This fall, the International Writing Program will mark another chapter in its story, now 59 years in the making! Thanks to the generosity of donors, longtime partners, and a community that refused to let this international literary home diminish, the IWP is not merely continuing; it is blooming, refining into a more exciting, leaner and more intentional program, with a renewed sense of why bringing writers together across borders matters. The upcoming participants of the 2026 Fall Residency will be joining a program being re-imagined in real time, and a large part of shaping what comes next.

"Coming from Indonesia, I value the chance not only to introduce my work to new audiences, but also to become part of an ongoing literary conversation that extends beyond national and linguistic boundaries.” 

- Mona Sylviana

Indonesian fiction writer and essayist Mona Sylviana is "especially curious about how other writers navigate the relationship between lived experience, memory, and imagination." Sylviana is the author of the short story collection Wajah Terakhir (2011) and the essay collection Para Penjaga Tanah (dan) Air (2026), on Indigenous communities in Central Sulawesi. Her work has been translated into English, German, and French. 

While in Iowa City, she hopes to finish a short story collection that "is divided into two interconnected parts, each centered on a woman living in Paris. They belong to different generations and inherit Indonesia’s history in different ways. The first consists of flash fiction pieces about the daughter of a leader of Indonesia's banned political party, living in exile in Paris. The second follows a woman who grew up in post-Reformation Indonesia and later finds herself in the same city. Through their stories, I explore distance, inheritance, and the ways political history continues to shape everyday life."    Full interview: Mona Sylviana

Several of this year's participants bring with them a variety of expertise across multiple genres, including film direction and production with writer and director Jun Li (above), screenwriting and performance with writer and actor Iván Hochman (above), and other forms of multimedia and interdisciplinary work. One goal, organizers say, is for this talent to co-mingle and act as inspiration during participants' time in Iowa City.

"I’d like to utilize the support and feedback from experts and peers. With the community, I’d like to share work, expand my professional networks and gain new opportunities."

- Zodwa Nyoni

Like Sylviana, Zimbabwean-born writer and director Zodwa Nyoni, (whose multidisciplinary career has spanned theatre, film, radio, and opera,) feels drawn to expanding and extending her writing as well. "My focus during the residency is to pivot into fiction." She plans to begin a manuscript for A Cobra in the House, a spy novel set between present-day England and 1970s Zimbabwe that traces a GCHQ analyst's discovery of sleeper cells within archives of once-surveilled African spies — continuing her long interest in African diasporic identity, womanhood, and the shifting identities Black women hold between "girl, woman, daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend, hero, criminal, activist – spy."    Full Interview, Zodwa Nyoni

Other writers expressed a similar excitement in regards to entering and co-existing in the global literary conversation. Mexican fiction writer, screenwriter, and filmmaker Juan Carlos Reyes Vázquez sees the IWP as a chance to expand "the way I understand literary community" alongside writers from different languages and traditions.

"Being part of the IWP would allow me to place my work in a broader international conversation, while also bringing back new questions and perspectives to my own writing, my future projects, and my work as a teacher." 

- Juan Carlos Reyes

Reyes is the author of five short fiction collections, including Impala (2021) and Iktumbe (2014), and has written and directed twelve short films; he holds a PhD in Creation and Cultural Theories and teaches at Universidad de las Américas Puebla. 

His aim during his stay in Iowa City is to work on a book of fragments that blend memory, domestic life, and quiet touches of the fantastic, as well as shape a feature screenplay and an illustrated children's book — all projects he sees not as separate territories but, he says, as "different ways of asking similar questions."    Full interview: Juan Carlos Reyes Vázquez

The University of Iowa is a national leader in creative writing, colloquially known as The Writing University, and the International Writing Program is a quintessential component of that, providing a mainstay for exchange and collaboration in the literary community across the globe. Check out all of the incoming 2026 Fall Residents on the International Writing Program's 2026 Fall Residency Page.

more interviews with the 2026 residents

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