![]() ![]() I have had the great pleasure of visiting Prairie Lights annually or just about. Prairie Lights was a relative bookstore newbie when I was there, being only about twelve years old. WHat we had was hope and dreams and a love of literature and deep doubts as to whether anything would come of it all. ![]() Jim Harris, who owned it then, and also Jan Weissmiller and Paul Ingram and so many others, were our professors in a way, shaping our sensibilities, but most important, treating us as serious writers, people with great potential even though, at that stage, we did not have that kind of faith in ourselves. I spent so much time (and money) at Prairie Lights that even now, much of what is on the shelves in my study comes from that period.Īnd so many volumes I was guided to by the incredible and long-tenured staff who would plop a book into my hands and say, “You must read this.” Or they would guide me to a specific author reading. I was at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop from 1990 to 1991. Abraham Verghese talks about Prairie Lights bookstore and his time in Iowa City: ![]()
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