IOWA CITY, IOWA

With a literary pedigree rivaling that of Chicago and New York, Iowa City is home to the Iowa Writers' Workshop, the University's Program in Creative Nonfiction, the International Writing Program, the Playwrights Workshop, and the Center for the Book. That's quite a resume for a town of just under sixty-thousand. If all the Pulitzer Prize winners and National Book Award recipients who have taught or studied here came back into town they could field a football team, but that would be a bad idea. To see how much Iowa City values its writers, all you need to do is stroll down its main street, Iowa Avenue, and look at the recently completed Literary Walk--a series of bronze relief panels that honor forty-nine writers with ties to Iowa--including Kurt Vonnegut, Flannery O'Connor, and Rita Dove.

Though most of your time will be spent in scheduled activities, participants will have plenty of time to experience life in Iowa City. This is a busy, picturesque college town with several coffee houses, movie theaters, a mall, and shops to visit. The pace of life slows in the summer. It seems that walking through the Ped Mall with an ice cream cone on a summer evening is everyone's favorite thing to do.

The Studio will organize outings to local plays and concerts. The Writers' Workshop and Prairie Lights Bookstore host their own reading series. You will also have the chance to hear visiting writers give informal talks and presentations about the craft of writing and the writing life.

GETTING HERE:

The Young Writers' Studio is easily reached by car. Iowa City is 250 miles west of Chicago and 110 miles east of Des Moines on Interstate 80.

The Eastern Iowa Regional Airport in Cedar Rapids is served by most major airlines, including United, Northwest, American Eagle and US Air Express. The Studio will provide a shuttle from the airport on arrival and departure days.

The Greyhound Bus Terminal in Iowa City is eight blocks from the residence hall, and the Studio will arrange to meet students on arrival and departure days.

Amtrak serves Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Mt. Pleasant is forty miles away from Iowa City and taxi service (approx. $50 one-way) to The University of Iowa campus must be arranged before arrival. The Studio cannot provide transportation to or from the train station, and does not recommend this form of transportation.