Youth Voices
In the summer of 2016, 20 teenagers came together in Iowa City, Iowa for a two-week creative writing and cultural exchange program. The purpose of the program was to discuss literature and creative writing across cultures, ranging from Kyrgyzstan and Sri Lanka to the United States, while also emphasizing the importance of peace-building through the arts. This page serves as an archive of the work done at Between the Lines: Silk Routes as well as a resource, including curriculum, international student language essays, and issues important to youth today as explored through their creative writing.
Due to the multitude of languages spoken by BTL Silk Routes students, the program was conducted entirely in English—a first in the history of Between the Lines—while also emphasizing the importance of that linguistic plurality through translation workshops and cultural, literary, and historical contextualization. Between our 12 international students, 10 languages were spoken—ranging from Tamil, Sinhala, and Hindi to Urdu, Bangla, Nepali, and Kyrgyz—with even more languages being ‘understood.’
Each weekday, BTLers took two classes: a global literature seminar that encourages writers to expand their lens as readers and a creative writing workshop to hone their craft as writers. In the evenings and on weekends, special events were held as a way to further cultural exchange and/or expose students to new modes of thinking, writing, or performing. Participants joined in on a slam poetry workshop, held a shared cooking & culinary exchange, discussed notions of home through a Cultures & Context event, and produced “poetic shorts” though digital filmmaking.
Between the Lines Participants
Each of the 12 international students has a contributor page on the Silk Routes Virtual Gallery. Below is a list of all BTL Silk Routes participants, including chaperones and teachers.
Teachers and Chaperones
Ameena Hussein (BTL instructor), Colombo, Sri Lanka; Mary Hickman (BTL instructor), Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.; Kandala Singh (BTL chaperone), New Delhi, India; Jamby Dzhusbalieva (BTL chaperone), Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Between the Lines International Student Participants (12)
Mohammed Mostafa Irfan (18), Dhaka, Bangladesh; Imthishal Mohamed (16), Colombo, Sri Lanka; Ziqra Zarook (17), Colombo, Sri Lanka; Ahmad Ibrahim (16), Lahore, Pakistan; Zainab Nasim (18), Sialkot, Pakistan; Amsel Bilal Saleem (17), Karachi, Pakistan; Jigyasa Subedi (17), Kathmandu, Nepal; Chiran Raj Pandey (18), Kathmandu, Nepal; Ngawang Choden Lachungpa Bhutia (16), Gangtok, India; Satyendra Nair (18), Mumbai, India; Sabina Umurzakova (19), Karakol, Kyrgyzstan; Azamat Omuraliev (18), Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
American Participants (8)
Claire Adler (17), Salt Lake City, Utah; Olivia Alger (17), Lake Bluff, Illinois; Sam Anthony (17), Iowa City, Iowa; Melanie Herrmann (18), Mesa, Arizona; Allison Huang (17), Princeton, New Jersey; Anna Lance (18), Eagle River, Alaska; Maya Meadows-Claussen (17), Iowa City, Iowa; Grace Morse (16), New Orleans, Louisiana.
Want to know more?
You can read the Between the Lines Anthology, a book that was printed at the end of the session. You can also look at the BTL Fact Sheet, which includes a brief introduction of each participant. Lastly, you can check out Between the Lines on social media (Facebook at BTL Writers) and read more about the students' experiences as documented on the Between the Lines Tumblr page. You should also read Ameena Hussein's (Colombo, Sri Lanka) reflection on teaching BTL students in Iowa City.
Curious what we read during the program? Below is the Curriculum Table of Contents:
I. What is Global Literature?
The Empire Writes Back! – Wena Poon
Why Do Writers Abandon Their Native Language? – unknown
The African Writer and the English Language – Chinua Achebe
When My Authentic is Your Exotic – Soniah Kamal
Can Books Cross Borders – Tim Parks
II. Texts and Context
South of the Border, West of the Sun – Haruki Murakami
Island of a Thousand Mirrors – Nayomi Munaweera
The War at Our Backs – Nayomi Munaweera
Food for my Daughter – Ramya Chamalie Jirasinghe
Pigs Can’t Fly – Shyam Selvadurai
The Kafir of my heart – Liyanage Amarakeerthi
Jamila (Intro, Excerpt 1) – Chingiz Aitmatov
Jamila (Excerpt 2) – Chingiz Aitmatov
Jamila (Summary) – Iraj Bashiri
Manas (Intro and Excerpt) – anonymous
Manas (Comments) -- Hu Zhen-hua and Guy Imart
Cordoba – Stuart Dybek
Drive – Stuart Dybek
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Having a Coke With You – Frank O’Hara
The Last Time I Saw Cherry – Tony Birch
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream – Harlan Ellison
Where the Kissing Never Stops – Joan Didion
The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller
The Sweet Relief of Missing Children – Sarah Braunstein
Dhon Hiyala and Ali Fulhu – Abdulla Sodiq
Don Hiyala and Alifulu – Xavier Romero-Frias
Muna-Madan – Laxmiprasad Devkota
Devkota’s Muna-Madan: An Introduction – Michael Hutt
Happy Family in Mongolia – Manjushree Thapa
Sultana’s Dream – Rokeya Shekhawat Hossein
Runaway Cyclone – Jagadish Chandra Bose
[“Come as you are”] (and Tagore Intro) – Rabindranath Tagore
Maran-milan (‘Death-wedding’) – Rabindranath Tagore
Tagore commentary – Bhabatosh Chatterjee
To My Beloved Teenager – Lalita Gandbir
Virgin Curry – Githa Hariharan
Lajja (Shame) – Taslima Nasrin
Train to Pakistan – Khushwant Singh
Toba Tek Singh – Saadat Hasan Manto
Hindi and Urdu – Saadat Hasan Manto
Complaint – Allama Muhammad Iqbal
baazicha-e-atafaal hai duniya mere aage – Mirza Ghalib
Butt and Bhatti – Mohammed Hanif
III. Student Language Essays
IV. National, Literary, and Historical Background
Post-Socialist Kyrgyz Literature: Crisis or Renaissance
From Minority to Nation – Ayesha Jalal
One Language, Separated by the Sea: Introduction to the Bloodaxe Book of
Contemporary Indian Poets – Jeet Thayil
The Vintage Book of Modern Indian Literature, Introduction – Amit Chaudhuri
