of writing. Featuring: Forrest Gander, Catarina Gomes (IWP), Nurit Kasztelan (IWP), Chris Offutt, Pervin Saket (IWP)
Jennifer Croft, Prairie Lights Books, 10:30 a.m.
Award winning literary translator Jennifer Croft’s debut novel, The Extinction of Irena Rey, tells the story of eight translators who arrive at a house in a primeval Polish forest on the border of Belarus. It belongs to the world-renowned author Irena Rey, and they are there to translate her magnum opus, Gray Eminence. The result is a hilarious, thought-provoking tale that is a brilliant examination of art, celebrity, the natural world, and the power of language.
Josh Cowen, Meeting Room A, Iowa City Public Library, 11:30 a.m. In The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers, Josh Cowen lays bare the surprising history of tax-funded school choice programs in the United States and warns of the dangers of education privatization. A former evaluator of state and local school voucher programs, Cowen demonstrates how, as such programs have expanded in the United States, so too has the evidence-informed case against them.
Marguerite Sheffer and Sharon Wahl, Masonic Building, 11:30 a.m. Sheffer and Wahl, winners of 2024 short fiction awards from the University of Iowa Press, will discuss their books, The Man in the Banana Trees and Everything Flirts.
Panel discussion: Writing on Film (co-presented with Refocus Film Festival) Iowa City Senior Center, 11:30 a.m. Featuring: Marya Gates and Jonathan Rosenbaum
Elizabeth Willis, Prairie Lights, noon. Willis, a poetry professor at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, shares Liontaming in America, a hybrid work engaged with American belief and relationship structures, theater, activism, and film. The collection is on the 2024 Longlist for the National Book Award for Poetry.
Jarod K. Anderson, Meeting Room A, Iowa City Public Library, 1 p.m. Sometimes in life, you find yourself lost in an utterly dark place. When poet and author Jarod K. Anderson found himself trapped by a deep and lonely depression, he turned to the woods, literally. In his new book, Something in the Woods Loves You, Anderson explores the inherent ways nature can help fight mental illness.
Willy Vlautin, Masonic Building, 1 p.m. Born and raised in Reno, Nevada, Willy Vlautin is the author of six novels and is the founder of the bands Richmond Fontaine and The Delines. In his latest book, The Horse, Al Ward lives on an isolated mining claim in the high desert of central Nevada fifty miles from the nearest town. A grizzled man in his sixties, he survives on canned soup, instant coffee, and memories of his ex-wife, friends and family he’s lost, and his life as a touring musician.
Panel discussion: Politics, Iowa City Senior Center, 1 p.m. Writers will discuss how the current political landscape affects their work and the role politics plays in their writing. Featuring: Hatice Acikgoez (IWP), Ari Berman, Natalie Goldberg, Amanda Jones, Nina Lohman
Forrest Gander, Prairie Lights, 1:30 p.m. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gander’s new novel-poem, Mojave Ghost, takes readers to his birthplace in the Mojave Desert and his current northern California home, where tumultuous memories coalesce with the present.
James Fitzmaurice, Shambaugh Auditorium, 2:30 p.m. Join author James Fitzmaurice for a conversation about his new young adult novel, Hobgoblin Gennel. In this off-beat tale of adventure, teenagers Irie and Fred are fast friends. While trapped in an underground passageway, they come across the kitchen of a foodie hipster named Hobgoblin, who is what his name suggests.
Ari Berman, Meeting Room A, Iowa City Public Library, 2:30 p.m. Berman is the national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones and a reporting fellow at Type Media Center. He will read from Minority Rule: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People—and the Fight to Resist It. He is a native of Fairfield, Iowa.
Chris Offutt, Masonic Building, 2:30 p.m. Offutt is the author of two collections of short stories, three memoirs, and six novels. He also wrote screenplays for True Blood, Weeds, and Treme. His most recent work is the acclaimed Mick Hardin series, the latest of which is Code of the Hills.
Perry Janes, Anna Morrison and Hannah Bonner, FilmScene at The Chauncey, 2:30 p.m. The poets will read from and discuss their work, in partnership with Refocus Film Festival.
