English

Why Iowa?

Immerse yourself in the world of literature, books, and creative writing–in a college and community obsessed with the written word.

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Build a Foundation

If you love reading and writing, you belong at Iowa. Declare the English or English and Creative Writing major, and join a community dedicated to exploring–and creating–great literature.

Build a Foundation

Develop your literary scholarship. Hone your creative writing. Delve into book studies. Harness the digital humanities. Prepare for success in the academy, public service, education, and the literary arts and professions.

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Learn from Experts

Our faculty are creating the future of the English disciplines, inspired by our storied past. They advance scholarship and artistry in a welcoming academic community internationally recognized for literary excellence.

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Top Public University for Writing

Iowa's strength in writing reaches new level in annual U.S. News & World Report ranking

photo of Kaveh Akbar in front of a bookshelf

Kaveh Akbar profiled in Iowa Now

Thursday, February 27, 2025

Kaveh Akbar, associate professor and director of the English and Creative Writing major at the University of Iowa, first drew acclaim for his poetry.

photo of Spencer Lane Jones in a black dress

NWP MFA student Spencer Lane Jones featured in 5Q Interview

Monday, February 10, 2025

The Writing University conducts a series of interviews with writers while they are in Iowa City participating in the various University of Iowa writing programs. We sit down with authors to ask about their work, their process and their descriptions of home.

Nine English Department faculty and graduate students present their research at the Modern Language Association Convention

Monday, January 27, 2025

English department faculty and grad students attended the 2025 MLA Annual Convention in New Orleans.

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Sydney Mayes english and creative writing student

"Iowa City is the place to be– specifically the University of Iowa–if you want to be a writer and if you want to have access to incredible resources around writing. The reputation is insane."

- Sydney Mayes, English and Creative Writing major

Hear Sydney's "Why Iowa"

Upcoming Events

Nonfiction Writing Program Alumni Reading Series: Laura Julier

Wednesday, March 12, 2025 7:00pm

Prairie Lights Books

Laura Julier, alum of the Nonfiction Writing Program will read from her new book Off Izaak Walton Road (University of New Mexico Press) at Prairie Lights Books on Wednesday, March 12 at 7 p.m.

Forms of Apocalypse

Tuesday, March 25, 2025 3:30pm to 5:00pm

English-Philosophy Building

William Rhodes, Assistant Professor of English, University of Iowa, will give a talk on apocalyptic literature and form as part of the "Criticism Today" lecture series.

English Department VIEWS: Jonathan Lethem Reading

Wednesday, March 26, 2025 7:00pm to 8:00pm

English-Philosophy Building

English Department VIEWS presents: Jonathan Lethem. Jonathan Lethem’s genre-defying fiction weaves the conventions of noirs, westerns, science fiction, and graphic novels into something both evocative and wholly original. The “bard of Brooklyn” (LitHub) is the author of more than a dozen books — including the much-lauded novels "Motherless Brooklyn" and "The Fortress of Solitude" — and the winner of a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant. Books will be available for purchase.

Krause Series in Contemporary Nonfiction: William Callahan

Wednesday, April 2, 2025 4:00pm

Nonfiction Writing House

Literary Agent William Callahan will be giving a Publishing Q&A at the Nonfiction Writing House on Wednesday, April 2 at 4 p.m.

Nonfiction Writing Program Alumni Reading Series: Torrey Peters

Saturday, April 5, 2025 3:00pm

Prairie Lights Books

Torrey Peters, alum of the Nonfiction Writing Program will read from her new book Stag Dance at Prairie Lights Books on Saturday, April 5th at 3:00 p.m. Reception to follow: Nonfiction Writing House - 530 N. Clinton St., Iowa City

Knowledge of Nothing: Apocalyptic Ekphrasis in The Flowers of Evil

Thursday, April 17, 2025 2:00pm to 3:30pm

English-Philosophy Building

Nathan Brown will be presenting. Nathan Brown is Professor of English and Canada Research Chair in Poetics at Concordia University, Montreal, where he directs the Centre for Expanded Poetics. He is the author of Baudelaire's Shadow: An Essay on Poetic Determination (MaMa, 2021); Rationalist Empiricism: A Theory of Speculative Critique (Fordham, 2021); and The Limits of Fabrication: Materials Science, Materialist Poetics (Fordham, 2017). His translation of Baudelaire's The Flowers of Evil was...

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