Iowa: A Literary Landscape

Towns/Cities
Many Iowa towns and cities are on the literary landscape. This list guides users to authors whose works we were able to determine were set in a particular (real or fictional) town. Refer to the Authors files to get titles.

--  Dashes denote authors of juvenile fiction.

Harper's Ferry (Allamakee County)

  -- Holl, Kristi

Harrington (fictional, Dickinson County)
   Rich, Virginia

Hastings (Mills County)
   Wearin, Otha D.

Hawarden (Sioux County)
   Suckow, Ruth

Hawthorne (fictional, no county given)
Teeter, Tim R.

Holden (fictional, no county given)
--Gorman, Carol

Homestead (Iowa County)
Dobson, Melanie B.

Humboldt (Humboldt County)
-- Baker, Laura Nelson

Iowa City (Johnson County)
Andrews, Clarence A.
Baker, Larry.
Berryhill, Clint
Borne, Deanna Bieber
Bourjaily, Vance
Calderwood and Hearst
Casey, John
Cassill, Robert Verlin
Cathey, Bill Robert
Exley,Frederick
-- Felsen, Henry Gregor
Halvorson, Jerome A.
Hardwick, Elizabeth
Horn, Margaret Capek
Irving, John
-- Irwin and Reida
Jeffery and Keeble
Johnson, Denis
Kallmaker, Karin.
Kinsella, W.P.
Leggett, John W.
Madden, Mary Anne
McDonald, Julie
McMurtry, Larry
McNally, John
Mukherjee, Bharati
Murray, John
Newborn, Sasha
Olsen, Lance
Orr, Elaine
--Reuter, Linda
Roth, Philip
Stansfield, Anita
--Sheth, Kashmira
Spivak, Talbot
Strieber, Whitley
Vermillion, Mary
Wakefield, Dan
Waters, Dan.Welt, Elly
Weverka, Robert

Ireton (Sioux County)
-- Naylor, Reynolds, and Brown

Jackson (fictional, no county given)
Jones, T.P.

Kalona (Washington County)
Dawn, Waneta

Keokuk (Lee County)
-- Calhoun and Gretzer
   Hughes, Rupert

Keosauqua (Van Buren County)
   Stong, Philip Duffield

Lake Manawa (Lake Manawa State Park) (Pottawattamie County)
Seilstad, Lorna.

Lapham (fictional, no county given)
   Buxbaum, Katherine

Lassiter Hill (fictional, no county given)
Dundon, Michael

LeClaire (Scott County)
-- Kimmel, E. Cody

LeMars (Plymouth County)
  McDonald, Julie

Liberal (fictional, no county given)
Palecek, Mike

Linden Grove (fictional, no county given)
   Howard, Mary

Madison City (fictional, no county given)
Hylton, J.D.

Manning (Carroll County)
   Lamp, C.O.

Maple Valley (fictional, modeled on Cedar Rapids, Linn County)
   Van Vechten, Carl

Marshalltown (Marshall County)
-- Francis and Lazare

Martinique (fictional, modeled on Dubuque, Dubuque County)
   Wallis, James Harold

Mason (fictional, no county given)
--Brouwer, Sigmund
--Carlson, Melody
-- MacKall, Dandi

Mason City (Cerro Gordo County)
   Klinkowitz, Jerome
   Willson, Meredith

Mount Ayr (Ringgold County)
   Saltzman, Eleanor

Mount Pleasant (Henry County)
--Braulick, Jenny Panther, et al.

Mount Vernon (Linn County)
-- Medary, Marjorie

Muscatine (Muscatine County)
-- Butler, Ellis Parker

Myrtle (fictional, no county given)
Millhiser, Marlys

Nathan Springs (fictional, no county given)
   Layton, Nancy

New Berlin (fictional, no county given)
-- Hall, Lynn

New Hampton (Chickasaw County)
-- Magnuson and Petrie

New Harmony (fictional, no county given)
Dean, Janet

New Holland (fictional, no county given)
   Bauer, Douglas

New Hoosic (fictional, modeled on Shenandoah, Page County)
   Boylen, Margaret Currier

Neukirk (fictional, no county given)
   Schaap, James C.

