INSTITUTE I N T E R N A T I O N A L
2019
S U M M E R
W R I T I N G
P R O G R A M
TABLE OF
contents 2
people
6
instructors
3
coordinators
9
participants
4
resident assistants
5
mentors
15
program
PEOPLE
3 6 30
MENTORS
Mentors will work closely with students to help them get the most of this program and form a life-long relationship around the written word.
MASTERCLASS INSTRUCTORS Instructors will embolden participants to consider specific ways their writing can further the human rights and social issues they wish to affect in their home countries.
PARTICIPANTS
Participants will come to see their writing as a form of action—a skill that can be employed for social change.
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COORDINATORS
DR. PETER GERLACH
SIYANDA MOHUTSIWA
COORDINATOR
PROGRAM ASSISTANT
Peter Gerlach received his BA and MA degrees in English from Ripon College and the University of Northern Colorado, respectively. After serving in the US Peace Corps in Mongolia, he earned a PhD in Cultural Foundations of Education from Syracuse University.
Siyanda Mohutsiwa is a satirist, TED speaker, and graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She is a Botswana national, known internationally for the coining of the term “Social Panafricanism.”
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RESIDENT ASSISTANTS
BEN BUSH
ELLEN BOYETTE
Ben Bush is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, and an incoming Dornsife Fellow at the University of Southern California Creative Writing PhD program.
Ellen Boyette is a poet and essayist from Asheville, North Carolina. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she was a Teaching-Writing Fellow, and an editorial assistant for The Iowa Review.
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MEET THE MENTORS ANJALI SACHDEVA is the author of the short story collection All the Names They Used for God, which was chosen as one of National Public Radio's best books of 2018 and longlisted for the Story Prize and the Chautauqua Prize. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Iowa Review, Gulf Coast, Yale Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Creative Nonfiction, Off Assignment, and Best American Nonrequired Reading. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has taught writing at the University of Iowa, Augustana College, and Carnegie Mellon University. She also worked for six years at the Creative Nonfiction Foundation, where she was Director of Educational Programs. She currently teaches at the University of Pittsburgh.
ROCHELLE POTKAR
HARRIS KHALIQUE
is a Charles Wallace writing fellow, and the author of The Arithmetic of breasts and other stories, Four Degrees of Separation, and Paper Asylum. Her poem "The Girl From Lal Bazaar" was shortlisted for the Gregory O' Donoghue International Poetry Prize, 2018; "Place" won an honorable mention at Asian Cha’s Auditory Cortex; "Skirt" was made into a poetry film by Philippa Collie Cousins for the Visible Poetry Project; "To Daraza" won the 2018 Norton Girault Literary Prize in poetry; "War Specials" won 1st Runner up at The Great Indian Poetry Contest 2018 and "Amber" won a place in Hongkong's Proverse Poetry Prize 2018 Anthology.
is the author of nine poetry collections in English and Urdu and two books of nonfiction, including No Fortunes to Tell (2019), Crimson Papers: Reflections on Struggle, Suffering, and Creativity in Pakistan (2017), Between You and Your Love (2004), Ishq ki taqveem mein (2006) and Melay mein (2012). He is the recipient of the President's Award for Pride of Performance (2018) and the UBL Literary Excellence Award (2013). His poems have been anthologized internationally and columns published regularly in Pakistani and international press. Currently, he is the Secretary-General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
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MEET THE INSTRUCTORS ARACELY MONDRAGON
is a queer Xicana/x from California with roots in Guerrero, MĂŠxico. Aracely has an MFA from the Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa and a B.A. in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity from Stanford University. Before coming to Iowa, Aracely worked as a community organizer with Faith in Action Bay Area, doing housing justice work in California.
DINI PARAYITAM
has been published in Boston Review, The Iowa Review and Litro Magazine, among other places. She has been working on a debut novel, Desperate Animals, a comedy about the residents of a middle-class apartment complex in Hyderabad, India. She is also a part of Kalakars USA, an organization of South Asian filmmakers, actors, and scriptwriters. She is a Spring 2019 Writer-Director Fellow. She is currently at work writing a TV-pilot script about a young Indian-immigrant couple in the aftermath of a hate crime.
