IWP Staff

Christopher Merrill
Christopher Merrill
Director
100 Shambaugh House
(319) 335-2609
christopher-merrill@uiowa.edu

Christopher MERRILL works across genres with books that include four collections of poetry; translations of the poetry of the Slovenian Aleš Debeljak; several edited volumes; and four books of nonfiction, Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain, The Grass of Another Country: A Journey Through the World of Soccer, The Old Bridge: The Third Balkan War and the Age of the Refugee, and Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars. His work has been translated into twenty-five languages. He has held a professorship at the College of the Holy Cross, and now directs the International Writing Program at The University of Iowa.

Kelly Bedeian
Kelly Bedeian
Program Officer
100 Shambaugh House
(319) 335-0776
kelly-bedeian@uiowa.edu

Kelly BEDEIAN received a BA degree in Linguistics from the University of Iowa, after which she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. Kelly went on to work on a variety of professional development and exchange programs as a Program Manager at CONNECT/US-RUSSIA, a non-profit organization based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2001 Kelly returned to life overseas, working with the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) first as a Program Manager for the Community Connections program then later in a dual role as the Country Manager for the IREX/Armenia office and the Regional Manager for the Internet Access and Training Program in the Caucasus Region. Kelly joined the IWP staff in 2004.

Nate Brown
Nate Brown
Publicity Coordinator
100 Shambaugh House
(319) 335-2817
nathanael-brown@uiowa.edu

Nate BROWN is a graduate of Cornell University and the MFA program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has received fellowships from the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing; the Vermont Studio Center; and a work-study scholarship to the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference.

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Nataša Ďurovičová
Editor
100 Shambaugh House
(319) 335-2089
natasa-durovicova@uiowa.edu

Nataša ĎUROVIČOVÁ grew up in Czechoslovakia and Sweden. She has a BA in Drama and Film from University of Lund, a MA in English from University of California at Santa Barbara and an ABD in Film Studies from UCLA. She divides her time between editing, teaching, scholarly work and translating. With Kathleen Newman, she has co-edited World Cinemas, Transnational Perspectives (Routledge, 2009).

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Hugh Ferrer
Associate Director
100 Shambaugh House
(319) 335-3856
hugh-ferrer@uiowa.edu

Hugh FERRER earned an AB in Philosophy from Princeton University and an MFA in Fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He has been with the International Writing Program since 2001. He also serves as the Fiction Editor of the Iowa Review and is working on his first novel.

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Kecia Lynn
Coordinator, Between the Lines
100 Shambaugh House
(319) 384-3296
kecia-lynn@uiowa.edu

Kecia LYNN is a native of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. She received a BA in English from Case Western Reserve University in 1987 and an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 2007. Between degrees, she lived in Chicago and worked in the information technology industry. Her prose has appeared in Black-Eyed Peas for the Soul and Ducts, and she wrote and read a personal narrative that aired on WBEZ-FM as part of the yearly multimedia public affairs series Chicago Matters. She was also the host of “Conversations from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop,” a television show airing monthly on the Big Ten Network that featured one-on-one interviews with well-known fiction writers. Guests included Michael Cunningham, Marilynne Robinson, Ethan Canin, and Yiyun Li.

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Mary Nazareth
Housing Coordinator
100 Shambaugh House
(319) 335-0128

Mary NAZARETH was born in Tanzania and is of Goan descent. She is in charge of the day-to-day lives of the International Writing Program participants. She assists the Program with practical matters and helps writers with the variety of needs that arise from their adjustment to living in Iowa City. She has been associated with the IWP for over 25 years.

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Peter Nazareth
Program Advisor
468 English-Philosophy Building
(319) 335-0448
peter-nazareth@uiowa.edu

Peter NAZARETH, from Uganda of Goan descent, is Adviser to Foreign Writers. He has published several books of fiction and criticism, including the novel In a Brown Mantle. Educated at Makerere University and Leeds, he is Professor of English and African-American World Studies. His course, Literatures of the African Peoples, received the Distinguished Independent Study Course Award from the National University Continuing Education Association. His second novel, The General Is Up, was reprinted by TSAR Books, Toronto. A collection of critical essays on the work of Ngugi is forthcoming. His work has been translated into Hungarian, Polish, Japanese, Korean, Bengali, Hebrew, Arabic, Serbo-Croatian, Portuguese, and Konkani. He teaches a widely-publicized course on Elvis as Anthology at the University of Iowa.

James O'Brien
James O'Brien
Distance Learning Coordinator
100 Shambaugh House
(319) 335-2817
james-obrien@uiowa.edu

James O'BRIEN attended Iowa State University's MFA after a term of service with AmeriCorps and a BA in English. He writes fiction, appearing in publications such as The Colorado Review, Arts and Letters, and The Portland Review.

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Melissa Schiek
Secretary
100 Shambaugh House
(319) 335-0128
melissa-schiek@uiowa.edu

Melissa SCHIEK recently moved to Iowa after living for twenty-three years on the island of Maui. She has worked in many fields, from teaching to office management. She now lives in the Kalona area, and is pleased to have joined the administrative team of the International Writing Program.

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Joseph Tiefenthaler
Fall Residency Coordinator
100 Shambaugh House
(319) 335-3281
joe-tiefenthaler@uiowa.edu

Joseph TIEFENTHALER is a native Iowan who received his BA in English from the University of Iowa in 2005. At the UI, he was Editor-in-Chief of Earthwords, the undergraduate literary magazine. Currently, he divides his time between the IWP office; the Mission Creek Festival, where he is a staff member; and the Iowa Review, where he is an editorial assistant.

Happening Now... (more)
  • The IWP & The Moscow Art Theatre will present Book Wings, a collaborative literary and theatrical performance on Fri. March 9th, 2012 in Theatre B of the University of Iowa's Theatre Arts building.

  • Nigerian playwright, novelist, and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka gave a public lecture on November 6 as part of the closing festivities of the 2011 IWP residency.

  • The newest release from 91st Meridian Books: How to Write an Earthquake, a trilingual French-Creole-English e-anthology of poetry and prose responding to the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

  • The IWP's 2010 Annual Report is available for viewing (PDF / SWF).

  • The Norwegian Writers' Association has awarded its 2011 free expression award to Ma Thida (IWP 2005). She is its first-ever recipient from Burma.