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How did some of the best authors of this generation get that way? Many of them are graduates of the revered Iowa Writers' Workshop. This group is inspired by alumni Eric Olsen and Glenn Schaeffer's We Wanted to Be Writers, a close-up an behind-the-scenes look at the venerable Iowa Writers' Workshop. It offers a rollicking and insightful blend of interviews, commentary, advice, gossip, anecdotes, analyses, history, and asides with more than twenty graduates and teachers at the now legendary Iowa Writers’ Workshop between 1974 and 1978.

Among the talents that emerged in those years — writing, passionately jousting, criticizing, drinking, and debating in the classrooms and barrooms of Iowa City — were the young versions of writers who became John Irving, Jane Smiley, T.C. Boyle, Allan Gurganus, Sandra Cisneros, Rita Dove, William Kinsella, Jayne Ann Phillips, Jorie Graham, Jim Galvin, Lee Blessing, Mark Jarman, and Joy Harjo. Included are sidebars about what the famous writers are reading.

We Wanted to be Writers is chock full of insights and a treasure trove of inspiration for all writers, readers, history lovers, and anyone who ever “wanted to be a writer.” 

Eric, Glenn and other Workshop alum will share how they approach writing, what inspires them, and how they've forwarded their writing careers. Please let us know your thoughts and experiences too!