• Author Bonnie Jo Campbell will read from her work and participate in a Q&A at 12:15 p.m. on Wed., Feb. 7, at the DMACC Ankeny Campus.

  • Now in its 21st year, the DMACC Celebration of Literary Arts hosts a variety of prominent authors throughout the academic year.

  • All DMACC Celebration of Literary Arts events are free and open to the public.

The DMACC Celebration of Literary Arts is pleased to welcome award-winning novelist and short-story writer Bonnie Jo Campbell to campus for its first featured author event of the Spring 2024 semester. Campbell will read from her work and participate in a Q&A at 12:15 p.m. on Wed., Feb. 7, in the Bldg. 5 Student Center’s Black Box Theatre at the DMACC Ankeny Campus.

This hour-long event is FREE to attend and open to the public, as are all DMACC Celebration of Literary Arts events held throughout the year. The Celebration, now in its 21st year, spotlights a variety of local, regional and nationally known authors throughout the fall and spring semesters at DMACC, which is one of the largest undergraduate institutions in Iowa.

About the author: Bonnie Jo Campbell

Bonnie Jo Campbell, a leading writer of rural noir, has authored several novels, including the national bestseller “Once Upon a River” and “Q Road.” Her most recent novel, “The Waters,” was chosen by Jenna Bush Hager as the TODAY Show’s “Read With Jenna” Book Club selection for January 2024.

Campbell’s critically acclaimed short fiction collections include “American Salvage,” a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critic’s Circle Award; “Women and Other Animals,” winner of the AWP Prize for Short Fiction; and “Mothers, Tell Your Daughters.” Her story “The Smallest Man in the World” was awarded a Pushcart Prize, and her story “The Inventor, 1972” was awarded the 2009 Eudora Welty Prize from Southern Review. Campbell was a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow and lives in Michigan.

Select writings by Bonnie Jo Campbell:


For more information about the DMACC Celebration of Literary Arts, visit cla.dmacc.edu or contact Marc Dickinson, DMACC English Professor and Coordinator of the DMACC Celebration of Literary Arts, at (515) 964-6221 or madickinson@dmacc.edu.