Events Calendar

Join us for the International Writing Program's Prairie Lights Reading Series this Sunday to hear readings by two 2024 Fall Residency writers and one University of Iowa MFA student.

Phodiso Modirwa (poet, nonfiction writer; Botswana) is the author of Speaking in Code, a chapbook published by Akashic Books as part of the Tisa: New-Generation African Poets box set. She performed at the inauguration ceremony of the current president of Botswana, and her work has received the Botswana President’s Award in Contemporary Poetry. Modirwa’s writing has appeared or is forthcoming in adda, Guernica, Brittle Paper, Lolwe, Agbowó, 20.35 Africa, and other literary magazines. In 2022, she was a resident poet at the Gaborone Art Residency Centre. Her participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

Daryl Li (nonfiction and fiction writer; Singapore) is the author of two collections of creative nonfiction — The Inventors (2023) and Tenderly, Tenderly (2024) — as well as a forthcoming short story collection, Minor Illusions. He was a finalist for the Georgia Review Prose Prize, and his work has been longlisted for both the Australian Book Review’s Calibre Essay Prize and the same publication’s Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize. In 2013, he received a Golden Point Award for a short story in the English category. He is currently at work on a full-length nonfiction project as well as an essay collection. His participation is funded by the National Arts Council Singapore.

Sarah Anjum Bari is a writer and editor from Bangladesh. She is a second-year MFA candidate in the Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa, where she also teaches literary publishing, and she has an MA in History & Literature completed at Columbia University's campus in Paris, France. Before coming to Iowa, Sarah spent nine years working at Bangladesh's The Daily Star newspaper, where she founded the organization's Books page and went on to serve as its Books & Literary Editor; she was also teaching English and creative writing at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh and moderating the ULAB Literary Salon in Dhaka. Sarah's writing has appeared or is forthcoming in The Daily Star, Electric Literature, Literary Hub, Shuddhashar, Himal Southasian, and the Financial Express Bangladesh. Her essay "Prelude to A Classic" won the 2024 Prairie Lights Essay Prize. She likes to mention that the essay was, coincidentally, written during the hours spent at the Prairie Lights cafe.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the IWP in advance at iwp@uiowa.edu or 319-335-0128.