Program Overview

Program Overview

The International Writing Program (IWP) at the University of Iowa and the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) launched a new virtual six-month creative writing mentorship program titled Emerging Voices Mentorship Program, occurring August 19, 2024 through February 28, 2025. Funded by an ECA grant, the program matches emerging writers who are displaced, sheltering in place, and/or facing limited educational opportunities with IWP alums for creative writing and professionalization instruction. The template for mentorships is based on the U.S.’s low-residency MFA teaching model, where instructors and participants meet at intervals of several weeks or a month, with participants completing assignments and readings. This program does not require English proficiency. Mentoring and publishing occurs in the preferred languages of the mentee.

Program Details

• The program supports 35 mentees representing the following countries:
  • Afghanistan (10)
  • Myanmar (8)
  • Nicaragua (11)
  • Ukraine (6)
• An impressive group of twelve IWP alumni with ties to the participating countries were recruited as mentors from the Fall Residency, Lines & Spaces, Crafting the Future, Between the Lines, and Distance Learning programs.
• Mentors reviewed writing submissions from each post’s nominations or were encouraged to identify and nominate writers that would benefit from artistic and professional guidance.
• Mentors were asked to consider not only creative writing skill but also enthusiasm on the part of the applicant.
• Each mentor selected a range from two-to-four mentees and IWP staff coordinated with posts to send letters of invitation to the emerging writers.

Program Structure

• IWP staff provided mentors with teaching modules, mentee goals agreement, recommended timeline, and shared online resources from the IWP Distance Learning Library.
• Participants will benefit from a mix of face-to-face virtual meetings, hybrid discussions, intensive creative writing instruction, and one-on-one guidance sessions.
• The content will be tailored to individual mentees’ interests and will include creative writing assignments, discussions on professionalization, and information on publication practices relevant to their regions.
• Participants will refine five pages of their writing from this project to be included in an online text collection and will also be encouraged to apply their new skills within their own regions both during and after the project.
• The participants will receive a certificate from the IWP after the completion of the program.