100 years later, Iowa book that made Ruth Suckow famous is being revived
Iowa writer Ruth Suckow's 1926 short story collection, 'Iowa Interiors,' is being re-released in a centennial edition by Final Thursday Press. The revival includes new illustrations by Claudia McGehee and an accompanying exhibition at the Hearst Center for the Arts.
Why it matters
This effort preserves regional literary history and highlights the cultural significance of early 20th-century rural American life.
In 1926, Iowa writer Ruth Suckow published Iowa Interiors, a collection of 14 short stories drawn from the lives of people in the state’s farms and small towns. A century later, the book is returning to print in a new centennial edition from Cedar Falls-based Final Thursday Press, with new illustrations by Iowa artist Claudia McGehee. The Hearst Center for the Arts in Cedar Falls is marking the anniversary with an exhibition of McGehee’s original illustrations, running September 10 through December 6. The exhibition is part of a broader effort to bring Suckow’s work back to readers. Suckow was already an established writer when Iowa Interiors appeared. Her first novel, Country People, had been published in 1924, followed by The Odyssey of a Nice Girl in 1925. Iowa Interiors, published by Alfred A.
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