Writers’ Workshop graduate Bob Shacochis on Monday was named a finalist for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Shacochis was nominated for his work "The Woman Who Lost Her Soul." The 2014 prize went to Donna Tartt, for her best-selling novel "The Goldfinch." Pulitzer winners and finalists are announced simultaneously.

Ann C. Gunter, professor of art history, classics, and humanities at Northwestern University, will give a free, public lecture at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, in Room 116 of Art Building West.

University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate Zach Savich and Hannah Brooks-Motl will read from their new books of poetry at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 23, 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.

Andrea Miller has found a choreographic voice of her own after her time in Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company. That voice will be heard loud and clear when University of Iowa’s Hancher presents Gallim Dance at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 24 and Friday, April 25 at Space Place Theate.

The School of Art and Art History will hold its biennial Grant Wood Symposium, “Revolt Against the City: Midwestern Culture in Hard Times,” April 25 and 26 at Art Building West. The symposium will feature an exhibition by Grant Wood Art Colony Fellows and much more.

The performing arts component of University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Project Art will present a performance by cellist Nicholas Canellakis, pianist Michael Brown, and bassist Mark Bernat at noon Monday, April 28, in the atrium of the John Colloton Pavilion at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. The performance is free and open to the public.

Visiting artist Dennis Farber's public lecture scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, April 24, in Room 116 of Art Building West has been canceled.

Joshua DeMonte will discuss digital fabrication technology when he presents the latest University of Iowa Museum of Art SmartTalk Thursday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m. in 240 Art Building West.

Dave Bein, a third-year mechanical engineering major originally from Silvis, Ill., has been named the State of Iowa student employee of the year, one of seven University of Iowa students recognized for exemplary performance in campus jobs.

The University of Iowa School of Music will present a free performance by the UI Latin Jazz Ensemble at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 21, in Riverside Recital Hall on the UI campus.

Comments from a NASCAR driver and a meeting between a heart transplant recipient and the family of her donor will highlight the annual Donate Life celebration at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics beginning at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15.

Gifts and grants is a roundup of research grants obtained by University of Iowa faculty, staff, and students that spans the spectrum of disciplines—from science and social science to the art and that humanities—that will be published in Iowa Now on a regular basis.