Dung Kai Cheung titled his talk "Towards Writing as a Folk Art" and tries to redefine the strata where different types of writers sit, from the established masters seen traditionally at the "top" to the learners and readers seen traditionally at...
Madeleine Thien's talk is titled, "The Shattered Mirror: On the Migrant in Literature and Politics," and says that "my writing allows me to reflect a self that is often in-between places, that is restless and that is not satisfied." Gutierrez...
Family history including author's description of her father John Strang's participation in the Civil War in Company K of the 11th Regiment of the Iowa Infantry Volunteers.
Ghada Abdel Aal of Egypt begins the panel by discussing how she made the leap from blogging to professional writing. She explains that she began blogging as a way to express her feelings and observations in a “safe” forum. In closing, she...
Steve Merkel-Hess taught in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Schools for 30 years before taking early retirement in 2007. After that he taught middle school English at Narmer American College in Cairo, Egypt, during the 2007-2008 school year. He traveled...