Josh Gondelman and Lyz Lenz

Streaming video - 2019

Josh Gondelman is a comedian and a writer/producer for “Desus & Mero” on Showtime. Previously, he earned two Peabody Awards and three Emmys for his work on “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” Gondelman’s writing has appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, and the New Yorker, as well as some places without “New York” in the name. He has performed standup on “CONAN,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” and “The Late Late Show with James Corden.” Gondelman lives in New York City with his wife, Maris, and their pug. His debut essay collection is Nice Try. Lyz Lenz’s writing has appeared in the Huffington Post, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Pacific Standard, and others. Her book, God Land was re...leased this fall through Indiana University Press. Her second book, Belabored, is due out from Bold Type Books in Spring 2020. Lenz’s essay “All the Angry Women” was also included in the anthology Not that Bad edited by Roxane Gay. She received her MFA in creative writing from Lesley University. She lives in Iowa with her two kids and two cats and is a contributing writer to the Columbia Journalism Review and a columnist for the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The Iowa City Book Festival is organized by the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature. Iowa City is one of just 20 Cities of Literature in the world, and the Iowa City Book Festival celebrates books and writing by leveraging the unique mix of local resources that helped to earn that designation. more