5 amazing Iowa authors (+ which of their books we recommend)

Iowa’s rich literary culture has produced Pulitzer Prize winners and best-selling authors. Here are five Iowa authors and a book from each to read.

If Iowa isn’t the first place that comes to mind when you think of states producing great authors, maybe it should be.

Home to one of the most influential writing programs in the country, the University of Iowa has helped shape more than 40 Pulitzer Prize winners, seven poet laureates, and a long list of award-winning playwrights, screenwriters, journalists, translators, novelists, and poets. As you can guess, with such an incredible writing program, the depth of Iowa’s literary culture is quite exceptional, and has produced some of the greatest writers in the country.

Here are five of my favorites, plus a book from each one to add to your reading list.

1. Marilynne Robinson

Marilynne Robinson is perhaps one of the most renowned modern writers to come out of Iowa. From an early age, she fostered a love for writing. Her older brother, David, even predicted she’d grow up to be a writer and poet, and he was spot on.

Marilynne is renowned for her thoughtful and quiet approach to storytelling. She explores human nature, faith, and the deep connections between the two. Her work spans fiction and nonfiction, including novels, essays, poetry, and short stories.

Her first novel, “Housekeeping,” was published in 1980. It won the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for best first novel and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Years later, her widely acclaimed novel “Gilead,” set in Iowa, won the Pulitzer.

In addition to her writing, Marilynne Robinson taught at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop from 1991 until her retirement in 2016.

Gilead

“Sometimes I have loved the peacefulness of an ordinary Sunday. It is like standing in a newly planted garden after a warm rain. You can feel the silent and invisible life.”

“Gilead” falls somewhere between a memoir, a journal, and a fictional autobiography. It reads less like a traditional novel and more like a series of private letters meant for someone else. The narrator, John Ames, is a Congregationalist pastor in the fictional town of Gilead, Iowa. It’s 1956, and he’s dying of a heart condition. He writes these letters to his seven-year-old son, hoping his words will be read and understood once the boy is grown, when John is no longer around to have those conversations himself.

The letters are full of personal reflections on his past, his spiritual life, and his family’s long history. While “Gilead” is largely plotless, the prose and its beautiful, thoughtful meditations on the nature of happiness give the story a quiet momentum. As you read, you find yourself drawn into John Ames’s theological musings as they pose questions and encourage your own personal reflections.

2. Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson was born into a family of writers in Des Moines, Iowa. His father was a sports journalist, and his mother worked as a home furnishings editor. Like his parents, Bill began his career in journalism, working as a writer and news editor for various publications.

He’s best known for his nonfiction work, particularly on topics such as travel, science, and language. He gained popularity in 1995 with the publication of “Notes from a Small Island,” a witty portrait of life in Britain. Another of his most well-loved books, “A Short History of Nearly Everything,” dives into science and the universe in a way that’s equally accessible, informative, and entertaining.

My personal favorite is “A Walk in the Woods,” published in 1998 and later adapted into a film in 2015.

A Walk in the Woods 

“Life takes on a neat simplicity, too. Time ceases to have any meaning. When it is dark, you go to bed, and when it is light again you get up, and everything in between is just in between. It’s quite wonderful, really.”

If you love nature, hiking, and learning about the outdoors, “A Walk in the Woods” is for you. This nonfiction memoir will have you laughing and uncovering quirky corners of America alongside Bill Bryson and his buddy Katz. You’ll follow their journey along the Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine, through majestic mountains, shimmering rivers and lakes, and towering forests.

Along the way, Bryson weaves in fascinating facts about the trail’s history and ecology. Not only will you encounter the land, but you’ll also meet a cast of unique thru-hikers. The result is a story that’s funny, engaging, and even eye-opening. If you’ve been looking for a little inspiration to put on your hiking boots and head outside, “A Walk in the Woods” is where your search ends.

3. Frank Conroy 

Frank Conroy was a born reader and lifelong lover of words. When he was just twelve years old, his father passed away and left behind a collection of 700 hardcover books. That’s where Frank’s love of reading truly began. He devoured one or two books a day, foreshadowing his future as the director of literature at the National Endowment for the Arts and the longest-serving director of the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

In addition to his love for words, he had a passion for music and art. He played jazz piano, studied in Denmark, and spent time with artists in Paris. His first novel, “Stop-Time,” was published in 1967 and earned him literary acclaim. After that, he stepped away from fiction for a while, focusing on music and writing essays, screenplays, and magazine articles. Eventually, he made his way to teaching and moved to Iowa, where he wrote his next novel, “Body and Soul.”

