In three weeks, the IWP's 46th annual Fall Residency will bring 32 writers from 29 countries to Iowa City where they will have time, space, and freedom to write. As ever, they'll also have ample opportunitiy to engage with the public, to travel to other cities and states, to give public readings of their work, and to immerse themselves in the writing life in North America's only UNESCO-designated City of Literature.
In anticipation of their arrival, we'll be posting information about this year's cohort of writers here at the Shambaugh House blog every other weekday for the next two weeks, roughly five writers at a time. Without further ado, here's a look at just a few of our 2012 Fall Residents:
Gulala NOURI (poet, fiction writer, translator; Iraq) has worked as a Kurdish-language teacher and in women’s issues and human rights. Currently, she is in charge of public relations and media for the High Commission for Erbil Citadel Revitalization. Nouri has published four collections of poetry, لحظة ينام الدولفين [While the Dolphin is Sleeping] (1999), لن يخصك هذا الضجيج [This Crowd is Not Up To You] (2001), تقاويم الوحشة [Calendars of Loneliness] (2005), and حطب [Firewood] (2009). Her translations of Vladimir Vysostky’s poetry into Kurdish and Arabic came out in 2011. Nouri has two books forthcoming, a translation of stories on the Halabja massacre, and her first story collection. Her participation was funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Bilal TANWEER (fiction writer, poet, translator; Pakistan) teaches creative writing at Lahore University of Management Sciences. His short stories, essays, and poetry have been published by Granta, Critical Muslim, Life’s Too Short Literary Review: New Writing From Pakistan, Vallum, Dawn, The Express Tribune, The News on Sunday, and The Caravan (India); his translations from the Urdu have appeared in Words Without Borders and The Annual of Urdu Studies. In 2010 he received the PEN Translation Fund Grant for Chakiwara Chronicles by Muhammad Khalid Akhtar; in 2011 he was selected as a Granta New Voice. He participates thanks to a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
External links:
http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/New-Voices-announcing-Bilal-Tanweer
https://twitter.com/#!/bilaltanweer
http://wordswithoutborders.org/article/the-monthly-ulloo
http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2011/01/interview-bilal-tanweer.html
http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/author/489/bilal-tanweer/
Federico FALCO (fiction writer, poet; Argentina) is the author of three short story collections, two poetry collections, and the 2011 novel Cielos de Córdoba. His La hora de los monos was chosen as one of the best Argentine books of 2010 by the magazine Revista Ñ. His stories are widely published and anthologized, including Open Letter’s 2012 The Future is Not Ours: New Latin American Fiction. In 2010, Falco was among Granta magazine’s Best Young Spanish-Language Novelists. Currently he teaches in the Department of Cinema, Literature and Contemporary Art History at the Universidad Blas Pascal. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
External links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Falco
http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/index.php?id=2968
TJ DEMA (poet; Botswana), a founding member of her country’s spoken word movement and a member of Sonic Slam Chorus, former chair of the Writers Association of Botswana, and runs Sauti Arts and Performance Management. An editor and anthologized poet, she has produced a multilingual CD, “Dreaming Is A Gift For Me,” featuring twelve Batswana poets. This summer she took part in the Cultural Olympiad’s Poetry Parnassus. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
External Links:
http://www.tjdema.blogspot.com/
http://soundcloud.com/dikson/these-women-by-sonic-slam
http://kgogomodumo.com/blog/2010/09/13/botswana-poets-series-tj-dema/
Alisa GANIEVA (fiction writer, children’s writer, critic; Russia) edits NezavisimayaGazeta‘s weekly supplement ExLibris. Her stories, articles, and reviews have been widely published and anthologized. In 2009 Ganieva won the Debut Prize for her novel Салам тебе, Далгат! [Salam, Dalgat!] written under the pseudonym Gulla Khirachev. She is also the winner of the Gorky Literary Prize (2008), October magazine’s award for literary criticism (2009) and Triumph Prize for fiction. Her second novel Праздничная гора [Holiday Mountain] is due out later this year. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
External links:
http://alisagan.livejournal.com/
http://www.debutprize.com/author/alisa-ganieva/
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2012/mar/20/alisa-ganieva-s-emsalam-dalgatem/
http://rbth.ru/articles/2012/03/05/alisa_ganieva_and_the_chronicles_of_dagestan_14982.html
Stay tuned because on Wednesday, we'll introduce you to five more writers!