International Writing Program

04/24/2026

Congratulations to novelist Madeleine Thien, a 2026 Guggenheim recipient! Madeleine was a 2008 participant in the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program, recognized for outstanding work in fiction. A Canadian-born writer and Brooklyn College faculty member, she is the author of The Book of Records, longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award and named by President Barack Obama as a summer 2025 read, and Do Not Say We Have Nothing, shortlisted for the Booker Prize. She has also published a children’s book, The Chinese Violin. Congratulations Madeleine!

04/15/2026

Enroll in the IWP TRANSLATION WORKSHOP THIS FALL! Join us this fall for a Collaborative Translation Workshop where students work together with the fall residents of the International Writing Program to translate the writers’ original work into English. Open to all MFA students proficient in a second language alongside English. Fridays 2-4:30 pm / Fall 26 / Class number: IWP 5205 or TRNS 5210.

04/01/2026

CLARA OBLIGADO IN CONVERSATION WITH CAMILA URIOSTE & MAURICIO RUIZ at on Thurs April 2 at 7pm!
Argentinian writer Clara Obligado will read from two of her recently translated books, The Book of Mistaken Journeys and All That Grows: Nature and Writing, and will be joined in conversation with Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate Camila Urioste and current Writers’ Workshop grad student Mauricio Ruiz.

03/25/2026

Give now and your donation is DOUBLED! Help the International Writing Program reach its 10k goal for One Day for Iowa! Link in bio or https://1dayforiowa.org/iwp26 👏
keepgoing

03/15/2026

This March 25th join us for the 10th anniversary of One Day for Iowa, a special University of Iowa tradition focused on giving! Featuring fun aspects of unlocking and leaderboard challenges, this is a day you don’t want to miss! More info coming soon!

02/20/2026

  On the second floor of Shambaugh House, down the echoing wooden hallways of the historic Iowa City building, rests a large desk covered in books from around the world and across genres. Sunlight shines through the office’s blinds and casts a glowing beam of light onto the busy workspace of Cate...

12/21/2025

We invite you to join us in reflecting on the 25-year tenure of Christopher Merrill, director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa from 2001 to 2025. In a written story and short documentary, you will hear Merrill and his colleagues discuss his writing craft, his travels, how he led the initiative to make Iowa City a UNESCO City of Literature, and his international influence on cultural diplomacy.
(Link to article in comments)

Christopher Merrill served as director of the University of Iowa's International Writing Program from 2001 to 2025, transforming the program into an internat...

11/03/2025

In case you missed it, you can catch the recording of our 2025 IWP World Creole/Kreyòl Literature Gathering on YouTube:

Enjoy the 2025 IWP World Creole/Kreyòl Literature Gathering featuring 2007 Fall Residency Alum Beaudelaine Pierre and other special guests!

10/24/2025

Please join us at Red de Bibliotecas del Instituto Cervantes in Chicago on Monday, October 27, from 1pm-2pm where three international authors will present their work following the conclusion of their residency. A conversation with the authors will follow the reading.

This reading brings together three writers whose work moves across languages, geographies, and vital experience. Roxana Crisólogo Correa (Peru/Finland), Tomás Downey (Argentina), and Florencia del Campo (Argentina/Spain) have just completed their residency at the IWP and now share with the public a selection of their work as a closing gesture to this cycle of creation, exchange, and movement.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/on-the-intimate-and-the-strange-tickets-1769671618449?aff=oddtdtcreator

Acompáñenos en el Instituto Cervantes de Chicago el lunes 27 de octubre, de 13:00 a 14:00 h, donde tres autores internacionales presentan su obra tras concluir su residencia en el International Writing Program de la Universidad de Iowa. La lectura será seguida de una conversación con los autores.

Esta lectura reúne a tres autoras y autores cuya obra transita entre lenguas, geografías y experiencias vitales. Roxana Crisólogo Correa (Perú/Finlandia), Tomás Downey (Argentina) y Florencia del Campo (Argentina/España) acaban de finalizar su residencia en el prestigioso International Writing Program de la Universidad de Iowa, y comparten ahora con el público una selección de sus textos como cierre de este ciclo de creación, intercambio y desplazamiento.

10/19/2025

Grigor Shashikyan Գրիգոր Շաշիկյան (pen name Grig) Գրիգ (fiction writer, literary critic; Armenia) reads at the final IWP Sunday Reading of the 2025 residency. 💛💛💛💛

10/19/2025

IWP resident Roxana Crisólogo’s (poet, translator, and cultural worker; Peru/Finland) reads at the last Sunday Night reading of the 2025 residency!

10/14/2025

Christopher Merrill, our longtime director, has announced he will step down at the end of the year. Since 2000, Merrill has been the architect of IWP’s modern era—expanding its global reach, stewarding the program through transformational partnerships, and championing literary exchange in Iowa City and around the world. Thank you so much, Chris.

Christopher Merrill, longtime director of the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program (IWP), is marking 25 years as director and has announced he will step down at the end of the year. Since 2000, Merrill has been the architect of IWP’s modern era—expanding its global reach, steward...