IWU English

Congratulations to Prof. Joanne Diaz on the publication of her latest book, Electric Dress, winner of the Barrow Street Editors' Prize! 🎉
https://barrowstreet.org/press/shop/

"In Electric Dress, Joanne Diaz jolts through history like a current, bringing with her the ideas of art, nature, stasis, and progress, considering what’s beautiful and what’s grotesque. Drawing from archival material and visual art objects, Diaz grapples with the personal and the geographical, insisting on the ways we are tied to our pasts and to our landscapes. Electric Dress is a powerful critique of technology, movement, and aesthetics, negotiating together what we inherit and what we wish to disavow."

We are excited to welcome author Ron Rindo to campus on Tuesday, April 14! Ron will discuss his highly acclaimed latest novel, Life, & Death, & Giants. A reception and book signing will follow the talk.

Students in attendance can enter a drawing to win one of two copies of Life, & Death, & Giants!

Help us kick off the IWU Festival of the Arts by attending a reading by our three creative writing contest winners! The reading will take place on Friday, April 10, from 4:30-5:15 p.m. in Ames Beckman Auditorium.

Check out https://www.iwu.edu/alumni/events/arts-festival.html for the full schedule of events!

Get ready for an inspiring day of poetry! Join us on Thursday, April 9, for the 2026 Spoon River Poetry Review's Lucia Getsi Poetry Conversation and Reading.

4:00 p.m.: Poetry Conversation, IWU Ames Beckman Auditorium, featuring poet Aaron Coleman in conversation with Professor Joanne Diaz.

6:00 p.m.: Poetry Reading at University Galleries, Uptown Normal, with poets Aaron Coleman and Vasvi Kejriwal.

7:30-9:00 p.m.: Reception and book signing at Medici restaurant, Uptown Normal.

All three events are free and open to all!

In preparation for these events, join us for the Aaron Coleman reading group on April 2! RSVP to [email protected] and visit the QR code to explore the poems that we will discuss.