IOWA CITY, Iowa — Flannery O'Connor famously honed her literary voice here, and aspiring writers have been traveling to this university town ever since.

From the Prairie Lights Bookstore to the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Iowa City has a bookish vibe that makes you feel like a writer even if your novel is stuffed in a desk drawer.

Mark Tade (ENLARGE)
The Iowa River flows through the University of Iowa campus, and walking and bike trails run along it. The arts campus is on the west side of the river.
Kalona Historical Society (ENLARGE)
Amish farms dot the country around Iowa City. Nearby Kalona, which bills itself as the quilt capital of Iowa, has a historical village with Amish and pioneer exhibits. The Amana Colonies, founded by a German religious group, are about 30 miles west of Iowa City.
Mark Tade (ENLARGE)
The Old Capitol (Iowa City was once the state capital) anchors the campus. The historic building is undergoing a renovation.
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IF YOU GO Getting there • Fly into Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids, 20 miles north of Iowa City (connecting flights in Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Detroit and Chicago). Expect to pay about $375. About the festival • 2005 Iowa Summer Writing Festival: Sponsored by the University of Iowa Division of Continuing Education; weekend and weeklong workshops still available. 319-335-4160, Web site. Where to stay • The Sheraton Iowa City, 210 S. Dubuque St., is right on the Pedestrian Mall. Weekend rates run about $165 a night. 319-337-4058, wWeb site • The Golden Haug, 527 E. Washington St., is a bed-and-breakfast run by Lila Haug, who cooks unusual, tasty breakfasts and knows the town well. Rates start at $100 a night. 319-354-4284, Web site. • The Bostick Guest House, 115 N. Gilbert St., is popular with writers. Suites, spread over three neighboring houses, run $69 to $129 a week. 319-354-2453, Web site. Information • Iowa City/Coralville Convention and Visitors Bureau, 1-800-283-6592, Web site.

But this city of 62,000 is much more. It's picture-postcard farmhouses and cornfields amid a well-educated population and a bustling arts scene.

It's home to the University of Iowa, and one in four adults has an advanced degree. It's a serene, pretty place to escape the glow of the computer screen and rush-hour traffic. Walk, read, have a picnic, think and banter with friendly locals.

Every summer, aspiring writers make a pilgrimage to Iowa City for the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, a series of weeklong and weekend writing courses held at the university. Courses focus on poetry, fiction, memoir and other genres. Unlike the famed Iowa Writers' Workshop — a selective and intensive program — you don't need writing credentials to participate in the festival, just the registration fee ($475 for a weeklong course; $225 for a weekend session; this year's festival runs today through July 29). The festival attracts accountants, teachers, salespeople and homemakers. The 1,500 participants stay in dorms, hotels or bed-and-breakfasts.

The festival is about writing better; it's not a meet-and-greet with agents and publishers. Among the topics this summer: "Thickening the Plot with the Begged, Borrowed and Brainstormed," and "Advanced Novel: The Golden Triad of Revision."

Jennifer Cuthbertson, an Atlanta writer who works in communications for UPS, developed an immediate fondness for Iowa City when she took courses in children's writing and poetry.

"It's so walkable," she said. "It kind of reminded me of Athens, but more low key. At the cafes, they didn't care if you sat at a table and read a book all day."

In between reading and critiquing manuscripts, taking in lectures and conferring with instructors, there's time to take in the town.

The first stop for bibliophiles is Prairie Lights on Dubuque Street, a main artery in the shopping district. Prairie Lights embraces its independent-bookstore status by eschewing the wide open spaces found at chain stores and cramming the shelves full of books from best sellers to quirky novels by new writers.

The shop is known for its children's book section, which has Shel Silverstein classics alongside beautifully illustrated picture books, timely nonfiction titles ("The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq") and young adult novels. And, yes, customers can get on the waiting list for the next Harry Potter installment.

Owned by the chatty and knowledgeable Jim Harris, Prairie Lights hosts acclaimed authors, many with Midwestern roots, and holds readings live on public radio. Gish Jen ("Mona in the Promised Land"), Francine Prose ("Hunters and Gatherers") and Elizabeth Berg ("Range of Motion") made stops in recent months.

Around the corner on Iowa Avenue, writers with Iowa ties such as Tennessee Williams, John Irving and Kurt Vonnegut are represented by bronze plaques artfully imbedded in the sidewalk. Along with their names, you'll find quotations from their work, such as this gem from short story master Raymond Carver: Why don't you kids dance? he decided to say, and then he said it. "Why don't you dance?" "I don't think so," the boy said. "Go ahead," the man said. "It's my yard. You can dance if you want to."

Prairie Lights sells guides to the Iowa Avenue Literary Walk for $2.50.

The shopping district includes record stores, funky clothing shops, artsy-craftsy shops and galleries featuring ceramics, jewelry and other crafts, much of it by local artisans.

Explore the sprawling and shady university campus, anchored by the Old Capitol (Iowa City was once the state capital). Check out the University of Iowa Museum of Art, known for modern and African art, and Macbride Hall, where a natural history museum features stuffed mammals and birds.

The Iowa River runs through the campus, and its banks are ideal for a stroll, a picnic or a nap. A few miles away, Coralville Lake offers a look at fossils 375 million years old, the result of a 1993 flood that washed away soil and exposed an ancient sea floor. Visitors walk into the Devonian Fossil Gorge where huge, flat rocks are imbedded with fossils of ancient sea life. Some of the more detailed fossils are on display in the visitors' center, and Overlook Plaza captures the magnitude of the natural wonder.

For meals, Iowa City offers ethnic and vegetarian fare and seafood. The locals swear the beer and wine selection at John's Grocery, a family-owned corner store with a gourmet flair on East Market Street, is second-to-none.

The low-calorie lifestyle is not practiced in Iowa City, making it a fine place to enjoy a fried pork sandwich that stops just short of being too salty or too greasy. For dessert, try a moist slice of apple cake at the New Pioneer Co-op on South Van Buren Street.

True to its college-town identity, bars are about as plentiful as doctors of philosophy. Grab a beer at George's Buffet on East Market Street, where writer types go to imbibe.

The countryside outside Iowa City is dotted with cornfields and farmhouses. Head south 18 miles on Highway 1 to Kalona, a community that is home to Amish and Mennonites and known as the quilt capital of Iowa. The Woodin Wheel Antiques on B Avenue sells quilts of all sizes. Kalona Historical Village captures the Amish way of life through a restored church and "grandpa house," which shows how Amish care for the elderly.

About 30 miles west of Iowa City, the Amana Colonies cater to tourists in the authentic style. Amana people are German, but they are not Amish, so you won't see horse-drawn buggies. They do, however, make wine and German-style beer. Restaurants such as the Colony Inn serve meals of bratwurst and wiener schnitzel family-style.

Iowa City isn't bright lights, big city. But it's a relaxing place to go to get away from it all . . . and still find plenty to do.