Body and Soul

“Don’t be afraid of it. Learn it. Work hard. Do it seriously and try to get what you can out of it. Keep an open mind, and if in the end you decide to throw it away, you’ll be doing it from strength.”

“Body and Soul” is Frank Conroy’s imagined version of what his life might have looked like had he pursued music more seriously. The novel follows Claude Rawlings, a child piano prodigy growing up in 1940s New York. Claude escapes his difficult home life through music and through the kindness of those who step in to help him along the way.

At its core, this is a story about the redemptive power of music and its ability to bring healing and hope. But even if you’re not a musician or don’t typically gravitate toward music-centered novels, “Body and Soul” has a universal pull; Vanity Fair even called it “hypnotically readable.” More than a music-centered novel, it’s a human-centered coming-of-age story about persistence, talent, kindness, and finding light in the darkest places.

4. Claire Lombardo

Claire Lombardo, originally from Chicago, earned her MFA in fiction at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and lived in Iowa City for a time before moving to Minneapolis. Her first novel, “The Most Fun We Ever Had,” was published in 2021. It’s a big, polyphonic novel that tells a rich and complex family saga. Despite being her debut, it became an instant New York Times Best Seller and continues to be a popular read.

Her second novel, “Same as It Ever Was,” came out this past April and also hit the bestseller list right away. With just two books, Claire has already made a name for herself, and it’s clear that she’s just getting started.

Same as It Ever Was

“It was a cliché to be this person; she got bored just thinking about it, the sadness over nothing, the fact that she was resentful of the easiest life in the world. And yet she couldn’t help herself.”

We all know it: No family is perfect, but every family is complicated. Claire Lombardo leans into this truth in “Same as It Ever Was,” exploring themes of family dysfunction, marriage, and motherhood.

Our protagonist, Julia Almes, is fifty-seven and has seemingly held it all together through the ever-changing challenges of growing older, raising kids, and sustaining a long marriage. From the outside, her life looks ideal: a handsome husband, grown children, a beautiful home—what else could you need? But beneath the surface, Julia harbors self-doubt and quiet resentment, constantly questioning whether she deserves the life she’s built, and when it’s all going to come crashing down.

Just when it seems like she’s finally settled into a sense of peace, everything shifts. Her 24-year-old son makes an unexpected decision, her teenage daughter finds an affinity for acts of rebellion, and ghosts from her past resurface. “Same as It Ever Was” is a 500-page commitment, but its characters are believable, authentic, and unique; its plot is simultaneously slow and captivating, emotionally smart and emotionally messy.

5. Heather Gudenkauf

Heather Gudenkauf was born in South Dakota and moved to Iowa at the young age of three. Her first love was reading; it was her way to retreat from the world and escape into new ones. She went on to attend the University of Iowa, where she earned a degree in elementary education. Heather taught for many years and still works in education today as a reading coordinator.

Her debut novel, “The Weight of Silence,” was published in 2009 and became an instant New York Times Best Seller. Since then, she’s written ten more widely acclaimed books, all within the mystery and thriller genre. Her newest novel is set to be released in November 2025.

The Overnight Guest 

“It isn’t the dark you should be afraid of, the girl thought, it’s the monsters who step out into the light that you need to fear.”

No one likes being stuck in a snowstorm. And the protagonist of  “The Overnight Guest,” the true crime writer Wylie Lark, really doesn’t like being stuck in a snowstorm when she’s also trapped in a house that was the scene of a brutal murder twenty years earlier … the very crime she’s writing about.

Things take an even darker turn when she looks out the window and sees a half-frozen, half-crazed boy, wounded and terrified, standing alone in the snow.

The novel shifts between past and present, unraveling one long-buried mystery and two urgent, present-day ones, all connected. This spooky, fast-paced thriller will transport you straight into the freezing winter and isolated farmhouse in Burden, Iowa.