Prairie Lights Books invites you to hear award-winning author and guest speaker of the 2025 Iowa International Writing Program Naomi Wood read from her newest short story collection, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things.
Described by Harper Collins as a book that "illuminates the lives of malicious, subversive, and untamed women" and one that "[explores] failed sisterhood, dubious parenting, and the dark side of modern love, this powerful and funny collection exposes how society wants women to behave, and shows what happens when they refuse" (harpercollins.com).
Bestselling author Matt Haig praises Naomi Wood as a "wonderful writer," while Christie Watson, author of The Language of Kindness and Moral Injuries, says: "A whip smart, funny, and pitch-perfect collection of stories about flawed and complex women we actually recognize. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things is literary fiction at its best, and Naomi Wood a writer at the top of her game.”
Naomi Wood is the award-winning author of three novels, including the bestselling Mrs. Hemingway. Her stories have been published in the Mid-American Review, Washington Square Review, Joyland, and Stylist, and have been shortlisted for the Manchester Fiction Prize, the London Magazine Short Story Prize, and longlisted for the Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize. “Comorbidities” won the 2023 BBC National Short Story Award. She lives in Norwich with her family and teaches Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia.