CITIES OF LITERATURE

Iowa City is the first United States UNESCO City of Literature.

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Founded in 1936, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop has housed thousands of outstanding authors. Since that time, several other top writing programs have been established at the University of Iowa. These include the Nonfiction Writing Program, the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, the Spanish Creative Writing MFA, the Translation Workshop, the Center for the Book, the Screenwriting Workshop, and more. Writers affiliated with the University have won more than 40 Pulitzer Prizes. Seven U.S. Poet Laureates have ties to the University. And countless award-winning playwrights, screenwriters, journalists, translators, novelists and poets have lived, worked, and studied in Iowa City, including Flannery O’Connor, Frank Conroy, James Tate, John Irving, Kurt Vonnegut, and Marilynne Robinson.

 

Since 1967, more than 1,600 writers from more than 160 countries have been in residence at the University of Iowa through the International Writing Program. These include Nobel Laureates Mo Yan and Orhan Pamuk. The program connects well-established writers from around the globe, bringing international literature into classrooms, introducing American writers to other cultures through reading tours, and serving as a clearinghouse for literary news and a wealth of archival and pedagogical materials.

 

Named after The University of Iowa International Writing Program co-founder, The Paul Engle Prize is an annual literary prize awarded with $25,000 each year to a writer who makes an impact on his or her community and the world through efforts beyond the page. A few notable past recipients of the prize are Rebecca Solnit, Roxane Gay, Alexander Chee, and Sara Paretsky. The Iowa City of Literature also hosts a Paul Engle High School Essay Contest where Iowa high school sophomores are asked to enter an essay that focuses on celebrating the rich culture of Iowa by drawing on a specific memory that exceptionally illustrates the senses experienced from that memory. The winner is awarded with a free year of tuition at the University of Iowa.

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Iowa City is home to a Literary Walk that celebrates 91 writers with ties to Iowa. The Literary Walk consists of bronze panels scattered around the sidewalks of downtown Iowa City each featuring the words of a different author, as well as other artistic celebrations of authors and their work on the city’s historic northside. A sculpture walk in neighboring Coralville features 11 sculptures, each inspired by a work by a writer affiliated with the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

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COLLABORATION WITH OTHER CITIES

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​In addition to participating in many collaborative projects with other Cities of Literature, the Iowa City organization spearheads the #17Booksfor17SDGs social media campaign that identifies books from the various Cities of Literature that focus on one of the 17 pillars of the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Iowa City also hosted the UNESCO Cities of Literature annual meeting in April 2018. This meeting brought 26 of the 28 Cities of Literature to Iowa City for several days of meetings and cultural offerings.

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BOOK FESTIVALS

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The Iowa City Book Festival is a multi-day celebration of books, reading, and writing. The festival includes readings, discussions, and demonstrations by various authors, illustrators, and book-making experts. The festival, which began in 2008, was started by the University of Iowa Main Library as a thank you to community members for helping to save the books of the library from the major floods of that year. The City of Literature organization took over the festival in 2012. Every year the festival includes a variety of authors from around the country and the globe and celebrates books and writing through a number of strong partnerships with community groups. The week-long festival features readings, author panels, a book fair, lectures, and performance. 

 

Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature also holds an annual celebration of children’s literature called One Book Two Book. The weekend-long celebration features a Children’s Book Fair, where attendees can meet with authors, discover new books, play with storybook characters, watch a play and be inspired by fun programming and writing workshops throughout the day. One Book Two Book also celebrates creative writing by outstanding young authors from around the community in grades 1-8. 

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