North Liberty (Johnson County)
   Clothier, Peter

Oak River (fictional, no county given)
   Aldrich, Bess Streeter

Oakley Mills (fictional, modelled on Ottumwa) (Wapello County)
Michaels, Leigh

Okoboji (Dickinson County)
   Davidson, Peter

Omega (fictional, no county given)
   Scholl, John

Onomata (fictional, no county given)
   Kinsella, W.P.

Ontarion (fictional, no county given)
   Rhodes, David A.

Osage (Mitchell County)
   Garland, Hamlin

Pella (Marion County)
   Bach, Marcus
   Kooi, Muriel Byers

Pittsville (fictional, modeled on Keosauqua, Van Buren County)
   Stong, Philip Duffield

Port City (fictional, probably Muscatine, Muscatine County)
   Collins, Max A.

Prairie City (fictional, modeled on Iowa City. There is a Prairie City, Iowa but it is not this one.)
   Harter, Evelyn

Rampage (fictional, no county given)
   Chehak, Susan Taylor

Remsen (Plymouth County)
   Harnack, Curtis

Riceville (Howard County)
-- Govern and Pitzenberger

River City (fictional, modeled on Iowa City, Johnson County)
   Shields, David

River City (fictional, modeled on Mason City, Cerro Gordo County))
   Willson, Meredith

River City (fictional, no reference)
   Pelton, Sonya T.

Riverton (Fremont County)
   Spence, Hartzell

Rome (fictional, no county given)
   Jackson, Charles Tenney

Sabula (Jackson County)
-- Lawlor and Cogancherry

Serenity (fictional)
Allan, Barbara

Sharon Center (Johnson County)
   Rhodes, David A.

Sigourney (Keokuk County)
Huffman, Martha

Sioux City (Woodbury County)
Crary, Margaret
Downing, J. Hyatt
Frederick, Michael
Hewitt, William
Lottman, Eileen
Martens and Rogers
Wishman, June

Siouxland (fictional, modeled on Doon, Lyon County)
   Manfred, Frederick Feikema

Spillville (Winneshiek County)
   Dostal, W.A.
-- Drexler and Shelby
   Hutchinson, Duane
-- Schaefer and Rosen

Springhill (fictional, modeled on Ottumwa) (Wapello County)
Michaels, Leigh

State Center (fictional, in fictional Cedar County)
--Ripslinger, Jon.

Storm Lake (Buena Vista County)
   Gaherty, Mike

Story City (Story County)
Stasney, Kirsten Jacobson

Summersend (fictional, no county given)
Cook, Marshall

Sweetheart (fictional, no county given)
   Gideon, Nancy

Tama (Tama County)
-- Irwin, Hadley
   Young Bear, Ray A.

Traer (Tama County)
   Wilson, Margaret

Twin Rivers (fictional, combination of Iowa City and Ottumwa) (Johnson and Wapello Counties)
Michaels, Leigh

Uppsala (fictional, no county given)
   Hatcher, Robin Lee

Village of Fort Des Moines (Polk County)
   Brigham, Johnson

Villisca (Montgomery County)
   Bowman, Stephen

Vinton (Benton County)
   --Kimmel, Elizabeth Cody

Warren's Grove (fictional, modelled on Keosauqua) (Van Buren County)
Michaels, Leigh

Waubeek (Linn County)
   Sigmund, Jay G.

Waterloo (Blackhawk County)
-- Gioielli, Stephani
Givens, David
-- Heath, May A.
-- Iyengar, Vijay
--Jensen, Jake
-- Knipp and Egemo
-- Lichty, Luke
Tracey, Grant A.
Wilson, Amanda

Webster City (Hamilton County)
   Kantor, MacKinlay

Wesley (Kossuth County)
   Wingert, Lynn R.

West Liberty (Muscatine County)
   Casey, John

Willard's Ford (fictional, no county given)
-- Hall, Lynn

Willow Creek (fictional, no county given)
Gudenkauf, Heather

Winnebago (fictional, no county given)
-- Bissell, Richard Pike

Winterset (Madison County)
   Waller, Robert James

Editor's Forward

Preface

Introduction