Get ready for a dynamic mix of writers to descend on Iowa City for the 17th annual Iowa City Book Festival, Oct. 5-12, celebrating the power of the written word and the thrill of exchanging ideas. Highlights among the 40 events this year include the launch of Donika Kelly’s latest poetry collection, science fiction presentations by John Scalzi, Joe Haldeman, and the ICON science fiction and fantasy convention; programs about water quality and the preservation of natural resources that include a visit by Pulitzer Prize-winner Art Cullen; a multimedia celebration of the life and work of Denis Johnson; a lecture about the impact of artificial intelligence on writing; and book presentations by several local authors.
All of the following events are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated. FilmScene’s Refocus Film Festival and Sidekick Coffee & Books’ Romance Book Festival overlap with the Iowa City Book Festival and include ticketed events. (IWP) indicates that a writer is participating in the UI’s International Writing Program.
ONGOING: Night Circus, Old Capitol Museum, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Wednesday-Friday through Oct. 17. A traveling juried exhibition from the Guild of Book Workers.
SUNDAY, OCT. 5
Chris Pio, Iowa City Public Library, 2 p.m. Pio, from Cedar Rapids, discusses his “Nicknames and Mascots” series, which describes the origins, evolution and relevant meaning of collegiate athletic team nicknames and the colorful mascot characters that represent the schools.
MONDAY, OCT. 6
Guided tour of Paper Engineering in Art, Science and Education, UI Main Library Gallery, 4 p.m. Join co-curators Giselle Simón, Elizabeth Yale, and Damien Ihrig for a special guided tour of the current University of Iowa Libraries Main Library Gallery exhibition, “Paper Engineering in Art, Science, and Education.”
Steve Kemp, Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room A, 7 p.m.
Author and former park ranger Steve Kemp discusses his latest book, An Exaltation of Parks, which tells the story of John D. Rockefeller Jr. ‘s collaboration with National Park Service leaders Stephen Mather, Horace Albright, and Arno Cammerer. Their partnership helped shape and preserve some of America’s most iconic national parks.
TUESDAY, OCT. 7
Donika Kelly, Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room A, Iowa City Public Library, 7 p.m. Award-winning poet Donika Kelly reads from her new collection, The Natural Order of Things, which explores survival, joy, and intimacy through inventive, lyrical encounters with myth, nature, and connection. She will be in conversation with Tisa Bryant.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 8
The Making of a Book: A Conversation with Johanna Drucker, UI Libraries, Main Library, Room 2032 (second floor), 1 p.m. Join the University of Iowa Libraries for an intimate conversation with author, artist, and scholar Johanna Drucker about her new book, Affluvia: The toxic off-gassing of affluent culture. Drucker will discuss her book along with its development and publication. ILearn the ins and outs of writing and publishing your book.
Artists’ Books: Critical Writing in the Field, with Johanna Drucker, Shambaugh Auditorium, UI Main Library, 6 p.m. In this meeting of the Iowa Bibliophiles, Johanna Drucker will discuss JAB: The Journal of Artists’ Books, the focus of a new University of Iowa Press volume, The JAB Anthology. Drucker will reflect on the journal’s contributions to the field, connect its work to broader developments in artists’ books, and share personal insights from decades of creating her own.
John Warner, Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room A, Iowa City Public Library, 7 p.m. Author and writing teacher John Warner discusses More than Words, which examines the impact of AI on writing and education, arguing that true writing is both thinking and feeling.
THURSDAY, OCT. 9
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.
Guild of Book Workers Showcase & Market, Graduate by Hilton, noon – 5 p.m. (Oct. 9-11)
Teresa Dzieglewicz, Porchlight Literary Arts Center, 7 p.m. Dzieglewicz will read from Something Small of How to See a River, poems that chronicle a vivid landscape of the struggle for sovereignty, dignity, and survival on the Standing Rock Reservation.
