Award-winning writer to leave his mark on libraries in North Liberty, Coralville

Next month, Kevin Haworth, author of the Samuel Goldberg Foundation Prize-winning novel The Discontinuity of Small Things, will transform glass into literary art that connects two libraries in Johnson County.
Haworth, a Grin City Collective writer-in-residence from Athens, Ohio, will install an excerpt from his forthcoming essay, Vivaldi, in the widows of the North Liberty and Coralville libraries.
“We feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to collaborate with Grin City Collective as part of this project. Hosting a national writer like Mr. Haworth and having his work permanently displayed at the library is an honor,” said Library Director Jennie Garner.
Installation is scheduled for May 5, starting at noon in Coralville and moving to North Liberty in the afternoon. The public is invited to watch the writer create and install the piece at both libraries. Once installed, visitors can begin reading the piece at Coralville Public Library and travel to North Liberty to read the second part of the excerpt.
Haworth will return to North Liberty to talk about his experience researching, writing and installing his work at 6:30 p.m. on May 12. The event is free and open to the public.
Vivaldi is the story of Haworth’s personal journey living in Jerusalem juxtaposed with the story of his son learning to play the cello. The selection is a lovely piece about his young son’s love of music, which begins “There are three kinds of memory connected to music, my son tells me. He is eleven years old and knows many things about music.”
A total of 12 libraries in Iowa are the recipients of public art as part of Grin City’s Public Writing, Public Libraries Author Talk series.
Each year, Grin City Collective, hosts more than 40 writers and visual and performance artists from across the country and world. They receive housing and studio space and participate in public art projects with Iowa communities. Past projects have included one-day gallery shows, public sculptures and children’s workshops. Grinnell Public Library had three public writings installed in 2014, and the work was covered in the Michigan Quarterly Review.