Iowa City Book Festival

IOWA CITY - When Marilynne Robinson's first novel, 'Housekeeping,” a meditative story of two sisters raised by their eccentric Aunt, was released in 1980, it was not predicated to be a hit - or even draw many reviews. But her agent pursued publication anyway: There was a beauty in Robinson's language that couldn't be ignored, a heartbreaking truth in the characters. Readers - and critics - agreed, and Housekeeping surpassed all initial expectations and was named a finalist for the Pulitzer.

But instead of continuing to write fiction, Robinson spent the next 20 years writing essays on theology, philosophy and politics: Mother Country: the Welfare State, and Nuclear Pollution (1989), an exhilarating treatise on the public health and environmental repercussions of Sellafield nuclear processing plant in England, and The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought (1998), a collection of her theological writing.

Robinson unflinchingly explores what it means to be human in both her non-fiction and fiction. She is unabashed in her pursuit of truth. In a 2008 interview with The Paris Review, she reflected: 'I write something and think, How do I know that's true? If I wrote what I thought I knew from the outset, then I wouldn't be learning anything new.”

Robinson has lived in Iowa for 20 years, teaching at the Writer's Workshop at the University of Iowa. In recent years, Robinson has turned her attention back to fiction and has explored the fictional town of Gilead, Iowa, through the eyes of the aged Reverend John Ames ('Gilead,” 2004), his best friend's daughter, Glory ('Home,” 2008), and now Reverend Ames' much-younger wife, Lila ('Lila,” 2014). Robinson won both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Gilead, and the Orange Prize for Home. Her latest book, 'Lila,” has recently been nominated for the National Book Award.

Each of these novels is an exploration of character, proving if you look close enough into the life of the most ordinary of men, you will find a story of Biblical proportions - a story worthy of Robinson.

Robinson will read from Lila and discuss the work with her former student, novelist Ayana Mathis, author of 'The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, ”on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Englert Theatre as part of the Iowa City Book Festival. The event is free; no tickets are needed.

The free four-day festival in Iowa Citybegins on Thursday with a special free event featuring the self-proclaimed 'Demon Dog of American Crime Fiction” James Ellroy (details on page 15).

There is something for everyone on Saturday, with more than 20 author events, a book fair featuring more than two dozen vendors and authors, children's activities, and more. Other authors appearing include poet Marilyn Chin ('Hard Love province”), novelist Marlon James ('A Brief History of Seven Killings”), crime novelist Craig McDonald ('Forever's Just Pretend”), essayist June Melby ('My Family and Other Hazards”), and Levi Stahl (editor of 'The Getaway Car: A Donald Westlake Nonfiction Miscellany”).

Saturday closes with a presentation by Reyna Grande, author of the memoir 'The Distance Between Us,” the 2014 selection in the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights' One Community One Book project. She will speak at 7:30 p.m. in room C20 of the Pomerantz Center on the UI campus.

Oct. 5 is the 'Day in the City of Literature,” beginning with the launch of Smiley's 'Some Luck” at the Englert Theatre at 1 p.m. Smiley will be followed on the Englert stage at 3 p.m. by a celebration of the 200th anniversary of Sir Walter Scott's 'Waverley” novels. This free literary and musical performance of Scottish culture will be narrated by Alan Riach, professor of Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow and Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor at UI. The program will include readings, music, songs and dances from and inspired by Scott's work.

Rounding out the Day in the City of Literature is a wide array of readings at downtown businesses and other locations. Highlights include a reading by writers published as part of Little Village's 'Hot Tin Roof” project, and the annual, festival-closing Roast of Iowa City.

For specific times and locations for festival events, or to learn more about programs and authors, visitIowacitybookfestival.org or Facebook.com/iowacitybookfestival or Twitter (Twitter.com/iowacitybookfest).