The International Writing Program (IWP) is a unique conduit for the world's literatures, connecting well-established writers from around the globe, bringing international literature into classrooms, introducing American writers to other cultures through reading tours, and serving as a clearinghouse for literary news and a wealth of archival and pedagogical materials. This site, Collections from the IWP Experience, showcases the creative work developed through the IWP's cultural exchange programs. Funding for the IWP is provided by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, the University of Iowa, and other institutions.

While our most recent collection is featured here, previous collections are housed in our Archive.

The 2016 Anthology: A Piece of Daily Life  was created as a collective project by the participants in the 2016 Fall Residency.

The IWP Fall Residency provides writers with time, in a setting congenial to their efforts, for the production of literary work. It also introduces them to the social and cultural fabrics of the United States, enables them to take part in American university life, and creates opportunities for them to contribute to literature courses both at the University of Iowa and across the country.

To What Do I Belong?: Traversing Differences, Bridging Narratives is a collection of ten essays by international writers issuing from a conference, around the topics of belonging, exclusion and the need for new narratives.

The IWP's artist-writer exchanges instigate the development of collaborative projects between far-flung communities of emerging and established writers and artists, creating new connections that continue to thrive long after exchange projects have concluded.

More information on exchanges may be found on the International Writing Program website.

Narrative Witness:
Indigenous peoples, australia-united states

Narrative Witness: Indigenous Peoples, Australia-United States is the IWP's second exchange between writers and photographers. The exchange brought together two communities of indigenous artists in North America and Australia. Narrative Witness 2 began in August 2015 with a live video seminar, gathering 30 emerging writers and photographers for a discussion of visual and textual storytelling, led by authors Ali Cobby Eckermann and Jennifer Elise Foerster, and photographer William Wilson. Under the theme of Narrative Witness, the group created works of photography, fiction, poetry, and nonfiction documenting the experiences - both real and imagined - of their worlds.

Throughout the Fall of 2015, the participants met online for weekly writing and photography workshops. The result of these workshops were new and responsive work, and a newly-formed international community.

PARTICIPANTS

Byron F. Aspaas, United States; James D. Autio, United States; Timmah Ball, Australia; Esther Belin, United States; Joseph Bruchac, United States; Brenda L. Croft, Australia; Laura Da', United States; Viki Eagle, United States; Max Early, United States; Samantha Faulkner, Australia; Fidel Frank, United States; Jenny Fraser, Australia; Santee Frazier, United States; Samia Goudie, Australia; Joy Harjo, United States; Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, United States; Roberta Hill, United States; Angelina Hurley, Australia; Dakota Mace, United States; Melissa Michal, United States; Sharon Mununggurr, Australia; Sylvia Nakachi, Australia; Shauna Osborn, United States; Wayne Quilliam, Australia; Rona Scherer, Australia; Kali Spitzer, Canada; Lehua Taitano, United States; James Taylor, Australia; Alexis West; Venaya Yazzie, United States.

The indigenous peoples collection

The IWP is proud to showcase the collected work from the writers and photographers in North America and Australia. Their work can be found in our Narrative Witness 2 Collection.

Narrative Witness:
A CARACAS-SARAJEVO COLLABORATION

Narrative Witness: A Caracas-Sarajevo Collaboration is the IWP’s first exchange between writers and photographers. The exchange brought together two communities in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Caracas, Venezuela. Narrative Witness began in June 2014 with a live video seminar, gathering 22 emerging and established photographers and writers for a discussion of visual and textual storytelling, led by author Stacy Mattingly and photojournalist Elizabeth Herman. Through photo essays, nonfiction, and fiction, the group undertook to narrate an immersive experience, both documentary and imagined, of two worlds.

Throughout the summer of 2014, the participants met online for weekly writing and photography workshops. The participants wrote in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Spanish, and English; Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian-English translator Mirza Purić and Spanish-English translator Mariela Matos Smith translated their work into English week by week so that the group’s critical discussions might include everyone. New responsive work arose from these discussions, and at the exchange’s conclusion, a new international community had been forged.

PARTICIPANTS

Marina Alagić-Bowder, Sarajevo; José Tomás Angola Heredia, Caracas; Oscar B. Castillo, Caracas; Alejandro Cegarra, Caracas; Neđla Ćemanović, Sarajevo; Vanja Čerimagić, Sarajevo; Nermana Česko, Sarajevo; Sonia Chocrón, Caracas; Dijala Hasanbegović, Sarajevo; Efrén Hernández Arias, Caracas; Kulović Selma, Sarajevo; Vladimir Marcano, Caracas; Naida Muratović, Sarajevo; Joaquín Ortega, Caracas; Hensli Rahn Solórzano, Caracas; Ricardo Ramírez Requena, Caracas; Fedosy Santaella, Caracas
Isabella Saturno, Caracas; Matea Šimić, Sarajevo; Humberto Valdivieso, Caracas; Daniela Valenta, Sarajevo; Zerina Zahirović, Sarajevo

The Caracas-SarAjevo collection

Through the collected work of the exchange, the two worlds of Caracas and Sarajevo are set apart, bridged, and overlapped. The International Writing Program is proud to showcase their work in our Narrative Witness 1 Collection.