This American Pie: An Evening of Film, Sensory Writing & Pie

This award-winning feature documentary by Beth Howard celebrates the myriad ways pie is woven into Iowa’s (and America’s) culture, the lengths people will go to for a slice, and how this humble pastry can bake the world a better place. Audiences and critics agree that “it’s a tonic for what ails us.” The film features comedian Tom Arnold, NPR economics correspondent Scott Horsley (NPR = No Pie Refused), Better Homes & Gardens food editor Jan Miller, among other notable names, alongside everyday people — church ladies, farmers, pie shop owners, State Fair pie competitors, chefs, food historians, RAGBRAI bike riders, and humanitarians of all ages. Wholesome and humorous, it will leave you feeling more hopeful about the world — and hungry for pie.

After the film we will satiate that hunger and eat some pie made by local bakers, then acclaimed authors Grant Faulkner and Elizabeth Rosner will lead a sensory writing session in which auidence members will have the opportunity to compose their own stories about pie. There will also be a Q&A with Beth Howard.

Producer/director of PIEOWA Beth M. Howard is the author of three pie-themed books and the former (and final) resident of the American Gothic House where she ran the Pitchfork Pie Stand. Howard experienced Iowa’s far-reaching influence of pie when she once got hired as a pie baker in Malibu, California. When asked what her qualifications were, she answered “I’m from Iowa” and got the job! Her film expands on the themes of her TEDx Talk, in which she espouses pie’s healing powers. how pie can build community and be used as a tool for social good.

Grant Faulkner is the co-founder of Memoir Nation, the co-founder of the Flash Fiction Institute, the co-founder of 100 Word Story, and an executive producer on America’s Next Great Author. He was also Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) for 12 years. He has published three books on writing: The Art of Brevity: Crafting the Very Short Story; Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo; and Brave the Page, a teen writing guide. He’s also published All the Comfort Sin Can Provide, a collection of short stories, Fissures, a collection of 100-word stories, and Nothing Short of 100: Selected Tales from 100 Word Story. Grant's new "flash novel," something out there in the distance, a series of linked stories to Gail Butensky's photos, just recently came out.

Elizabeth Rosner is an author whose work focuses on the redemptive power of storytelling and deep listening. Her six books of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry have been translated into twelve languages and have received literary prizes in the US and abroad. THIRD EAR: Reflections on the Art and Science of Listening, her most recent book, blends personal stories of growing up in a multilingual household with multidisciplinary research about sound and silence in the natural world. SURVIVOR CAFÉ: The Legacy of Trauma and the Labyrinth of Memory, her previous book, was a finalist for a National Jewish Book Award. Her best-selling first novel, THE SPEED OF LIGHT, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year; among several honors, it won Hadassah Magazine’s Ribalow Prize, judged by Elie Wiesel. Based in Northern California, Elizabeth leads writing workshops internationally; her teaching carries forward a message of perseverance and tenacious optimism.

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