My Midwest Mess
Ryan T. Pozzi on tour with The Mess That Made Them
My Midwest Mess takes The Mess That Made Them across five Midwestern states and online for bookstore conversations, library programs, festivals, and interactive events about the failures, pressures, and wrong turns behind great art.
Quick update: I’m moving the Oct. 8 online Q&A a little later in the year so it can serve as a proper wrap-up to the launch tour. If you qualified by buying The Mess That Made Them before Sept. 30, your invitation is still good. I’ll announce the new date soon. Thanks for rolling with the change!
Omaha Nerd Nite
Ryan brings the messy lives of famous artists to Nerd Nite Omaha for a fast, funny look at why genius makes such lousy life advice.
2026 Nebraska Celebration of Books
Meet Ryan at the Nebraska Celebration of Books, a day devoted to the state’s literary heritage, contemporary authors, and the communities built around reading.
Ryan T. Pozzi in Conversation with Kali White VanBaale at West Des Moines Public Library
Ryan joins Iowa novelist Kali VanBaale for a conversation about creative failure, public mythology, and the stories history edits out.
Ryan T. Pozzi in Conversation with Dr. Benjamin Hagen at Outside of a Dog
Join author Ryan T. Pozzi at Vermillion’s independent bookstore for an in-conversation event celebrating The Mess That Made Them: How History’s Greatest Artists Failed, Floundered, and Made Something Brilliant Anyway with USD professor and Virginia Woolf scholar Dr. Benjamin Hagen.
Famous Artists Make Terrible Role Models at Lincoln City Libraries
Spend the lunch hour with Ryan for a lively look at why famous artists are terrible role models and much more interesting human beings.
My Life in My Pocket Book Club
Ryan joins My Life in My Pocket Book Club online to discuss what artists’ failures and reinventions can teach us about ambition, identity, and beginning again.
Deck the Shelves: A Nonfiction Holiday Book Night
Ryan joins fellow authors and nonfiction readers for a virtual holiday gathering devoted to books worth gifting, reading, and discussing.
How We Invent Genius at Francie & Finch
Ryan closes the 2026 tour at Francie & Finch with a conversation about how we invent genius and what those inventions hide.
Ryan T. Pozzi In Conversation with Chip Albright
Ryan joins Iowa artist Chip Albright for a conversation about creative failure, public mythology, and the stories history edits out.
Ryan T. Pozzi in Conversation with Library Director Jessica Chamberlain at the Norfolk Public Library
Ryan dismantles the fantasy of the flawless genius and uncovers the failures, exclusions, illnesses, and accidents hidden behind familiar artistic legends.
Ryan T. Pozzi in Conversation with Dr. Jim Martin at The Reading Room
Join author Ryan T. Pozzi at The Reading Room in Omaha on October 25 for an in-conversation event celebrating The Mess That Made Them: How History’s Greatest Artists Failed, Floundered, and Made Something Brilliant Anyway.
Nerd Nite Lincoln
At Nerd Nite Lincoln, Ryan explains why famous artists are terrible role models, with fewer marble busts and considerably more bad decisions.
Famous Artists Make Terrible Role Models at Ames Public Library
Famous artists make terrible role models, but their failures, compromises, and reinventions can tell us far more than their legends ever do.
Ryan T. Pozzi In Conversation with Matt Mason
Ryan returns home for a conversation with Matt Mason about the failures, detours, pressures, and unlikely breakthroughs behind The Mess That Made Them.
How We Invent Genius at Sower Books
Ryan explores how culture turns complicated creative lives into oversimplified stories of genius, and what disappears in the process.
Book(ed) at The Tea Smith
Celebrate publication night with author Ryan T. Pozzi, poet Matt Mason, and a seated tea service inspired by the artists and ideas in The Mess That Made Them.