FARIHA TAYYAB is a multidisciplinary artist hailing from Houston. Her work as a writer and photographer revolves around the themes of identity and social justice. Fariha's poetry and creative nonfiction have been published in a virtual flood museum, in the literary journal Not Your Mother's Breast Milk, and in a regional anthology, amongst other publications. She has received awards and grants for her artistry, mentored emerging artists, and established sustainable programming in her community.
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MEET THE INSTRUCTORS
LISA SCHLESINGER
is associate professor and co-head of the Playwrights Workshop at the University of Iowa. Lisa's plays include Celestial Bodies, Wal-martyrs, Same Egg, Manny and Chicken, Rock Ends Ahead, In the Wake of the Graybow Riots, I Dreamed the Last Diamond Darter, The Bones of Danny Winston, and Twenty-One Positions (with Naomi Wallace and Abdel AbuSrour). Her most recent play, Iphigenia Point Blank, will premiere in New York City in 2020.
AFABWAJE KURIAN
was born in Nigeria but spent most of her youth in Maryland and Ohio. She studied zoology at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and holds a master's degree in public health from UNC-Chapel Hill. After working in evaluation and research for two agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, she attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She is currently at work on her first novel and has also written short stories that explore concepts of race, colorism, identity, sexuality, and assimilation.
ANAM ZAKARIA
is an author, development professional and educator with a special interest in oral histories, identity politics and narratives of conflict. Her first book, The Footprints of Partition: Narratives of Four Generations of Pakistanis and Indians (2015) explores the shifting inter-generational perceptions of the 1947 Partition and won the KLF-German Peace Prize 2017. Her new book is Between the Great Divide: A Journey Into PakistanAdministered Kashmir (2018). page 7
MEET THE PARTICIPANTS the inaugural class of the Summer Institute
A committee of writers, poets and essayists came together to select, from a pool of over 1100 applications, 30 of the most outstanding students from Pakistan, India and the US. The goal was to spend two weeks together in an immersive creative writing and cultural exchange program in Iowa City, a UNESCO City of Literature.
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PARTICIPANTS
I N D I A
"I write to humanize the others of history, to right wrongs and because I believe that the only prizes worth winning are those that can be shared."
cherene phuthethu | 18 E R N A K U L A M
"My writing is dedicated to characters who are unapologetically themselves or, like me, are learning to become so."
jishnu bandyopadhyay| 19 KOLKATA
"I animate the complexities, and often baseness, of human existence in my writing, I try to crystallize hopes and desire in my words and punctuate my fears fearlessly."
azhar wani| 20 B A R A M U L L A
"I don't know how to make the world a better place, so I write kinder words."
payal nagpal| 21 GACHIBOWLI
"I want everyone to know that most of us experience things in somewhat similar ways and that familiarity feels amazing when read in others' works."
sandip baidya | 19 NEW DELHI
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PARTICIPANTS
I N D I A
"I believe that literature has a therapeutic power, that not only interprets reality in a myriad ways, but also works as a healing agent."
suyashi smridhi| 21 PATNA
"As a Kashmir-based writer, my responsibility is to generate stories that can help give the world a better understanding of love, peace and harmony."
sheikh saqib | 19
"I have always been a writer. Activism for me came through writing."
g u r m e JhAaL ArN DkHaA Ru r | 2 2
SRINAGAR
"All I'm trying to do with my writing is inspire others to write because my favorite stories have always made me want to write."
tanvi chowdhary | 22 LUCKNOW
"I think that everyone should be continuously critical of their beliefs, and as young writers, we work towards a culture that encourages that"
tejas sampath | 19 NAGPUR
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PARTICIPANTS
P A K I S T A N
"I want my stories to encourage people to be themselves, to be vulnerable and to understand that this vulnerability is universal."
aalia waqas | 20 RAWALPINDI
"Through my writing I want to erase the borders that are between human beings because I believe if we want to stay as a part of the planet we must get united."
fazila nawaz | GILGIT
"There is so much that I "As a film-making student, and many others around me experience in their writing and reading help me evoke emotions and everyday lives that hasn’t inspire me to envision art really made its way into popular literature and I which I can put on the hope to remedy that." screen."
hafsa ghani | 21
20
mahnoor imran sayyed | 19 ISLAMABAD
KARACHI
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PARTICIPANTS
P A K I S T A N "I write to express the sad realities and intangible experiences in the everyday lives of my people."
hafsa nouman | 21 LAHORE
"In a world so resistant to our understanding of it, writing helps us see where we come from and where we are headed, it helps us see our position in the world."