Panel discussion: Who Do You Read? Iowa City Senior Center, 2:30 p.m.In this panel, writers will discuss some of their favorite writing by others, sharing the things they like to read and important books they would like to recommend. Featuring: Nicolás Medina Mora, Chris Tze (IWP), Sharon Wahl, Nicolas Wong (IWP), Peter Závada (IWP)
Natalie Goldberg, Prairie Lights, 3 p.m. Natalie Goldberg has influenced generations of aspiring creative writers with books like Writing Down the Bones and Wild Mind. In the new Writing on Empty, she opens up about a new experience: that of losing her will to write, and finding her way back to it.
Marc Ribot, Iowa City Public Library, 4 p.m. After performing his score for Yakov Protazanov’s pioneering sci-fi film “Aelita: Queen of Mars,” as part of FilmScene’s Refocus Film Festival, Ribot joins the Iowa City Book Festival where he will read from his book Unstrung: Rants & Stories of a Noise Guitarist.
Nina Lohman, Masonic Building, 4 p.m. Lohman’s The Body Alone is a boundary-pressing work that subverts the traditional narrative by putting pressure on the medical, cultural, and political systems that impact women’s access to fair and equal healthcare. This is more than an illness narrative, it is a battle cry demanding change.
Panel discussion: A Sense of Place II, Iowa City Senior Center, 4 p.m. Featuring: Yassin Adnan (IWP), Jarod K. Anderson, Priya N Hein (IWP), Felipe Franco Munhoz (IWP), Marguerite Sheffer
Nicolás Medina Mora, Prairie Lights Books, 4:30 p.m. Mora, a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, debuts with América del Norte, a novel that moves between New York City, Mexico City, and Iowa City, as a young member of the Mexican elite sees his life splinter.
SUNDAY, OCT. 20
Local Author Fair, MERGE, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Join us as local authors present their latest works, answer questions, and sign books. Browse each author’s table where various books will be available for purchase.
Poetry in Public Reading with Special Guest Poet Tanya Rastogi, Iowa City Public Library, 12:30 p.m. Poetry in Public celebrates our community’s rich literary tradition and local writing talent by displaying poems by writers of all ages. Hear from some of the 2024 Selected Poets. Featuring Iowa’s Student Poet Ambassador, Tanya Rastogi.
Publishing for Beginners, MERGE, 1 p.m. An insightful panel discussion with seasoned professionals who will share essential tips and strategies for navigating the publishing world. Panelists: Sarah Elgatian, Midwest Writing Center; Mackie Garret, 508 Press; Jennifer MacBain-Stephens, author; and Steve Semken, Ice Cube Press.
A Lunch and Conversation with Natalie Goldberg, PorchLight, 1 p.m. Goldberg’s latest book, Writing on Empty, focuses on the author’s experience of losing her will to write, and finding her way back to it. PorchLight director Jennifer Colville will moderate the discussion including a group conversation and a light lunch. The price of the event includes a copy of the book. Visit porchlightliterary.org to register.
Anne Frank’s Diary – A Multilingual, Multimedia Reading, Iowa City Public Library, 2 p.m. Students from Iowa City, fluent in 15 different languages, will present passages from Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl. This event provides an opportunity for attendees to engage in meaningful dialogue, reflect on the Holocaust and other tragic global events, and foster a sense of community as the 95th anniversary of Frank’s diary is commemorated. The first Anne Frank Initiative Little Library, created in partnership with Clear Creek Amana Middle School, will be unveiled at the event. Co-presented by the Anne Frank Initiative in International Programs at the University of Iowa.
One Community One Book: Corban Addison, Boyd Law Building, 3 p.m. The Fall 2024 One Community, One Book selection is Wastelands: The True Story of Farm Country on Trial, by Corban Addison. This event will be hosted in person at the University of Iowa, Boyd Law Building. This event is free and open to the public. Sponsored by the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights, Hubbell Environmental Law Initiative, and the Iowa City Book Festival.
Tisa Bryant – Unexplained Presence, Iowa City Public Library, 4 p.m. A multidisciplinary performance melding film with live readings inspired by Bryant’s book of hybrid essays.