TJ Benson makes list of writers for Iowa International Writing Program

Nigerian writer and visual artist TJ Benson is among the writers selected for the University of Iowa International Writing Program 2022.

TJ Benson is the author of The Madhouse and has had writing appear in Transition Magazine, Saraba, Jalada Africa, Catapult, Bakwa Magazine.

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Others are Khadija Abdalla Bajaber (fiction writer, editor: Kenya); Yasser Abdel Hafez (novelist, journalist, editor; Egypt); Abdelaziz Errachidi (fiction and non-fiction; Morocco) and Tariro Ndoro (poet, fiction, nonfiction; Zimbabwe)

The university in a statement said since 1967, over 1,500 writers from more than 150 nations have taken part in the IWP’s Fall Residency.

The goal of the IWP is to provide authors with a one-of-a-kind intercultural opportunity and the time and space to write, read, translate, study, conduct research, travel, give readings, stage work, and become part of the vibrant literary and academic community at the UI and in Iowa City, the first American city designated as a UNESCO City of Literature, in part because of the IWP’s presence. 

The University of Iowa International Writing Program prides itself as being the oldest and largest multinational writing residency in the world.

Each year, the IWP brings together 30-35 of the world’s emerging and established writers to participate in the Fall Residency’s unique intercultural experience. Over the course of 10 weeks, aside from working on their own projects, writers give readings and lectures that share their work and cultures, collaborate with artists from other genres and art forms, and travel and interact with American audiences and literary communities across the United States.