amna shoaib | 21 KARACHI
"I think the world can be a grim place, but I can't quit believing in my ability to make a change. And for me, writing gives me the tools needed to make that change."
omar chowdri | 21 KARACHI
"I love documenting the pulsating life around me in print because going through it once just isn't enough."
sarim mehmood | 21 LAHORE
"Writing gives me wings and transports me to a boundless world where I can be whoever I wantfearlessly and unapologetically."
sadia maqsood| 20 KARACHI
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PARTICIPANTS
U N I T E D S T A T E S
"People of all cultures, across every era have told stories, which tells me that humanity must need storytelling for something and that something must be profoundly important. "
john lyons | 19 WISCONSIN
"I like connecting distinct "I want to provide an and unusual images. For example as someone who example, I've been writing has been through many poems that are about rats trials at a young age, yet but that are also about perseveres with a smile family, romantic love, and a continuous desire to anxiety, and identity." love others, and promote attentive empathy."
martina litty| 19 OHIO
“My stories capture the perspectives of ordinary women who silently and loudly rebel against societal expectations. I hope that my stories inspire readers to find happiness in their daily lives.”
mariya khan| 22
kaylee kuehl | 20 OKLAHOMA
"Through writing, activism, and community service, my overarching goal is be part of the creation of environments founded on respect, understanding, and inclusion."
anna sheppard| 21 SOUTH CAROLINA
MARYLAND
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PARTICIPANTS
UNITED STATES
"As a writer, I feel like I'm trying to make sense of something and write something that makes others feel a little more understood, and feel a desire to understand each other."
anna magana | 20 IOWA
"I am a poet who desires "I want my stories to act as to showcase the diversity a break for people of experience, and most of typically absorbed in all to make an impact on television or social media, someone's life and make a way for young people to them realize that their feel connected with their voice is heard." brain and thought processes."
ashley hajimirsadeghi | 18 MARYLAND
nyeree boyadjian | 19 NEW YORK
"My writing is inspired by my family, my city and my culture. Survival for me has always been about my need for survival."
darius christiansen| 20 LOUISIANA
"I write because I could never read about a girl like me...I write for little girls who feel alone in crowded rooms."
medha faust-nagar| 20 MINNESOTA
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2019
S U M M E R
INSTITUTE
The Summer Institute is a new immersive two-week creative writing and cultural exchange program held in Iowa City, Iowa, US, a UNESCO City of Literature, for participants age 18-22 from Pakistan, India, and the US. The Summer Institute’s innovative, inclusive, cross-cultural approach will empower future thought-leaders and help forge new lines of understanding, promote social justice, and foreground diversity, empathy, and community. Participants will come to see writing as a form of action – a personallyempowering skill that can be employed for social change.
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PROGRAM
