The International Writing Program (IWP) is a unique conduit for the world’s literatures, connecting well-established writers from around the globe, bringing international literature into classrooms, introducing American writers to other cultures through reading tours, and serving as a clearinghouse for literary news and a wealth of archival and pedagogical materials. Since 1967, over 1,600 writers from more than 160 countries have been in residence at the University of Iowa.

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Events

Counterpoint: The Politics of (International) Writing promotional image

Counterpoint: The Politics of (International) Writing

Monday, October 14, 2024 7:30pm
Voxman Music Building
How do politics affect what poets or novelists write, and even how they write it? How does literature inform political discourse? What is cultural diplomacy, why is it so important, and what is the UI’s role in promoting it? For this inaugural event in the Obermann Center’s new Counterpoint public conversation series, Christopher Merrill — poet, nonfiction writer, translator, editor, and director of the UI’s renowned International Writing Program — and Loren Glass, a historian of creative...

Literary Legends With Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Tracy Kidder

Tuesday, October 15, 2024 7:30pm
Iowa Memorial Union (IMU)
Sit in on a one-of-a-kind evening with writer and Iowa graduate Tracy Kidder, “a master of the nonfiction narrative” (Baltimore Sun), as he reflects on his lengthy literary career and reads from some of his bestselling work. The event will feature a conversation about the power of long-form investigative writing between Kidder and renowned author Stuart Dybek (73MFA), as well as a Q&A session and book signing. Register here: https://foriowa.info/3yUJ2h8 The author of nonfiction classics such...
An evening of bilingual readings: live from Iowa and Japan promotional image

An evening of bilingual readings: live from Iowa and Japan

Thursday, October 17, 2024 7:00pm to 10:00pm
Phillips Hall
At 7 p.m., members of the University of Iowa Japanese Program’s Workshop in Japanese Literary Translation will read with fiction writer Sawanishi Yūten and poet Okamoto Kei, both members of the 2024 International Writing Program (IWP). At 8 p.m., a diverse group of IWP participants will read from their work, alternating with a group of international writers associated with the Kyoto Writers Residency, who will join us via Zoom from Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto.
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