Register for a workshop
One-hour writing workshops offered by MFA students and graduates from across the University of Iowa’s renowned writing programs (between 12 and 3 pm).
We encourage guests to register for our workshops in advance: this will help your instructor best prepare for your class, and will make sure that no workshops get overcrowded.
Flash fiction
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Poetry
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Fiction
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Memoir
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Children's books
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Flash fiction * Poetry * Fiction * Memoir * Children's books *
12-1 pm
Generative Poetry Sprint
with Margaret Yapp
In this one-hour class, members will participate in a fast-paced and exciting marathon of generative and editing exercises that build on each other. We will do writing exercises that feel more familiar, of course, but we will also experiment with drawing and movement techniques to spark new ideas. This class is less focused on workshopping poems, and more focused on creating new work. Participants will walk away with a lot of new writing, new ideas, and new editing techniques to push their work even farther after the class is over.
About the instructor
Margaret Yapp is the author of Green for Luck (EastOver Press, 2024) and the founding editor of Rampage Party Press. She has an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and an MFA in Book Arts from the University of Iowa Center for the Book. Recent poems can be found in Bennington Review, VOLT, Noir Sauna, and Broken Stone Review. She lives and works in Iowa City.
1-2 pm
Research for Fiction Writing
with Tyrone Aragón
This workshop explores how you can transform research into believable fiction without losing narrative momentum. Whether you are writing speculative fiction, psychological narratives, historical novels or just a story that cross a specific field, research is not just about accuracy —it is about creating depth, texture, and more important: credibility. We will get focus on key technique, bibliography, concrete examples (authors and their work), exercises (turning facts into story) and reading recommendations.
About the instructor
Tyrone Aragón (Managua, 1996) is a physician, medical researcher and fiction writer. Finalist of the Miami Book Fair Emerging Writer Fellowship (2025). Fellow of the International Writing Program (IWP) Emerging Voices / Mentorship Program (2024), Tyrone is currently a graduate student of the MFA in Spanish Creative Writing in The University of Iowa.
The Shape of Memory
with Ergisa Xhuveli
In this one-hour generative workshop, our goal will be to generate two pieces of raw memoir material. We will practice turning memory into scene, and using sensory descriptions to add texture to our writing. Students will come away from this class with a framework for how to choose which memories to write about and how to animate those memories for an audience.
About the instructor
Ergisa Xhuveli is an Albanian writer who grew up in Queens, NY. She is a graduating third year in the Nonfiction Writing Program, and spends most of her creative energy interpreting her memories and dreams into art for other people. The art she loves the most is honest and weird and she cannot wait to read your writing.
2-3 pm
Micro- and Flash Fiction
with Raquel Martinez
Flash and micro fiction rely on precision: curated language, lingering imagery, and the implication of a world beyond the page. What makes a story? How can a writer evoke a full experience in just a few sentences? In this generative workshop, we’ll explore these questions while experimenting with the art of brevity.
Together, we’ll read and discuss works of flash, consider what defines the form, and highlight craft elements. The session will end in a writing exercise, with time to share and reflect.
About the instructor
Raquel Elizabeth Martinez is a Nicaraguan-American fiction writer of genre-bending stories, magical realism, and sci-fi. She is a second year MFA candidate in Fiction at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.