English

Why Iowa?

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

Learn More

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.

Expand Your Horizons

Instructor sitting in her office reviewing a paper with a student

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.

Learn from Experts

Top Public University for Writing

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

Melissa Febos in the New York Times

Monday, October 7, 2024

Kaveh Akbar on Time Magazine’s 2024 Time100 Next List

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

English faculty honored at CLAS ceremony

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

View More News

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

Missile Thinking, Space Dreaming: How Science Fiction Pacified the ICBM

Wednesday, October 16, 2024 3:30pm to 4:30pm

English-Philosophy Building

The Criticism Today Lecture Series presents "Missile Thinking, Space Dreaming: How Science Fiction Pacified the ICBM" with Assistant Professor Tom Lin. Tom Lin is author of The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu (Little, Brown, 2021), which won the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and was a finalist for the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Award and the Northern California Book Reviewers’ Award in Fiction. His scholarly research investigates the role of science fiction and...

Krause Series in Contemporary Nonfiction: Kristen Radtke, Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor

Thursday, October 31, 2024 7:00pm

Nonfiction Writing House

The Nonfiction Writing Program is pleased to present a reading with alum Kristen Radtke, author of Seek You and Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor. Join us Thursday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. for a reading, followed by conversation and a reception. This reading is part of the Krause Series in Contemporary Nonfiction.

Of Black Waters and Happy Islands: Visions of the Terraqueous Globe in Early Modernity

Friday, November 1, 2024 3:15pm to 5:00pm

English-Philosophy Building

Hillary Eklund is Professor of English at Grinnell College, where she specializes in literatures of the 16th and 17th centuries. She has written or edited several books and articles on early modern literature, colonialism, and racial and environmental justice. Her current book project describes how wetlands, often perceived as nature’s mistakes, both compel and elude human designs in the seventeenth century. Wetlands, she argues, demonstrate a series of “unfast” countermoves to the fast violence...

Krause Series in Contemporary Nonfiction: Q&A with Editor Vanessa Haughton

Friday, November 8, 2024 1:00pm

Nonfiction Writing House

The Nonfiction Writing Program presents a Publishing Q&A event with Vanessa Haughton, editor at Alfred A. Knopf. Join us at the Nonfiction Writing House (530 N. Clinton St.) on Friday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. for the conversation, which is part of the Krause Series in Contemporary Nonfiction. This event is open to MFA students and undergraduate writers.

Lyz Lenz and Tom Lin: Reading and Q&A

Wednesday, November 13, 2024 6:00pm to 7:00pm

English-Philosophy Building

Books will be for sale at the event. Refreshments provided. Lyz Lenz is a New York Times bestselling author, whose writing has appeared in The Washington Post, the Columbia Journalism Review, The New York Times, and others. Her book God Land was published in 2019, through Indiana University Press. Her second book Belabored, was published in 2020 by Bold Type Books. Lyz’s essay “All the Angry Women” was also included in the anthology Not that Bad edited by Roxane Gay. Her third book, This...

Krause Series in Contemporary Nonfiction: Dodie Bellamy

Friday, February 21, 2025 7:00pm

Nonfiction Writing House

The Nonfiction Writing Program presents a reading with Dodie Bellamy, NWP Bedell Distinguished Visiting Professor and author of numerous books including When the Sick Rule the World. Join us at the Nonfiction Writing House (530 N. Clinton St.) on Friday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. for the reading, which is part of the Krause Series in Contemporary Nonfiction.

More English Events

Writers' Workshop Events

Magid Center Events

Cinematic Arts Events

Theatre Arts Events