Iowa Writers’ Workshop alumnus Bret Anthony Johnston, the University of Iowa’s first Frank N. Magid Visiting Writer in Residence, will read from his work at 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 1, in a free reading at Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City. The reading also will be streamed live on the UI Writing University website.

In addition to the Prairie Lights reading, Johnston will lead a discussion on the craft of teaching writing from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 2, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library. The talk is free and open to the public. His film Waiting for Lightning will be screened publicly that same day at 7 p.m. in the Bijou Cinema, followed by a Q&A session.

Johnston, director of creative writing at Harvard University, is best known for his award-winning debut story collection, Corpus Christi: Stories. The collection was named a Best Book of the Year by The Independent of London and The Irish Times, the collection has received the Southern Review's Annual Short Fiction Award, the Glasgow Prize for Emerging Writers, the Texas Institute of Letters' Debut Fiction Award, the Christopher Isherwood Prize, the James Michener Fellowship, and was shortlisted for Ireland's Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. In 2006, the National Book Foundation honored him with a National Book Award for writers under 35.

Johnston’s work appears in magazines such as Esquire, the Paris Review, Oxford American, and Tin House, and in anthologies such as Best American Short Stories and Prize Stories: the O. Henry Awards. He is a graduate of Miami University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship. He has written essays for the New York Times Magazine, the New York Times, Slate.com and NPR's All Things Considered.

This reading is sponsored by the Undergraduate Certificate in Writing Program. For more information or special accommodations to attend this reading, call Jan Weissmiller at Prairie Lights, 319-337-2681. Questions about Johnston’s visit (or about any of the other events) should be directed to the Frank N. Magid Undergraduate Writing Center at 319-384-1328. For a UI arts calendar and details about upcoming events visit the new Arts Iowa website.