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 Spencer Lane Jones in a black dress

NWP MFA student Spencer Lane Jones featured in 5Q Interview

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

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

Monday, January 27, 2025

Kaveh Akbar's poem "Elegy for a Name" in the New Yorker

Monday, December 30, 2024

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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

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.

Krause Essay Prize Ceremony Celebrating Winners Grace Glass & Sasha Tycko

Thursday, February 27, 2025 7:30pm

Old Capitol Museum

The University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program is pleased to announce that writers Grace Glass and Sasha Tycko have won the 2024 Krause Essay Prize for their essay “Not One Tree,” which appeared in n+1. Sasha and Grace will be honored at the Krause Essay Prize award ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the University of Iowa Old Capitol Senate Chambers, where they will present their winning essay. There they will receive the Prize’s $10,000 award and each will receive an inscribed walnut letterbox. A dessert reception will follow.

The Case for Medieval Realism: Sodom, Babylon and Cleanness

Monday, March 3, 2025 1:30pm to 3:00pm

English-Philosophy Building

Criticism Today presents Professor Larry Scanlon (Rutgers University) as he explores the power and relevance of medieval realism in literature. Drawing on ideas from theorists like Roland Barthes and Marxist thinkers Fredric Jameson and Anna Kornbluh, Scanlon will discuss how late medieval texts — especially the poem Cleanness and its retelling of the Sodom story — offer fresh insights into realism and culture.

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.

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.