Events Calendar

A conversation between four IWP 2024 Fall Residency writers on the theme of "The Writer’s Voice and the Reader’s Ear," followed by Q&A. Free pizza will be provided to those who attend in person. This event is supported by University of Iowa International Programs and the Stanley-UI Foundation Support Organization.

Join us in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library, or watch live online via the ICPL YouTube channel: youtube.com/user/thelibrarychannel

Saad Z. Hossain (fiction writer; Bangladesh) is the author of five books, most recently the novella Kundo Wakes Up (2022) and the novel Cyber Mage (2021). The former was on the Locus recommended reading list for 2022, and Hossain has previously been a finalist for the Locus Awards, the IGNYTE awards, and the Grand Prix de l’imaginaire. He is currently working on a novel about djinns, martial artists, and refugees. His participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

Yu Yoyo (poet, fiction writer; PRC) is the author of the poetry collections [Seven Years] (2012), [Me as Bait] (2016), [Wind Can’t] (2019), [Against Body] (2019), and [A Cat Is a Cloud] (2021). The Poetry Translation Centre published her first English poetry collection, My Tenantless Body, in 2019, with translations by Dave Haysom and A. K. Blakemore. Yu’s debut novel, Invisible Kitties, will be published in English by HarperCollins in October 2024. She was a fellow of the Vermont Studio Center in 2017. Her poems have been translated into Arabic, English, French, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Swedish. Her participation is made possible by a gift from the Ramon and Victoria Lim Fund.

Okamoto Kei (poet; Japan) is the author of three poetry books. His debut collection, Graffiti (2014), won two major early-career awards — the Nakahara Chūya Prize and the Mr. H Prize — and his second poetry collection, Zekkei Note (2017), won the prestigious Hagiwara Sakutarō Award. Okamoto also writes essays, designs his own books, and collaborates with artists in creating works for display in museums. He is currently writing a series of poetry reviews and critiques for the newspapers Tokyo Shimbun and Chunichi Shimbun. His participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

Hatice Açıkgöz (fiction writer, poet, editor; Germany) is the author of two books: the short story collection Ein oktopus hat drei herzen [An Octopus Has Three Hearts] and the poetry collection Fancy immigrantin: ein poetisches tagebuch [Fancy Immigrants]. They are the recipient of the Raus! Nur Raus! stipend of the city of Hamburg, and are currently working on their debut novel, which explores the rise of fascism in modern Germany. Their participation is made possible by the Max Kade Foundation.