Exploring More Iowa Authors
Time: Wednesdays, 1-3 PM
Four Sessions: May 2, 9, 16, 23
Location: Urbandale Public Library, Room A
Cost: $48
Class Limit: 30 Students
This class, first offered in Fall 2011, continues a series of presentations by Iowa authors.
May 2: Mary Swander will play the banjo and read from her two most recent books: The Girls on the Roof, a Mississippi River saga filled with folklore, intrigue and humor; and How I Got My Dog, non-fiction vignettes about living among the Amish. Swander’s memoir, The Desert Pilgrim, was a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. She is the author of three books of poetry and a book of literary interviews, Parsnips in the Snow, which was named one of the best books of 1990 by Publishers Weekly. She is the recipient of numerous awards and in 2009 was appointed Poet Laureate of the State of Iowa. Ms. Swander received her M.F.A. from the University of Iowa Writers Workshop. She is a professor of English and a distinguished professor of liberal arts and sciences at Iowa State University. She lives in an old Amish schoolhouse, raises geese, goats and a large organic garden and enjoys playing the banjo.
May 9: Mary Kay Shanley will discuss the challenges in writing two of her books: Rhythm of the Seasons and She Taught Me to Eat Artichokes, a book about friendship that she was asked to write after a friend died. Her favorite assignment was Our State Fair — Iowa’s Blue Ribbon History, which led to writing This is Kemin, about that company’s first 50 years. She will share the personal odyssey that will become her eleventh book, a memoir. She also will discuss being an instructor at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women at Mitchellville, where she believes she learns more from her students than she could ever teach them. Ms. Shanley is an instructor at the University of Iowa’s Summer Writing Festival. She directs ongoing workshops for three local writing groups, and is co-presenter of Writing from the Soul for women’s retreats throughout the Midwest. She and her husband live in West Des Moines, and have three grown children.
May 16: Mike Manno, a Des Moines attorney, has combined his life-long desire to write with his legal background to create the Parker Noble Mystery Series. He will share how the first two books in this series, Murder Most Holy and End of the Line, came to fruition. Mr. Manno has had a varied career that also includes being a newspaper editor, real estate broker and politician. He is a graduate of Drake University Law School and has a master’s degree from Iowa State University. He teaches law and political science at Upper Iowa University and is a permanent deacon in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines. He writes a monthly column for the Catholic Mirror, and an occasional legal column for the national weekly newspaper The Wanderer. He is a member of Mystery Writers of America and the local Published Authors Liaison. Mr. Manno is a ventriloquist and raced Formula Vees with the Sports Car Club of America.
May 23: Wendy Delsol is the author of the adult novel, The McCloud Home for Wayward Girls, which was named a Barnes and Noble Title of the Week. The book is set in Eastern Iowa and tells the saga of three generations of women and the secrets that bind them together. Stork, Frost, and Tide comprise a young adult trilogy inspired by mythology, adventure and Norse folklore. The author will read from her novels and share the research that went into developing her characters. Ms. Delsol has an undergraduate degree from Michigan State University and a graduate degree from California State University, Long Beach. She lived in Los Angeles for 20 years, working as a tour coordinator for visitors to the U.S. She took a year of writing classes through the UCLA extension writers’ program, and also studied at the University of Iowa Writers Workshop. She lives in Des Moines with her husband and two teenage boys.
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