Final Thursday Press & Final Thursday Reading Series

08/17/2026

Cover reveal! The 100th-anniversary edition of Iowa Interiors by Ruth Suckow with original illustrations by Claudia McGehee. Now available in pre-release at: https://square.link/u/pFFId8QM

07/17/2026

Daniel Umemezie, January's FTRS featured reader (and National Youth Poet Laureate) was recently featured on the PBS News Hour. Congrats, Daniel!

For a decade, the National Youth Poet Laureate program has honored ...

06/10/2026

If you missed Sean Thomas Dougherty & J.D. Schraffenberger’s FTRS release reading for their new poetry collection, Dueling Shovels, here’s your chance to check it out: https://youtu.be/mpwiKWu6G6Y

Find out more about the book and limited signed copies at http://finalthursdaypress.com/

The 25th season of the Final Thursday Reading Series concluded with...

06/09/2026

Former FTP & FTRS Publication Assistant, Tomiisin Ilesanmi is putting together a new literary anthology based on the theme of migration. Deadline is July 1. Feel free to email questions if you are interested in being involved.

05/03/2026

If you didn't get to hear it live, the Iowa Public Radio "Talk of Iowa" interview with J.D. Schraffenberger and Sean Thomas Dougherty on their new FTP chapbook, Dueling Shovels, is now available online. https://www.iowapublicradio.org/podcast/talk-of-iowa/2026-05-01/new-iowa-city-film-festival-celebrates-global-and-local-communities

While you're online, you can also order from a limited group of signed copies of Dueling Shovels at https://square.link/u/R6gBRzYq

04/29/2026

J.D. Schraffenberger reads an excerpt from Dueling Shovels, the new collections debuting at https://www.facebook.com/events/1329273335711495

04/27/2026

Cedar Valley Youth Poet Laureate Daniel Umemezie took the national title this weekend in Omaha. Congrats, Daniel!

04/15/2026

Go to http://finalthursdaypress.com/ to check out an interview with Sean Thomas Dougherty & J.D. Schraffenberger about their forthcoming poetry collection. It's a wide-ranging discussion about poetry with guest appearances by James Hearst, Little Joe Cook, and Ben Affleck's dad.

04/14/2026

Taking a moment to remember Gary Kelley, the renowned artist and illustrator who passed away yesterday. Gary was a FTRS featured reader in 2021 and provided the gorgeous cover art for Amy Woschek Schmidt’s Given Days. He will be greatly missed.

04/10/2026

Heading to Rod Con at UNI's Rod Library tomorrow? Check out the following FTP authors (and pick up free mini-chapbooks).