Novelists Steven Torriano Berry and Elizabeth Crane will read from their new books in free June 27 and 28 events at Prairie Lights Books. The 7 p.m. readings will be streamed live on the University of Iowa’s website for the Virtual Writing University.

On Wednesday, June 27, Berry will read from Tears, a novel that explores the relationship of two young boys as they grow into young men, and the lasting impact of racism on their lives. Crane will read from We Only Know So Much, her debut that follows four generations of a weird family, on Thursday, June 28.

S. Torriano Berry

Berry, who was raised in Des Moines, is an award winning filmmaker and associate professor at Howard University’s department of radio, television, and film. He has created and produced Black Independent Showcase, a television series for independent and student films, and has produced two, short, made-for-television movies for WPVI-TV 6 in Philadelphia.

He also wrote, produced and directed the feature film Embalmer, and directed the first Belizean dramatic series.

Elizabeth Crane

Crane is the author of the story collections When the Messenger Is Hot, All This Heavenly Glory, and You Must Be This Happy to Enter. Her work has been featured in Other Voices, Nerve, the Florida Review, the Bat City Review, Ecotone, McSweeney’s The Future Dictionary of America, The Best Underground Fiction, and elsewhere.

Her work has been adapted for the stage by Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater, and has also been adapted for cinema. She teaches in the University of California, Riverside Palm Desert low-residency MFA writing program.

For accommodations at the live events, contact jan@prairielights.com