T.C. Boyle Interviewed in Wag’s Review

June 30, 2009

Photo by Milo Boyle, Santa Barbara CA, 2003

In the latest issue of the online magazine Wag's Revue, the editor talks with author T.C. Boyle, recent inductee into the Arts Academy and Iowa Writers' Workshop alum, about his writing influences, his relationship with Raymond Carver and his sartorial flair. Boyle discusses the process behind his work and connections between his writing and music:

"I was a student at Iowa when I wrote 'Stones in my Passway, Hellhound on my Trail.' The entirety of the research consisted of listening to the [Robert Johnson] album twelve million times, reading the liner notes twice, and deciding—seeing, knowing—the true version of Robert Johnson’s death. For period detail I went down to Gabe & Walker’s [now The Picador in Iowa City] where my friend Blue Phil Ajioka was taking a break between sets and asked, 'Phil, what kind of guitar did Robert Johnson play?' Phil said, in his bluesman’s basso, 'That’d be a Harmony Sovereign.' Story over."

Read the full interview here: Wag's Revue

T. C. Boyle is the author of 20 books of fiction. Among numerous honors, he has received the PEN/Faulkner award for his novel World's End and six O. Henry Awards for short fiction. He corresponded with Wag's Revue fiction editor Will Litton via email.

Iowa Writers' Workshop | Alumni | Fiction
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Marilynne Robinson Wins Orange Prize

June 25, 2009

University of Iowa Writers' Workshop faculty member Marilynne Robinson has been awarded the Orange Prize for Fiction for her third novel, "Home," which acts as the companion to her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "Gilead." Robinson surpassed five other fiction writers from around the world for the Orange honor, drawing all of the judges to a unanimous decision. Fi Glover, chair of judges, described "Home" as a "kind, wise, enriching novel" that was "exquisitely crafted." Glover added, "We were unanimously agreed -- it is a profound work of art." Read more...

In addition to this, a new episode of "Conversations from the Iowa Writers' Workshop" featuring Marilynne Robinson will air this summer on the Big 10 Network. You can watch the full interview with Robinson on the Center for Media website, which houses an archive of all previous UI programs.

Iowa Writers' Workshop | Faculty | Fiction
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New Flannery O’Connor Graduate Fellowships Provide Aid for Writers’ Workshop Students

June 18, 2009

Flannery O'Connor in Iowa, 1946

After Flannery O'Connor graduated in 1947 from the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop, she became a major force in American literature. A new fellowship fund in the late writer's name will now help the Workshop aid other writers with similar potential.

The Flannery O'Connor Graduate Fellowship Fund was initiated by a gift commitment to the UI Foundation from the Ralph Schultz Family Foundation of Waterloo, Iowa. The endowed fund will increase the level of assistance available to Writers' Workshop students and affirm the program's commitment to developing promising writers regardless of financial means.

"As the model for creative-writing programs worldwide, the Iowa Writers' Workshop has long been the destination of choice for talented writers who wish to hone their craft," Workshop director Lan Samantha Chang said. "To preserve that distinction, we must provide the kind of financial support that will make it possible for the very best writers in the country to keep coming to Iowa." Read more...

Iowa Writers' Workshop | Alumni
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Iowa Public Radio Donates ‘Live from Prairie Lights’ Recordings to UI Libraries

June 16, 2009

Iowa Public Radio has donated all of the original recordings of "Live from Prairie Lights" to the UI Libraries. Eighteen years and 1,800 programs were captured on CD, mini disc and reel-to-reel. Stewardship of these materials is part of the libraries' ongoing commitment to record and make accessible the intellectual output of the university.

"These recordings document an outstanding series of readings," said Greg Prickman, assistant head of Special Collections at the UI Libraries. "We are grateful to Iowa Public Radio for ensuring their long-term preservation by making this donation."

"We are proud to partner with the University Libraries on this project," said Joan Kjaer, Iowa Public Radio director of communications. "This partnership provides an exceptional opportunity for all kinds of people - scholars, writers, readers, fans of the show - to have permanent access to conversations with the world's best authors."

Currently 250 of these recordings, including the first reading with Mary Swander and Jane Anne Straw, are available online in the Iowa Digital Library (http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/vwu). Eventually, the entire series will be digitized and freely available via the Iowa Digital Library. Read more...

"Live from Prairie Lights" Audio Archive | UI Libraries
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Live Discussion: UI Nonfiction’s Robin Hemley Online Chat

June 11, 2009

As the first session in a series of moderated Writing University 'Live Discussions', we hosted a chat with Robin Hemley, faculty member of the Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa. Robin conversed with readers about a variety of literary topics, including his new book 'Do Over!,' in which he attempts to repair the major embarrassments of his childhood and adolescence, as well as the international action spurred by his McSweeney's article 'The Great Book Blockade'.

>> Read the archived live discussion here.

Faculty | Nonfiction | Nonfiction Writing Program
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‘Elevenses’ Literary Hour Opens the Iowa Summer Writing Festival to the Public

June 01, 2009

Beginning June 7, the 'Elevenses' Literary Hour will open the Iowa Summer Writing Festival to the public, with free presentations of interest to writers by festival faculty at 11 a.m. every weekday that the festival is in session, in Room 101 of the University of Iowa Biology Building East.

Elevenses presentations might include aspects of craft, of process, of the writing life or of publishing. There will be a different presenter each day. Fridays in the 'Elevenses' series are reserved for a faculty reading.

Week-long sessions of the Iowa Summer Writing Festival begin June 7, with weekly sessions every week through July 20-24, with the exception of Independence Day week. Visit the Iowa Summer Writing Festival website for more information.

Fiction | Nonfiction | Poetry | Summer Writing Festival
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Workshop Alum Rao’s Novel ‘In Hanuman’s Hands’ Reviewed

May 29, 2009

Iowa Writers' Workshop graduate Srinivas Cheeni Rao's new memoir, In Hanuman's Hands, received a detailed review in a recent edition of the Chicago Reader. Weaving its way through the novel's plot, (which describes Rao's belief that Hanuman, the Hindu monkey deity, helped him through his trials with drug addiction and homelessness), the Chicago Reader explores the tapestry of spiritual events described in the text:

"As a toddler, Srinivas 'Cheeni' Rao was snatched out of a car’s path by a stranger who delivered him to the arms of his terrified mother, touched her cheek, and vanished. 'She often says she knew it was a god,' Rao says. 'The moment he touched her, she knew.'

"At Lyons Township High School, he was 'an exceptional student, the top of my class, an athlete,' Rao says. But what he describes in his memoir as his 'Indian immigrant high-achiever mask' covered up 'two suicide attempts in high school, my nighttime addiction to breaking and entering houses, [and] that I’d burned my neighbor’s house down in a fit of rage.' Maybe it was Hanuman who miraculously kept him out of jail." read more...

Read >> Chicago Reader review: How’s Your Relationship With the Monkey God?

Iowa Writers' Workshop | Alumni | Nonfiction
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