Welcome to the Iowa Summer Writing Festival online!
We are currently planning our June and July online workshops. We'll post the courses on our ISWF Online Workshop Storefront as we're planning.
All June workshops are available to view now. Our full roster of July workshops will be available to view by Tuesday, June 8.
Registration for June workshops opens Tuesday, June 1 at 1:00 p.m. Central Time.
View (and enroll in) all online workshops here: ISWF Online Workshops Storefront.
How to enroll in Online Workshops in the Festival
To enroll in online workshops, go to the ISWF Online Workshops Storefront in UI Learn/Canvas Catalog. Each course has a listing with complete details, including the dates, course description, instructor bio, registration fees, and the date enrollment for the course opens. When enrollment for the course has opened, an "enroll" button will appear with the course. Click the enroll button! If you don't have an account in Canvas already, you'll be prompted to create one (you will use this same account if you take other courses later). You will then be directed to enter your payment information.
For online courses in the Festival, this is the only method to enroll. We're not able to enroll you by phone on this particular platform.
Refund & Cancellation Policy
If you need to cancel your enrollment in a Festival class, please let us know as soon as possible. We can only offer full refunds if you cancel two weeks prior to the start of class. After that, before the start date of class, we can offer a 50% refund. We cannot refund day-of cancellations, and we cannot refund or partially refund tuition once the class has begun.
Terms and Community Policy
The Iowa Summer Writing Festival is a community built on an assumption of shared enterprise, in the spirit of mutual respect. We reserve the right to a) revoke the registration of or b) dismiss from the program any person who disrupts the learning/working environment of others. Participants in the Festival are subject to all University of Iowa policies governing conduct in our community, whether online or in person.
May workshops currently underway:
Revisioning Your Story with Karen Bender (Five-Week Workshop)
Mondays on Zoom, May 10–June 14, 2021
5:30–8:00 p.m. Iowa/Central Time (6:30–9:00 p.m. Eastern, 3:30–6:00 p.m. Pacific; 4:30–7:00 p.m. Mountain)
Openings: An Advanced Novel Workshop with Robert Anthony Siegel (Five-Week Workshop)
Tuesdays on Zoom, May 11–June 8, 2021
6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. Iowa/Central Time (7:00–9:00 Eastern; 4:00–6:00 Pacific; 5:00–7:00 Mountain)
Memory & Imagination: A Workshop for Advanced Poets with Jude Nutter (Six-Week Workshop)
Wednesdays on Zoom May 12–June 16, 2021
6:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. Iowa/Central Time (7:00–10:00 Eastern; 4:00–7:00 Pacific; 5:00–8:00 Mountain)
The Novella Workshop with Sharon Oard Warner (Five–Week Workshop)
This workshop meets twice weekly. Mondays and Thursdays on Zoom: May 17–June 17, 2021
5:30–7:00 p.m. Iowa/Central Time (6:30–8:00 Eastern; 3:30–5:00 Pacific; 4:30–6:00 Mountain)
PRIOR WORKSHOPS ONLINE:
Advanced Novel Workshop: Conflict, Plot & Structure with Kelly Dwyer (Five-Week Workshop)
Advanced Tools of Craft for Writers of Fiction & Memoir with Sands Hall (Six-Week Workshop)
The Propulsive Plot: Strategies for Building Suspense in the Novel with Debra Jo Immergut (Five-Week Workshop)
Losing “Your” Voice: The Art of Imitation in Poetry with Jared Joseph (Five-Week Workshop)
How to Start Your Memoir with Robert Siegel (Five-Week Workshop)
Finding Your Story: A Weekend Intensive with Karen Bender (Weekend Workshop)
Poetry Across the Wires with Katie Ford (Five-Week Workshop)
Flash Fiction in a Flash: Writing (and Submitting) Publishable Flash Fiction with Kelly Dwyer