Nearly $1 million in grant funding for the UI's International Writing Program has been 'terminated'
The U.S. Department of State has terminated all grant funding for the University of Iowa's International Writing Program (IWP), a globally recognized hub for literary exchange, according to a UI press release on Thursday.
The U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which has partnered with the local writing program for nearly six decades, abruptly canceled nearly $1 million in grant support on Feb. 26, saying that “(the awards) no longer effectuate agency priorities” and don't align “with agency priorities and national interest.”
The federal support was roughly equal to what the writing program would have contributed to the U.S. economy next year, according to the UI's release, noting that more than "90% of funds associated with the IWP’s federal grants are spent domestically."
IWP Director Christopher Merrill said, in a statement on Thursday, that the university remains dedicated to the program’s mission to "promote mutual understanding through creative writing and literature."
“We are devastated by the abrupt end of this 58-year partnership and are working closely with the Office of General Counsel and the university’s grant accounting office to review the terminations, understand their full impact, and respond in the best interest of the organization,” Merrill said. “Despite this disappointing turn of events, the IWP’s mission remains the same."
What International Writing Program initiatives will be cut?
The funding loss will "immediately" cancel the International Writing Program's summer youth program, Between the Lines, while the university is terminating the IWP's distance learning courses and cultural exchange programs. The loss in funding has also ended the six-month Emerging Voice Creative Writing Mentorship Program, according to the University of Iowa.
The IWP’s Fall Residency, which usually hosts 30 writers, will be reduced by about half in the fall, though the university still plans to host the program. Merrill noted that they'll seek additional sources of funding while seeking help from a "small number of other partners."
The IWP’s Fall Residency is “an 11-week program that brings established international writers to the UI campus, providing them with time to produce literary work while also introducing the social and cultural fabrics of the United States.”
The residency is typically funded through gifts, grants, and support from cultural and nongovernmental organizations, according to the UI.
A long list of notable writing program alumni
Since the International Writing Program was founded in 1967 by Paul Engle and Hualing Nieh Engle, as a counterpart to the Iowa Writers' Workshop, it has hosted 1,600 writers from more than 160 countries.
Notable program participants include three Nobel Peace Prize of Literature winners, including Han Kang of South Korea, who won the award in 2024; Istanbul-born novelist Orhan Pamuk in 2006; and Mo Yan, a Chinese novelist in 2012. Sri Lankan author and program alumnus Shehan Karunatilaka won the 2022 Booker Prize.
The International Writing Program's contributions, according to the University of Iowa, “significantly impact the University of Iowa and Iowa City communities." Writers and "their cohorts" have “generated economic investment in the state of Iowa that would ordinarily be sent elsewhere.”
Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and education reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_