International Writing Program

A wonderful interview with director Cate Dicharry about the International Writing Program on KCRG-TV9!

UI International Writing Program builds back after federal funding cut The University of Iowa and private donors have helped keep the program alive.

The first post highlighting our next IWP Fall Residents is up! Please join us in welcoming the writers.

* Nina Dragičević, Slovenia
* Sarah Gilmartin, Ireland
* Zodwa Nyoni, Zimbabwe / UK
* Ingeborg von Zadow, Germany

These writers join the residency with support from UNESCO Cities of Literature: Ljubljana, Unescovo mesto literature, Dublin City of Literature, MCRCityofLit among others.

Cate Dicharry, the new International Writing Program Director, is featured in today's IowaNow! "Cate Dicharry charts a new path for UI’s International Writing Program. The former director of writing and humanities in the Carver College of Medicine aims to rethink the role of literature and storytelling in a divided world." 👏 Full article >

Cate Dicharry charts a new path for UI’s International Writing Program The former director of writing and humanities in the Carver College of Medicine aims to rethink the role of literature and storytelling in a divided world.

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!

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.

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.

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

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!

IWP enters a new era, adapting history of cultural advocacy for the modern literary landscape   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...