Waters of the United States: A Conversation with Royal C. Gardner and Silvia Secchi, Prairie Lights, 7 p.m. A reading from Waters of the United States and a discussion of the legal and political battles over water protection, the Clean Water Act, recent Supreme Court rulings, and what these decisions mean for our communities and environment.
FRIDAY, OCT. 10
Trials and Tribulations of Literary Translation, Iowa City Public Library, noon. The panel features International Writing Program participants Tomás Downey (Argentina) and Florencia del Campo (Spain), with guest author Kazim Ali.
SlamoVision Judging Event, Iowa City Public Library, 5:30 p.m. Attendees will watch and then score submissions from slam poets in 17 other UNESCO Cities of Literature as part of the global SlamoVision competition. Free pizza will be served. These scores will be aggregated and submitted for the overall judging that will crown an international SlamoVision champion.
SATURDAY, OCT. 11
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 Book Fair for a complete list of vendors.
Friends Foundation Pop-Up Used Book Sale, Iowa City Public Library, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Stop by the lobby of the Iowa City Public Library between festival events to browse for a new (to you) book.
Laura Julier, Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room A, 10 a.m. In her debut memoir, Off Izaak Walton Road: The Grace That Comes Through Loss, Laura Julier reflects on grief, solitude, and healing, drawing on her time in a riverside cabin surrounded by the quiet presence of nature.
ICON Vendor Hall, Iowa City Masonic Building Social Hall, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. The ICON science fiction convention returns to downtown Iowa City during the Iowa City Book Festival! Browse booksellers, authors, and others at the ICON Vendor Hall.
Ted Geltner, Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room A, 11:30 a.m.
Journalist and biographer Ted Geltner discusses Flagrant, Self-Destructive Gestures, the story of Denis Johnson’s turbulent life and extraordinary work, from his struggles with addiction to the creation of his masterpiece Jesus’ Son and beyond.
Gregory Galloway and Scott Phillips, Prairie Lights, 11:30 a.m. Novelists Gregory Galloway and Scott Phillips read from and discuss their latest novels. Galloway’s All We Trust is a suspenseful story of two brothers whose comfortable life laundering money spirals into betrayal, international crime, and revenge.Phillips’s The Devil Raises His Own picks up the story of Bill Ogden, protagonist in Phillips’s earlier novels Cottonwood and Hop Alley, as he navigates the early days of the film industry in this bawdy tale.
John Scalzi, Iowa City Masonic Building Auditorium, 11:30 a.m. Bestselling science fiction author John Scalzi reads from The Shattering Peace, a thrilling interstellar tale in which humans and aliens are drawn into a high-stakes civil war that could reshape the fate of multiple species. Scalzi’s acclaimed novels include the Old Man’s War series, Redshirts, and The Kaiju Preservation Society.
Art Cullen, Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room A, 1 p.m. Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Art Cullen discusses his new book, We Crapped in Our Nest, a reflection on the transformation of rural America, the loss of family farms, and the urgent environmental challenges facing our land and communities.
Jennifer Fawcett, Prairie Lights, 1 p.m. Former Iowa City playwright Fawcett returns with her second novel, Keep This For Me, a suspenseful tale of a woman investigating a serial killer’s connection to her mother’s disappearance.
A Celebration of Joe Haldeman and The Forever War, Iowa City Masonic Building Auditorium, 1 p.m. The Forever War was a groundbreaking science fiction novel upon its release in 1974, the first novel in that genre inspired by the Vietnam War. Haldeman, a veteran of that war and a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, wrote a book that author John Scalzi said “keeps speaking to readers outside its time, because what’s in the book touches on something that never goes away, or at the very least keeps coming around.” Haldeman, his wife, Gay; Scalzi, and Mike Miller, a student of Haldeman’s, will discuss this novel, as well as ICON, the Iowa science fiction and fantasy convention celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Moderated by Pete Balestrieri.
Candle Light Press 30th Anniversary Signing, Daydreams Comics, 2-4 p.m. Celebrate three decades of storytelling with Iowa City’s own Candle Light Press! Authors Carter Allen, Austin Allen Hamblin, and John Ira Thomas will be on hand to sign books and share their latest work.
