The International Writing Program was established in 1967 with seventeen writers from Germany, Iran, Argentina, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and other countries. Paul Engle raised all the funds for the writers. To mark the first season of the IWP, William Hewitt, president of the John Deere Company, entertained the writers on a river boat cruising along the Mississippi, then toured them through the company’s Moline, IL headquarters, museum and art collection situated in the steel-framed building with glass facade, designed by the Finnish architect Eero Saarinen.
From L to R: 1. Paul Engle 2. unknown 3. Hualing Nieh Engle 4. Tauchi Hatsuyoshi, Japan 5. Tahereh Saffarzadeh, Iran 6. Wife of Zbigniew Bienkowski, Poland 7. Sankha Ghosh, India 8. Worku Daniachew, Ethiopia, 9. Wang Ching-lin, Taiwan 10. Nicole Eugene, France 11. Wife of a Polish visiting writer 12. Leszek Elektorowicz, Poland 13. Elizabeth Azcona Cranwell, Argentina, 14. Hans Christopher Buch, Germany 15. Zbigniew Bienkowski, Poland. Additional participants: Kurahashi Yumiko (Japan) , Oeur U Sam (Cambodia), Dai Shing Lee (Honkg Kong) , Ryiuchi Tamura (Japan), Yumiko Tsumura (Japan), Wilton Sankawulo (Liberia), Fernando Afable (Philippines), Wilfrido Nolledo (Philippines), Wong May (Singapore).