| Media Note Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC November 17, 2005 International Writers Supported by U.S. Department of State to Read Original Works at Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC, November 18, 2005Five of the international writers participating in the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa (IWP) will read short selections of their work at the Hirshhorn Museum (Learner Room) in Washington, DC, on Friday, November 18, 2005, at noon. Christopher Merrill, Director, International Writing Program, will host this one-hour event, which is free and open to the public. The writers’ program at the IWP this year was supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). In addition to supporting a total of ten international writers for the 38th annual IWP Residency in Fall 2005, the grant will also convene this group with five American writers for a weeklong colloquium in Paros, Greece. The IWP brings to the University of Iowa a multi-national group of outstanding authors, to conduct research, present original literary work, travel in the United States, and engage in cultural exchange activities with American audiences and the literary community. The program examines current trends in literature in the United States and worldwide, with particular emphasis on countries with significant Muslim populations, and explores the creative process involved in writing. The grant from ECA’s Office of Citizen Exchanges, Cultural Programs Division, is helping to support the participation of ten writers from abroad, and a visit by U.S. and selected international participants to an alumni workshop to be held in Greece. For further information about the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program, visit http://www.uiowa.edu/~iwp/PROG/PROGdescript.html or contact Donna Richardson, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, at 202-203-7520 or richardsondn@state.gov. |
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