Incognito Lounge: Celebrating the work of Denis Johnson, Riverside Theatre, 2 p.m. Friends and admirers of the late Denis Johnson will read from and discuss his work at this special event co-presented with FilmScene’s Refocus Film Festival and the University of Iowa Office for Writing and Communication. Participants include Chris Offutt, Cindy Lee Johnson, Will Patton, Red Danielson, and James Galvin.
Tatiana Schlote-Bonne, Prairie Lights, 2:30 p.m. Schlote-Bonne, a graduate of the University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program, is the author of the YA horror novel Such Lovely Skin. Her latest is the adult horror novel The Mean Ones.
Christina Ward, Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room A, 2:30 p.m. Ward, an independent food historian and writer discusses her latest book, Holy Food: How Cults, Communes, and Religious Movements Influenced What We Eat, investigating the explosion of religious movements since the Great Awakenings that birthed a cottage industry of food fads and cookbooks.
Panel discussion: A Sense of Place, Iowa City Masonic Building Auditorium, 2:30 p.m. Jennifer Fawcett, Agnes, Chew (International Writing Program participant), Siddharth Dasjupta (IWP), Ndongolera C. Mwangupili (IWP), and Vlora Konushevci (IWP) discuss the role of place and setting.
Anna Barker, Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room A, 4 p.m. Barker will discuss 13 Notes from Napoleon, Iowa: Musings on the Edge of the French Empire, which illuminates aspects of Iowa’s French past and explains the mystery of Iowa’s distinctly French-looking flag.
Patricia Lockwood, Prairie Lights, 4 p.m. Lockwood, author of No One Is Talking About This and Priestdaddy returns with Will There Ever Be Another You, about a young woman trying to keep it together during a global pandemic.
Panel discussion: The Importance of Literary Genre, Iowa City Masonic Building Auditorium, 4 p.m. Anna Bruno, Gregory Galloway, Scott Phillips, and Tatiana Schlote-Bonne discuss the blurring of literary genres.
John Ira Thomas, Daydreams Comics, 4:30 p.m. Join John Ira Thomas for a witty, metafictional ride through Tire Magazine, with readings from past issues and new work in progress. A playful mix of the mystical, the mundane, and the unexpected.
Sidekick Coffee and Books Presents: It’s Getting Plot in Here, A Romance Book Festival 6-9 p.m., Join Sidekick Coffee and Books for the Romance Book Festival, a night of romance, creativity, and community.
SUNDAY, OCT. 12
Local Author Book Fair, MERGE, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. 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 Daniel Umemezie, Iowa City Public Library, 12:30 p.m. Poetry in Public celebrates Iowa City’s rich literary tradition and local writing talent by displaying poems by writers of all ages. Hear from some of the 2025 Selected Poets. Featuring Iowa’s Student Poet Ambassador, Daniel Umemezie.
Panel: Beyond Publishing: Writing as Joy, Healing, and Priority, MERGE, 1 p.m. Join the conversation on how writing and reading shape lives, communities, and creative practice.
The Black Superwoman & Mental Health: Power & Pain, 2:30 p.m., Dream City. Contributors to the new anthology The Black Superwoman & Mental Health: Power & Pain join editor Venise Berry to discuss themes of vulnerability, resilience, and healing in poetry, stories, essays, and research.
Kazim Ali with Rajaa Alsanea and Yu Yuen Lan, Prairie Lights, 3:30 p.m. The poet, novelist, and essayist will read as a special guest of the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program. He is joined by IWP participants Rajaa Alsanea (Saudi Arabia) and Yu Yuen Lan (Hong Kong), who will also read from their work.
Roast of Iowa City, ReUnion Brewery downtown, Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
A week of thoughtful discussions on poetry and prose closes with a now-beloved tradition: The Roast of Iowa City, an evening of playful mockery aimed at all we hold sacred and dear, hosted by Little Village Magazine.