SUNDAY JULY 7
welcome 7-9am
CATERED BREAKFAST / SHAMBAUGH HOUSE
9-10am
HR VISA CHECK-IN AND REIMBURSEMENTS / SHAMBAUGH HOUSE
11.15-12.15
LUNCH / CATLETT
12.30pm
WELCOME + INTRODUCTIONS / CURRIER HALL MULTIPURPOSE ROOM
1-4pm
COMMUNITY BUILDING / CURRIER HALL MULTIPURPOSE ROOM
5-6.15pm
DINNER / CATLETT
7-8.30pm
WHAT IS THE SUMMER INSTITUTE? / CURRIER HALL MULTIPURPOSE ROOM
9-10pm
MANDATORY DORM MEETING WITH RAS / CURRIER HALL
MONDAY JULY 8
curiosity 7-9am
BREAKFAST / CATLETT
8.30-9.30am
IMMIGRATION ORIENTATION / UI INTERNATIONAL STUDENT & SCHOLAR SERVICES
10am-12.00pm A R A C E L Y M O N D R A G O N : T H E T R A N S L A T E D S E L F - W R I T I N G ,
IDENTITY, AND LANGUAGE/ SCHAEFFER HALL 3 12.15-1.15pm
LUNCH / CATLETT
2-4pm
SIYANDA MOHUTSIWA: DIGITAL STORYTELLING / C10 POMERANTZ CENTER
5-6.15pm
DINNER / CATLETT
7-9pm
OPTIONAL MOVIE NIGHT / E105 ADLER JOURNALISM BUILDING
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PROGRAM
TUESDAY JULY 9
reflection 7-9am
BREAKFAST / CATLETT
9.15-9.30pm
MORNING MEETING / CURRIER HALL STEPS OR TBD
10am-12pm
DINI PARAYITAM: AVOIDING EXOTICIZING: LEANING ON DESCRIPTION, NOT EXPLANATION / 208 ENGLISH & PHILOSOPHY BUILDING
12.15-1.15pm
LUNCH / CATLETT
2-4pm
DINI PARAYITAM: CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP / 208 ENGLISH & PHILOSOPHY BUILDING
5-6.15pm
DINNER / CATLETT
6:15pm
FREE TIME
WEDNESDAY JULY 10
c o u r a g e 7-9am
BREAKFAST / CATLETT
9.15-9.30pm
MORNING MEETING / CURRIER HALL STEPS OR TBD
10am-12pm
FARIHA TAYYAB: INNER VIOLENCE: REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP AND RESPONSE TO COMMUNITY / ENGLISH & PHILOSOPHY BUILDING 208
12.15-1.15pm
LUNCH / CATLETT
2-4pm
FARIHA TAYYAB: POLITICAL POETRY AND EMPATHY / ENGLISH & PHILOSOPHY BUILDING 208
5-6.15pm
DINNER / CATLETT
6:15pm
MENTORS' BOOK READING / PRAIRE LIGHTS BOOKSTORE, 15 SOUTH DUBUQUE STREET page 17
PROGRAM
THURSDAY JULY 11
empowering others 7-9am
BREAKFAST / CATLETT
9.15-9.30pm
MORNING MEETING / CURRIER HALL STEPS OR TBD
10am-12pm
ROCHELLE POTKAR: SCREENPLAY WRITING - FROM PAGE TO SCREEN / C10 POMERANTZ CENTER
12.15-1.15pm
LUNCH / CATLETT
2-4pm
LISA SCHLESINGER: EMBODYING THE VOICES AND LIVES OF OTHERS IN WRITING FOR THE STAGE / DEY HOUSE, FRANK CONROY READING ROOM
5-6.15pm
DINNER / CATLETT
7-9pm
OPEN MIC NIGHT / THE AIRLINER, 22 SOUTH CLINTON STREET
FRIDAY JULY 12
g r o w t h 7-9am
BREAKFAST / CATLETT
9.15-9.30pm
MORNING MEETING / CURRIER HALL STEPS OR TBD
10am-12pm
MENTORS: SURVEY OF SURVEY OF MODERN INDIAN, PAKISTANI, AND US LITERATURE / E105 ADLER JOURNALISM BUILDING
12.15-1.15pm
LUNCH / CATLETT
2-4pm
MENTORS : STEREOTYPES, MASTER NARRATIVES, NATIONAL LITERATURES, AND THE “OTHER” / E132 ADLER JOURNALISM BUILDING
5-6.15pm
DINNER / CATLETT
7-9pm
KARAOKE / 819 SOUTH VAN BUREN STREET
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PROGRAM
SATURDAY JULY 13
lake trip 7-9am
BREAKFAST / CATLETT OR IOWA CITY FARMER'S MARKET
10a-3pm
TRIP TO LAKE MACBRIDE AND LUNCH
4.45-6.15pm D I N N E R / C A T L E T T 6.15pm
FREE TIME
SUNDAY JULY 14
special seminar 7-9am
BREAKFAST / LOCAL DINERS
9.15-11am
CRICKET MATCH / HAPPY HOLLOW PARK
11.15-1.15pm
LUNCH / CATLETT
1.15-4.45pm
OPTIONAL TRIP TO CEDAR RIDGE MALL
4.45-6.15pm
DINNER / CATLETT
7-8pm
RAS: SPECIAL SEMINAR / CURRIER HALL
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PROGRAM MONDAY JULY 15
s m a l l 7-9am
