Blaine Greteman, professor and chair, breaks down the meaning and origin of the term "liberal arts" in this submission to The Conservation.

NWP alumni Douglas Hesse (MA 1980, PhD 1986) and Laura Julier (PhD 1988) have put together a new book both celebrating nonfiction and honoring esteemed professor, and long-time chair of the University of Iowa's English Department, Richard Lloyd-Jones. 

A round-up of Nonfiction Writing Program alumni publications, awards, and other successes.

At last! On Friday, September 22, the NWP will hold a formal dedication of its brand-new building. The ceremony will feature speeches by the University of Iowa President, the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, a student representative, and the Nonfiction Writing Program’s Director.

This summer, the NWP received a $450,000 bequest to help start a series of summer fellowships for NWP students.

This Fall the NWP welcomes Sarah Viren, NWP alum and author of To Name the Bigger Lie: A Memoir in Two Stories, in September; and essayist Margo Steines, author of Brutalities, in October. Both will give readings at Prairie Lights Books and participate in conversations as part of the Krause Series in Contemporary Nonfiction.

The Nonfiction Writing Program is excited to welcome two incredible artists and thinkers to its permanent faculty: the writers Tisa Bryant and Sarah Minor.

Are pregnancy and childbirth the most or least natural things we do? At the heart of Louisa Hall’s brainily visceral new novel is a reading of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as a book whose uncanny energy is forged in the crucible of reproduction.

In Spring 2023, the NWP welcomed writer Jordan Kisner, as the 2022-23 Bedell Distinguished Visiting Professor. This coming Spring, nonfiction writer and poet Paisley Rekdal will join the NWP in Spring 2024 as the 2023-24 Bedell Distinguished Visiting Professor.