Eben Alexander will talk about his New York Times best-selling book, "Proof of Heaven," at noon Tuesday, Nov. 19, 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.

Darcie Dennigan and Farnoosh Fathi will read from their new books of poetry at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19, 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.

Kate Lebo will read from her debut collection, "A Commonplace Book of Pie," at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15, 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.

The University of Iowa School of Music will present “Looking for America: Blues and Politics,” a performance by Johnson County Landmark, a jazz orchestra under the direction of School of Music professor John Rapson, at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17, in the Englert Theatre in downtown Iowa City.

Nearly 6,000 flags flutter in a slight breeze as part of the display on the west side of the University of Iowa Pentacrest as part of the University of Iowa's Veteran Vitality celebration. The UI is flipping the traditionally somber tone of Veterans Day on its head and returning to its original upbeat, celebratory feel with a Hawaiian celebration.

Internationally renowned Darwin biographer James Moore will describe the manuscripts, unpublished family correspondence, notebooks, diaries, and ship logs that show abolitionism had deep roots in Darwin’s family. His lecture will take place at 5 p.m. in the Senate Chamber of the Old Capitol Museum on the University of Iowa campus.

On the west lawn of the University of Iowa Pentacrest, a giant letter "I" signifies not only the sacrifices, but also a celebration of veterans, which helps return the Veterans Day holiday to its celebratory roots, says UI Military and Veteran Education Specialist Allen Roberts.

The University of Iowa Center for New Music, housed within the UI School of Music, will present a Composers Workshop performance at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, in Riverside Recital Hall on the UI campus. The concert is free and open to the public.

The University of Iowa School of Music will present a performance by a graduate jazz combo and the Jazz Repertory Ensemble starting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, in The Mill in downtown Iowa City. Admission is $5 ($3 for UI students).

Growing up in a low-income neighborhood near Santiago, Chile, UI College of Engineering alumnus Marcelo Mena-Carrasco recalls playing in a creek polluted with trash and wastewater. When he discovered a scorecard from his own family's card game in the trash, he had an epiphany—he might be part of the problem, but he could also be part of the solution.

The University of Iowa will host scholar and lecturer Alexandre Dauge-Roth Monday, Nov. 11, at 6:30 p.m. in 315 Phillips Hall. Dauge-Roth will use documentary films to explore the voices of survivors and other topics related to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

The University of Iowa String Quartet Residency Program—coordinated by violist Elizabeth Oakes, lecturer in the UI School of Music—will welcome the Daedalus Quartet on campus Nov. 11-18, with the residency focusing on the theme of “music from exile.”