Two-time Emmy Award-winner Marcos Villatoro will present a free reading at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, in the Frank Conroy Reading Room of the Glenn Schaeffer Library, adjacent to the Dey House.

Author Natalie Brown will read from her debut novel, "The Lovebird," at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, 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 2013-14 season of International Programs’ WorldCanvass series begins with a program focused on human rights and the arts. The live event takes place on Friday, Sept. 20, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Senate Chamber of the Old Capitol Museum.

"Others Had It Worse: Sour Dock, Moonshine, and Hard Times in Davis County, Iowa" by Chris Baker, alumnus of the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication, is now available from the University of Iowa Press.

University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop alumnus Peter Orner will present a free reading at 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16, in the Frank Conroy Reading Room of the Glenn Schaeffer Library, adjacent to the Dey House. He will read from "Last Car Over Sagamore Bridge," his second collection of short stories.

Chris Baker, alumnus of the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication, will read from his new book, "Others Had It Worse: Sour Dock, Moonshine, and Hard Times in Davis County, Iowa," at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 5, in a free reading at Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City.

Eric Linsker of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Alexandria Peary of Londonderry, N.H., have been named 2013 recipients of the prestigious Iowa Poetry Prize. Linsker's collection, "La Far," and Peary's collection, "Control Bird Alt Delete," will both be published in March 2014 by the University of Iowa Press.

Geoffrey G. O’Brien, graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, will read from "People on Sunday" at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 9, 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.

Doug Trevor, former editor of "The Iowa Review," will read from his novel "Girls I Know," at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, 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.

Russian teenagers have been spending two weeks learning the craft of writing at one of America's best literary arts institutions.