Applying to Between the Lines - U.S. Based Students

Please note that the application period for Between the Lines 2024 has now concluded. This page remains public so that potential students can see what kind of process to expect in 2025.

You will need to prepare the materials outlined below. These include your creative work, your responses to a written prompt, and a statement of purpose. These documents will be uploaded as attachments in Microsoft Word or as PDF files through the application form.

Between the Lines: Peace and the Writing Experience will take place from June 9 through June 22, 2024, and Between the Lines: Identity and Belonging will take place from June 30 through July 14, 2024. Apply here for both sessions. The extended application deadline for both sessions is April 15, 2024 for U.S.-based students.  

Attachments for ­­the 2024 U.S. Student Application:

  • Original creative prose (fiction and/or nonfiction) and/or poetry in English (6-8 pages). Book reports and other academic writing will not be accepted. You may submit one piece or several pieces of creative work to make the 6-8 page requirement. Poems may be single-spaced with multiple poems per page.

  • A brief statement of purpose (no more than 250 words), in English, describing why writing is important to the applicant’s life, and what he/she/they hope to learn at BTL.

  • A brief response (no longer than 300 words) to the following: “An essential component of Between the Lines is encouraging participants to explore the unfamiliar and unknown in a safe and supportive setting. Please describe a time in your past when you had to engage with a new situation, person, or idea that initially felt uncomfortable or strange. How did you proceed? If you had the chance, what would you do the same, and what would you do differently?”

If you have more questions, please see the FAQ by clicking here

 

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact IWP in advance at iwp@uiowa.edu.

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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