Since 1987, the Iowa Summer Writing Festival has welcomed to the campus of The University of Iowa writers from 18 to 98 years of age, from all 50 states, and from every continent. Most of us come to the workshop table from other areas of expertise, other lives. These include the armed forces, business, diplomacy, education, farming, homemaking, journalism, law, law enforcement, medicine, parenting, pastoral care, the performing arts, social services, and more. We come together across the genres, the generations, and at every level of literary practice in a common enterprise. We come as writers. This is the only assumption we make about each other, whether we arrive here with the third draft of our novel, a message in a bottle, or merely a bee in our bonnet.

The Festival is proud to belong to Iowa City—a UNESCO City of Literature in the Creative Cities Network. Iowa City has long been a haven for writers, and The University of Iowa our ancestral home.

The Festival is now offering workshops online. These are live (synchronous) courses via Zoom, supported by Canvas Catalog. We couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity the online initiative gives us to offer workshops and other programming throughout the year, in a variety of new formats, to longtime friends and newcomers alike.

Throughout 2022, we’re launching new workshops each month that explore the genres in their reaches.

Faculty

Featured Writers Include:

Recent faculty include: Marilyn Abildskov, Amy Butcher, Hope Edelman, Kelly Dwyer, Katie Ford, Robin Hemley, Sabrina Orah Mark, Reginald McKnight, and Andrew Porter.

Location

Iowa Summer Writing Festival
University of Iowa
Iowa City
Iowa, United States
52242

Iowa Summer Writing Festival

Since 1987, the Iowa Summer Writing Festival has welcomed to the campus of The University of Iowa writers from 18 to 98 years of age, from all 50 states, and from every continent. Most of us come to the workshop table from other areas of expertise, other lives. These include the armed forces, business, diplomacy, education, farming, homemaking, journalism, law, law enforcement, medicine, parenting, pastoral care, the performing arts, social services, and more. We come together across the genres, the generations, and at every level of literary practice in a common enterprise. We come as writers. This is the only assumption we make about each other, whether we arrive here with the third draft of our novel, a message in a bottle, or merely a bee in our bonnet.

The Festival is proud to belong to Iowa City—a UNESCO City of Literature in the Creative Cities Network. Iowa City has long been a haven for writers, and The University of Iowa our ancestral home.

The 2024 Festival on campus takes place June 16 - July 28. Register now! Online workshops will resume in Fall/Winter 2024.