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Iowa City Press Citizen, Iowa
Jan 9 2015
UI program to help bridge Turkey-Armenia relations
Jeff Charis-Carlson, Iowa City Press-Citizen
For the past seven summers, the University of Iowa's Between the Lines
programs has been bringing high school-age writers from Russia and
Arabic-speaking nations to Iowa City for a two-week, summertime
residency.
This year's program -- which is hosted by the International Writing
Program -- will be offering a special summer session that will include
about two dozen 17-to-20-year-old writers from two nations that have
had been at odds for for generations: Turkey and Armenia. The
international writers will be joined by a smaller cohort of similarly
aged writers from the U.S.
Program organizers say the U.S. embassies in both Armenia and Turkey
reached out to the IWP to request the special session as a way to
positively affect the otherwise strained relations between the two
countries.
"By focusing on youth (ages 17-20) and creative writing, the goal is
that all participants -- whether Armenian, Turkish or American -- will
leave the two-week program not only as stronger writers and readers,
but also having developed friendships and networks that traverse
boundaries, dismantle stereotypes and work towards eradicating
long-standing tensions," said Lisa Daily, who coordinates the program.
The application period is now open for would-be American participants.
The organizers say they are looking for applications from U.S. high
school students who love writing and want to take part in an enriching
and international experience. By the the end of the two-week
experience, the organizers said, the goal is to have all the students
become better writers and better readers of each other's work.
"That's the power and beauty of writing -- its highest aim is
communication," said poet Mary Hickman, who will be the American
instructor during the sessions. "Writers write to connect with others
and to share and begin to understand what it is to be human, to exist.
So cultural interchange and creative writing are already very
compatible endeavors."
Hickman, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, traveled last year
to Yerevan, Armenia, and Istanbul as a part of IWP's Reading Abroad
series. Well aware of the many historically and politically sensitive
topics that could come up between the Turkish and Armenian
participants, she said she "won't avoid tough topics" but will "make
sure that I am facilitating productive and respectful conversations."
Hickman will be joined for the Turkey-Armenia writers' camp (July
18-Aug. 1) by Nazmi Agil, a poet and translator who teaches at Koc
University in Istanbul, and a writer and activist who goes by the name
Armen of Armenia.
Between the Lines also is accepting applications for its Russia and
Arabic Work writers' camp, which will take place June 21-July 5.
For more information, visit http://bit.ly/1A0ubG6.
http://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/local/2015/01/09/turkey-armenia-writing-program/21511409/
Jan 9 2015
UI program to help bridge Turkey-Armenia relations
Jeff Charis-Carlson, Iowa City Press-Citizen
For the past seven summers, the University of Iowa's Between the Lines
programs has been bringing high school-age writers from Russia and
Arabic-speaking nations to Iowa City for a two-week, summertime
residency.
This year's program -- which is hosted by the International Writing
Program -- will be offering a special summer session that will include
about two dozen 17-to-20-year-old writers from two nations that have
had been at odds for for generations: Turkey and Armenia. The
international writers will be joined by a smaller cohort of similarly
aged writers from the U.S.
Program organizers say the U.S. embassies in both Armenia and Turkey
reached out to the IWP to request the special session as a way to
positively affect the otherwise strained relations between the two
countries.
"By focusing on youth (ages 17-20) and creative writing, the goal is
that all participants -- whether Armenian, Turkish or American -- will
leave the two-week program not only as stronger writers and readers,
but also having developed friendships and networks that traverse
boundaries, dismantle stereotypes and work towards eradicating
long-standing tensions," said Lisa Daily, who coordinates the program.
The application period is now open for would-be American participants.
The organizers say they are looking for applications from U.S. high
school students who love writing and want to take part in an enriching
and international experience. By the the end of the two-week
experience, the organizers said, the goal is to have all the students
become better writers and better readers of each other's work.
"That's the power and beauty of writing -- its highest aim is
communication," said poet Mary Hickman, who will be the American
instructor during the sessions. "Writers write to connect with others
and to share and begin to understand what it is to be human, to exist.
So cultural interchange and creative writing are already very
compatible endeavors."
Hickman, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, traveled last year
to Yerevan, Armenia, and Istanbul as a part of IWP's Reading Abroad
series. Well aware of the many historically and politically sensitive
topics that could come up between the Turkish and Armenian
participants, she said she "won't avoid tough topics" but will "make
sure that I am facilitating productive and respectful conversations."
Hickman will be joined for the Turkey-Armenia writers' camp (July
18-Aug. 1) by Nazmi Agil, a poet and translator who teaches at Koc
University in Istanbul, and a writer and activist who goes by the name
Armen of Armenia.
Between the Lines also is accepting applications for its Russia and
Arabic Work writers' camp, which will take place June 21-July 5.
For more information, visit http://bit.ly/1A0ubG6.
http://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/local/2015/01/09/turkey-armenia-writing-program/21511409/