International Writing Program Fall Residency Reading
Join us to hear writers from South Africa, Iraq, Finland, and Singapore all in one evening—a unique opportunity to learn about other cultures, their writing styles, and what drives them spiritually and politically.
As residents of the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program, these writers are provided a time and place to write, and a chance to contribute to literature courses both at the University of Iowa and across the country. In addition to this evening’s reading, fall residents will also be teaching a class the following day, open to all writing levels, on writing and social change.
About the Residents & Readers
ZP (Priya) Dala (South Africa) is a physical therapist, remedial education therapist, and freelance writer. She writes about education, autism, and South African Indian history. Her first novel, What About Meera, came out in 2015; a second novel is in the works. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Mortada Gzar (Iraq) has an engineering degree from the University of Baghdad. The films he wrote, directed, and shot have been featured in international festivals; his animated “Language” won the Doha Film Award. He has three novels: Broom of Paradise, Sayyid Asghar Akbar, and My Beautiful Cult, and is a regular contributor to the Lebanese newspaper al-Safir al-Arabiandis. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Henriikka Tavi (Finland) teaches creative writing, writes children’s fiction, and translates poetry and academic work into Finnish. She is a founding member of Poesia, a poetry publishing cooperative, and the author of Kaksitoista, an experimental poetry book project. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Tse Hao Guang (Singapore) is the author of hyperlinkage and Deeds of Light; the latter was shortlisted for the 2016 Singapore Literature Prize. He co-edits the literary journal OF ZOOS, is the essays editor of poetry.sg, and is co-editing UnFree Verse, an anthology of Singaporean poetry. He participates courtesy of the Singapore National Arts Council.
