Internationally acclaimed author Yiyun Li won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for her resonant memoir\, Things in Nature Merely Grow\, a deeply moving account of losing her younger son to suicide a little more than six years after her older son died in the same manner.
The Princeton University professor is the author of 12 books — and was a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. In addition\, she is the recipient of the PEN/Faulkner Award\, a PEN/Malamud Award\, a PEN/Hemingway Award\, a PEN/Jean Stein Book Award\, a MacArthur Fellowship\, and a Windham-Campbell Prize. Time Magazine also included Li on its list of 100 Most Influential People for 2026.
Melissa Febos\, director of the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program\, will join Li in conversation. Febos is the national bestselling author of five books and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship\, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship\, and the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism.
This event is possible due to generous support from University of Iowa Professor Emerita Linda Maxson and her husband\, Rick. It is being held in conjunction with the Iowa City Book Festival.
Literary Legends represents a special collaboration among the UI Nonfiction Writing Program\, Iowa Writers’ Workshop\, UI Lecture Committee\, University of Iowa Center for Advancement\, and Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature.
X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=TEXT/HTML:Internationally acclaimed author Yiyun Li won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for her resonant memoir\, Things in Nature Merely Grow\, a deeply moving account of losing her younger son to suicide a little more than six years after her older son died in the same manner.
The Princeton University professor is the author of 12 books — and was a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. In addition\, she is the recipient of the PEN/Faulkner Award\, a PEN/Malamud Award\, a PEN/Hemingway Award\, a PEN/Jean Stein Book Award\, a MacArthur Fellowship\, and a Windham-Campbell Prize. Time Magazine also included Li on its list of 100 Most Influential People for 2026.
Melissa Febos\, director of the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program\, will join Li in conversation. Febos is the national bestselling author of five books and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship\, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship\, and the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism.
This event is possible due to generous support from University of Iowa Professor Emerita Linda Maxson and her husband\, Rick. It is being held in conjunction with the Iowa City Book Festival.
Literary Legends represents a special collaboration among the UI Nonfiction Writing Program\, Iowa Writers’ Workshop\, UI Lecture Committee\, University of Iowa Center for Advancement\, and Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature.
DTSTART:20261023T193000 DTEND:20261020T132501 SUMMARY:Literary Legends Featuring Pulitzer Prize Winner Yiyun Li (00MS\, 05MFA) DTSTAMP:20261020T132501 UID:6ad7c00d1c032 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR