Event organizers searched for metal folding chairs to squeeze into the Reading Room in Cowles Library on Oct. 2 as the crowd continued to grow. Students, faculty and community members filled the space, eager to hear Rachel Yoder, author of the novel “Nightbitch,” discuss her work and the creative process behind its transformation from page to screen.
Yoder’s visit was part of the Susan Glaspell Writers and Critics Series, which brings recognized authors to Drake University to engage with students and the community. Yasmina Madden, an associate professor of English, organized the event.
Madden said the series intentionally reaches across disciplines.
“It’s not just for English majors. Students from all over campus — biology, health sciences, theater — can see themselves reflected in the struggles and triumphs that authors like Yoder explore. That’s what makes this series so impactful,” Madden said.
Born and raised in the Midwest, Yoder now teaches at the University of Iowa. She didn’t publish her debut novel until she was 42, a milestone she said “changed my life” and brought her national recognition for her bold exploration of identity and motherhood.
Her novel “Nightbitch” follows a former artist and new mother who becomes convinced she is turning into a dog. What begins as a surreal, even humorous premise evolves into a sharp exploration of identity, creativity and the feral side of motherhood. Blending magical realism with biting social commentary, Yoder uses the transformation as a metaphor for the instinctual, often suppressed power women hold — and the way domestic life can blur the line between human and animal.
“Rachel Yoder specifically is such a powerhouse — and such an Iowan-specific powerhouse,” said Delaney Brackin, a senior student worker for the English and Women’s and Gender Studies departments.
“Nightbitch” emerged from a deeply personal period of transformation for Yoder. After the birth of her child, she found herself struggling to reconcile her creative identity with the all-encompassing role of motherhood.
“Part of me didn’t want to write anymore, and part of me wanted to go howl at the moon,” Yoder said during the event.
Through the writing process, Yoder began channeling those feelings into fiction. She described “Nightbitch” as “the art monster,” born out of what she called “angrily, rage-fueled sprints” where she forced herself to write no matter what.
During that creative period, Yoder said she often wrestled with doubt about letting “the art monster” take over. Her literary agent — who had also recently become a new mother — stood by her through the creative drought before her debut, encouraging her to trust the insanity of the story and reassuring her that its wildness was exactly what made it worth pursuing.
The crowd’s reaction was one of recognition as Yoder described feeling like an outsider in her own work, a “weirdo” during the writing process. By the end of the evening, it was clear she had long since outgrown that label, and her reflections on writing, motherhood and identity resonated with many in the audience who saw a piece of their own experience reflected in her story.
“I just love this series,” Professor Jen Wilson said in an email. “I’ll still think about the night I got to hear Ocean Vuong speak on Drake’s campus. Makes it even more inspiring to know that Yoder is writing here, in this state, where we need the bright light of literary consideration more than ever.”
The sentiment extends both ways. Yoder says that it is an honor to have her novel and its adaptation be so well received and to have been on Drake’s campus for the first time for the series with an engaging audience who participated in the conversation.
“When I wrote [“Nightbitch”], I felt like a really big weirdo, and was afraid everyone would see what a huge weirdo I was when it came out,” Yoder said. “And they did see that, but then they said, ‘we are also weirdos.’”
Yoder’s reflections resonated beyond her own story, serving as a reminder that creativity rarely happens in isolation. Her honesty about her fear, insecurity, and finding connection through art is what lies at the heart of the Susan Glaspell Writers and Critics Series — bringing writers and readers together to talk about what it means to create.
“Writers often struggle with the same things, but differently,” Wilson said. “How to start a story, how to blend personal experience with the universal, agents in general. What’s really impactful is hearing how successful writers have answered those big questions. It keeps us all in community.”
Nat Thomas contributed to reporting.
