ON THE MAP 2022: INTERVIEW with Joaquín ORTEGA, Venezuela

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Joaquín ORTEGA (playwright, essayist, poet, scholar; Venezuela) works across media and institutions. The author of a volume of poetry and of plays like “Lo escuche llorar en mi boca. Tríptico de Caracas” [I Heard Him Cry in My Mouth. A Caracas Triptych], he has long been a librettist for popular radio and TV comedy shows, and has also published La cultura del milenio: ensayos sobre creatividad [The Millennium Culture: Essays on Creativity]. He teaches at Universidad Central de Venezuela, in the School of Political and Administration Studies. His residency is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the US Department of State.

"On the Map" is a series of interviews with writers while they are in Iowa City, participating in the IWP’s fall residency, produced in association with the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. This video was made possible by a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

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Happening Now

  • We regret the passing, on April 11, 2024, of the distinguished Romanian author and critic Dan Cristea, who served as the editor in chief of the Luceafărul de Dimineață cultural monthly. In addition to being an alum of the 1985 Fall Residency, Cristea received his PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Iowa.

  • Our congratulations to 1986 Fall Residency writer Kwame Dawes, who has been named the new poet laureate of Jamaica.

  • Congratulations to our colleagues Jennifer Croft and Aron Aji, who are among those serving as judges for the National Book Awards this year, in their case in the category of translated literature.

  • Ranjit Hoskote’s speech at the 2024 Goa Literary Festival addresses the current situation in Gaza.

  • In NY Times, Bina Shah worries about the state of Pakistani—and American—democracy.

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