On October 21-23, the U.S. Embassy, in partnership with the Armenian Literature Foundation, will host American writers from the International Writing Program (IWP) at the University of Iowa, USA. Guests include renowned American writers – Peter Balakian, Gish Jen, Gregory Orfalea, Mary Hickman, and Christopher Merrill. The goal of the program is to engage young writers in Armenia by offering them new skills and knowledge in writing fiction and poetry, encourage dialogue and collaboration between writers and teachers in the U.S. and Armenia, and create opportunities for colleagues and students to meet with distinguished representatives of the American literary scene.
The Armenia tour will include selection of participants for an Armenian-Turkish writing residency program at the University of Iowa in summer 2015.
Every year, in partnership with the U.S. State Department and the IWP based at the University of Iowa, reading tours are organized that include American writers to countries and regions of strategic interest to the United States. Writing is an important medium for promoting free speech and strengthening democracy in countries worldwide.
For more information about the IWP program, visit http://iwp.uiowa.edu.
