Summer Institute

We are no longer accepting applications for this program.
The 2022 cohort, the final group to participate, was previously selected.
For questions, please write to iwp-summerinstitute@uiowa.edu.

2019-2022: The Summer Institute (SI) is a two-week creative writing and cultural exchange program for participants age 18-22 from Pakistan, India, and the U.S. Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the SI was held virtually in 2020 and 2021. This program is free for accepted applicants from all disciplines – the arts, humanities, sciences, and everything in between – and focuses on creative writing and the power of narrative. Attendees take part in collaborative workshops focused on their creative work, in seminars to expand literary knowledge of diverse global literatures, in special seminars on the craft of writing, and in activities designed to forge new lines of understanding and shared purpose among its community of writers. The SI is an opportunity to see writing as a form of action – a personally-empowering skill that can be employed for social change.

The Summer Institute is supported by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.

"Had I not enrolled in the program, I never would have been exposed to the works of writers such as Alice Munro or Bharati Mukherjee. The global perspective on creative writing opened my eyes to new cultural perspectives and new writing techniques."

- 2020-21 participant

"I'll miss the writing and the lectures, but most of all I will miss the unconditional love and support i received from my IWP family. I will miss how much light this program has spread despite the impenetrable darkness of a hard year."

- 2020-21 participant

Summer Institute participants get a taste of the writing culture at The University of Iowa. Check out the video below to learn more:

We are no longer accepting applications for this program.
The 2022 cohort, the final group to participate, was previously selected.
For questions, please write to iwp-summerinstitute@uiowa.edu.