Final Thursday Reading Series

Back in the Fall for Season 22

The Final Thursday Reading Series returns to the Hearst Center for the Arts for its 22nd season. Join us in person for an open mic at 7:00 p.m. and featured readings starting at 7:30 p.m.  Stick around to have some coffee and check out books by regional authors.

Can't attend in person? Featured readings will be simulcast on Zoom. Click HERE to register once for Zoom links any/all of the featured readings (open mic is in-person only).

The Final Thursday Reading Series is a collaboration of Final Thursday Press, the Hearst Center for the Arts, the University of Northern Iowa Department of Languages & Literatures and the University of Northern Iowa College of Humanities, Arts & Sciences. Coffee is provided by Sidecar Coffee Roasters and cream is provided by Hansen's Farm Fresh Dairy.

Anne Myles
August 25

Anne Myles: Book Release Reading

Cover of What Woman That WasIn her debut poetry collection, What Woman That Was: Poems for Mary Dyer, poet and early American literature scholar Anne Myles writes both about and from the perspective of Mary Dyer, a 17th-century Quaker martyr who played a central role in the Antinomian controversy. Myles is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Northern Iowa and received an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her poems have appeared in On the Seawall, Whale Road Review, Lavender Review, Ekphrastic Review and numerous other journals.

Jim O'Loughlin
September 29

Jim O'Loughlin

Cover of The CordO'Loughlin is the author of the recently published science fiction novel, The Cord, which takes place on both ends of a future space elevator. He’s also the author of the firsthand account, The Last Caucus in Iowa, and the flash fiction collection, Dean Dean Dean Dean. He is the head of the UNI Department of Languages & Literatures.

Photo of Gary Eller
October 27

Gary Eller

Cover of True NorthEller is the author of the novel True North, which is set in the Turtle Mountains of North Dakota. He’s also the author of the short story collection, Thin Ice and Other Risks. His writing has appeared in many publications, and he is the winner of the River City Award in Fiction, the Fowler Prize, and the Minnesota Voices Award, among others.

Photo of Anesa Kajtazovic
November 17

Anesa Kajtazovic (one week early due to Thanksgiving)

Kajtazovic is the author of the children’s book War Changes Everything: My Life Leaving Bosnia, a firsthand account of her experience as a child during the Bosnian War. Kajtazovic is also a former member of the Iowa House of Representatives.

Fall 2022

Final Thursday Reading Series