University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate Kate Christensen will read from her memoir, Blue Plate Special, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 7, in a free reading at Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City. The reading also will be streamed live on the University of Iowa Writing University website.

This memoir derives from Christensen’s popular foodcentric blog, in which she shares scenes from an unusual upbringing and an unusually happy present-day life.

Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl, Dark Places, and Sharp Objects, says, “I’ve often thought that eating, writing, and living well required similar qualities: creativity, daring, the ability to savor the good stuff and learn from the bad. Blue Plate Special is the memoir of an utterly original thinker, a free-spirited gourmand, and a great American writer. It’s an expert guide on inspiration, ingenuity, heartbreak, buoyancy, home, love, family, screwing up, bouncing back, and perfecting the bacon-cheddar biscuit.”

Christensen is the author of six novels, including The Epicure’s Lament, the PEN/Faulkner award-winning The Great Man, and The Astral. She is a graduate of Reed College and the Iowa Writers Workshop. Her essays, articles, reviews, and stories have appeared in many anthologies and periodicals, including The New York Times Book Review, O Magazine, Gilt Taste, Bookforum, Elle, The Wall Street Journal, Tin House, The Wilson Quarterly, The B&N Review, and Fivechapters.com.

The Iowa Writers’ Workshop is a graduate program in the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to attend this reading, call Jan Weissmiller at Prairie Lights in advance at 319-337-2681.

For a UI arts calendar and details about upcoming events visit the Arts Iowa website.