2-4pm
c o m m u n i t y
one-on-one with the mentors
BREAKFAST / CATLETT
Anjali / 215 North Hall or Currier Hall MP Room 10a-12pm A F A B W A J E K U R I A N : W R I T I N G O N T H E S I D E / 1 0 3 N O R T H H A L L Harris / 219 North Hall or 12.15-1.15pm L U N C H / C A T L E T T Currier Hall MP Room 2-4pm A F A B W A J E K U R I A N : W R I T I N G O N T H E S I D E / 2 2 0 N O R T H H A L L Rochelle / 220 North Hall or Currier Hall MP Room 5-6.15pm DINNER / CATLETT 9.15-9.30am M O R N I N G M E E T I N G / C U R R I E R H A L L F R O N T S T E P S O R T B D
7-8pm
SIYANDA MOHUTSIWA: PARTICIPANT PANEL / CURRIER MULTIPURPOSE ROOM
TUESDAY JULY 16
s m a l l 7-9am
c o m m u n i t y
2-4pm
BREAKFAST / CATLETT
9.15-9.30am M O R N I N G M E E T I N G / C U R R I E R H A L L F R O N T S T E P S O R T B D 10a-12pm
ARACELY MONDRAGON: WRITING AS AN ACT OF SOCIAL CHANGE / 217 MACLEAN HALL
12.15-1.15pm L U N C H / C A T L E T T 2-4pm
ARACELY MONDRAGON: CREATIVE WORKSHOP / 217 MACLEAN HALL
one-on-one with the mentors
Anjali / 213 MacLean Hall or Currier Hall MP Room Harris / 214 MacLean Hall or Currier Hall MP Room Rochelle / 218 MacLean Hall or Currier Hall MP Room
5-6.15pm
DINNER / CATLETT
6-6.45pm
OPTIONAL INFO SESSION WITH UI INTERNATIONAL ADMISSIONS
7-8pm
FREE TIME
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PROGRAM WEDNESDAY JULY17
g l o b a l 7-9am
c o m m u n i t y
BREAKFAST / CATLETT
9.15-9.30am M O R N I N G M E E T I N G / C U R R I E R H A L L F R O N T S T E P S O R T B D 10a-12pm
ANAM ZAKARIA: PARTITION - A PEOPLE'S NARRATIVE / 112 ART BUILDING WEST
12.15-1.15pm L U N C H / C A T L E T T 2-4pm
ANAM ZAKARIA: WORKSHOP / 112 ART BUILDING WEST
5-6.15pm
DINNER / CATLETT
7-8pm
PARTICIPANTS' CHOICE / CURRIER MULTIPURPOSE ROOM
2-4pm one-on-one with the mentors
Anjali / 116 ABW or Currier Hall MP Room Harris / 240 ABW or Currier Hall MP Room Rochelle / Currier Hall MP Room
THURSDAY JULY 18
g l o b a l 7-9am
c o m m u n i t y
BREAKFAST / CATLETT
9.15-9.30am M O R N I N G M E E T I N G / C U R R I E R H A L L F R O N T S T E P S O R T B D 10a-12pm
ANAM ZAKARIA: HUMANIZING THE OTHER / SCHAEFFER HALL 31
12.15-1.15pm L U N C H / C A T L E T T 2-4pm 5-6.15pm 7-8pm
2-4pm one-on-one with the mentors
Anjali / 103 North Hall or Currier Hall MP Room DINNER / CATLETT Harris / 221 North Hall or Currier Hall MP Room PETER GERLACH: BEYOND THE SUMMER INSTITUTE -Q&A WITH Rochelle / 316 North Hall or MENTORS / NORTH HALL 215 Currier Hall MP Room
ANAM ZAKARIA: WORKSHOP / SCHAEFFER HALL 31
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PROGRAM 2-4pm one-on-one with the mentors
F R I D A Y
J U L Y 1 9
C I T I Z E N S H I P
Anjali / 205 North Hall or Currier Hall MP Room Harris / 219 North Hall or Currier Hall MP Room Rochelle / 220 North Hall MP Room
7-9am
BREAKFAST / CATLETT
9.15-9.30am
MORNING MEETING / CURRIER HALL FRONT STEPS OR TBD
10a-12pm
PETER GERLACH: GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP, EMPATHY, RESPONSIBILITY / E105 ADLER JOURNALISM BUILDING
12.15-1.15pm
LUNCH / CATLETT
2-4pm
PETER GERLACH & SIYANDA MOHUTSIWA: THE SUMMER INSTITUTE REFLECTIONS AND AFFRIMATIONS / E105 ADLER JOURNALISM BUILDING
5-6.15pm
DINNER / CATLETT
7-11.30pm
GRADUATION CELEBRATION / CURRIER MULTIPURPOSE ROOM
Design & editing by Siyanda Mohutsiwa
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