Prairie lights
Encyclopedia
Prairie Lights is an independent bookstore
in downtown Iowa City, Iowa
, founded in 1978, by Jim Harris.
, Robert Frost
, Langston Hughes
, Sherwood Anderson
, E. E. Cummings
and others. The store currently holds approximately 80,000 to 100,000 books, covering three and a half stories. The remaining half-story houses a coffee shop. Its facade
, designed to resemble a human face, is a local landmark.
Harris sold the store to longtime employee and poet Jan Weissmiller and the poet Jane Mead in December 2008.
's largest bookstores and the major independent bookstore in the hometown of the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop
, the building continues to play a role in its region's literary culture. Susan Sontag
, Gloria Steinem
, and Annie Proulx are among the notable authors to participate in events at the bookstore. Seven Nobel prize winners have also had events at the store: Seamus Heaney
, Czesław Miłosz, Derek Walcott
, Saul Bellow
, Toni Morrison
, Orhan Pamuk
, and John M. Coetzee.
in Iowa City broadcast "Live from Prairie Lights", a series of readings by authors appearing at the store, for 18 years. Among others, actor Mike Farrell
, and authors Michael Chabon
and Daniel Mason
appeared on the program in 2008. The program stopped airing on Iowa Public Radio in December 2008. In October of 2010, the University of Iowa college radio station KRUI-FM
began broadcasting "Live from Prairie Lights."
Independent bookstore
An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned.-Literary and countercultural history:Author events at independent bookstores sometimes take the role of literary salons. The bookstores themselves, "have historically supported and cultivated the work of independent...
in downtown Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa...
, founded in 1978, by Jim Harris.
History
The store's original location was a 1000 square feet (92.9 m²) space on South Linn Street. In 1982, Harris moved the store to an 11000 square feet (1,021.9 m²) space on South Dubuque Street, which had been a coffee house that had in the 1930s hosted a local literary society and its guests, who included Carl SandburgCarl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
, Robert Frost
Robert Frost
Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and...
, Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
, Sherwood Anderson
Sherwood Anderson
Sherwood Anderson was an American novelist and short story writer. His most enduring work is the short story sequence Winesburg, Ohio. Writers he has influenced include Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, J. D. Salinger, and Amos Oz.-Early life:Anderson was born in Clyde, Ohio,...
, E. E. Cummings
E. E. Cummings
Edward Estlin Cummings , popularly known as E. E. Cummings, with the abbreviated form of his name often written by others in lowercase letters as e.e. cummings , was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright...
and others. The store currently holds approximately 80,000 to 100,000 books, covering three and a half stories. The remaining half-story houses a coffee shop. Its facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
, designed to resemble a human face, is a local landmark.
Harris sold the store to longtime employee and poet Jan Weissmiller and the poet Jane Mead in December 2008.
Notable author visits
As one of IowaIowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
's largest bookstores and the major independent bookstore in the hometown of the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop
Iowa Writers' Workshop
The Program in Creative Writing, more commonly known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, is a highly regarded graduate-level creative writing program in the United States...
, the building continues to play a role in its region's literary culture. Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag was an American author, literary theorist, feminist and political activist whose works include On Photography and Against Interpretation.-Life:...
, Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem
Gloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s...
, and Annie Proulx are among the notable authors to participate in events at the bookstore. Seven Nobel prize winners have also had events at the store: Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer. He lives in Dublin. Heaney has received the Nobel Prize in Literature , the Golden Wreath of Poetry , T. S. Eliot Prize and two Whitbread prizes...
, Czesław Miłosz, Derek Walcott
Derek Walcott
Derek Alton Walcott, OBE OCC is a Saint Lucian poet, playwright, writer and visual artist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992 and the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2011 for White Egrets. His works include the Homeric epic Omeros...
, Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow was a Canadian-born Jewish American writer. For his literary contributions, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts...
, Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved...
, Orhan Pamuk
Orhan Pamuk
Ferit Orhan Pamuk , generally known simply as Orhan Pamuk, is a Turkish novelist. He is also the Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, where he teaches comparative literature and writing....
, and John M. Coetzee.
President Obama visit
President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to the store after a speech in Iowa City on March 25th, 2010. He visited the store after using Prairie Lights as an example of small businesses struggling to pay for health care coverage for their employees. During his visit he bought a couple of children's books.Radio program
WSUIWSUI
WSUI is a public radio station in Iowa City, Iowa, in the United States. It is operated by the University of Iowa and a member of Iowa Public Radio. Its signal serves most of eastern Iowa. WSUI is one of two National Public Radio member stations serving eastern Iowa, the other being KUNI in...
in Iowa City broadcast "Live from Prairie Lights", a series of readings by authors appearing at the store, for 18 years. Among others, actor Mike Farrell
Mike Farrell
Michael Joseph "Mike" Farrell is an American actor, best known for his role as Captain B.J. Hunnicutt on the television series M*A*S*H . He is an activist for politically liberal causes....
, and authors Michael Chabon
Michael Chabon
Michael Chabon born May 24, 1963) is an American author and "one of the most celebrated writers of his generation", according to The Virginia Quarterly Review....
and Daniel Mason
Daniel Mason
For the American composer, see Daniel Gregory Mason.Daniel Mason is an American novelist. He received a BA in biology from Harvard University, graduating at the top of his class. He later graduated from medical school at the University of California, San Francisco. He wrote his first novel, The...
appeared on the program in 2008. The program stopped airing on Iowa Public Radio in December 2008. In October of 2010, the University of Iowa college radio station KRUI-FM
KRUI-FM
KRUI-FM is a radio station broadcasting a Variety format. Located in Iowa City, Iowa, USA, the station is licensed to Student Broadcasters Inc. KRUI began at the University of Iowa in 1952 as KWAD, and in 1968 the station's call letters changed to KICR...
began broadcasting "Live from Prairie Lights."