2009 Between the Lines

2009's Between the Lines was the first to take place on the University of Iowa campus. Twelve students from Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, and Syria joined 76 Iowa Young Writers' Studio participants in our version of "summer camp" -- where writing and literature, not hikes and campfires, are the main focus. BTL students attended morning English-language seminars with their IYWS peers, and an afternoon Arabic-language creative writing workshop (led by teachers and IWP alumni Tarek Eltayeb and Iman Humaydan). They took time out for fun as well, visiting Adventureland (an amusement park) and a bowling alley, among other places.

BTL and IYWS students at orientation. The Stretch writing exercise starts each weekday.
Students experimented with different forms of creative writing at the Arabic-language workshop. Showing off skills at the Arabic-language workshop.
BTL students shared their favorite Arabic-language authors with IYWS students. In this Stretch exercise, students had to create sentences with words that were taped on their foreheads.
Shooting hoops at sunset. For several BTL students, this was their first time in a bowling alley.
It's not a photography mistake...this is what BTL students look like in the funhouse mirror at Adventureland. BTL class of 2009. Standing, left to right: Iman Humaydan (faculty, Lebanon), Christopher Merrill (IWP director), Tarek Eltayeb (faculty, Austria), Zaid Al-Nassir (student, Jordan), Soumer Daghastani (chaperone, Syria), Bashar Al-Sawaftah (student, Jordan), Nael Roby (student, Israel), Ahmad Ezery (student, Israel), Majd Iwidat (student, Palestinian Authority), Bana Aassy (student, Israel). Kneeling/sitting, left to right: Basima Takrouri (chaperone, Palestinian Authority), Irene Ghattas (student, Palestinian Authority), Nadia Tellawi (chaperone, Jordan), Hussein Youneiss (student, Lebanon), Asma Abu Dahab (chaperone, Jordan), Lora Abaza (student, Syria), Nadia El Malt (student, Lebanon), Yara Abou Fakher (student, Syria), Iya Ghassib (student, Jordan).

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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