American Authors Visit Oman
April 19, 2008

The IWP visitors at Bayan College.  From left to right:  Ron Carlson, Michelle Latiolais, Patricia Hampl, Christopher Merrill, and Richard Kenney.

Muscat - On April 13, 14, and 15 a delegation of American writers visited Oman as part of the 2008 Middle East Reading and Lecture Tour. The five authors, who among them have published fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and memoirs, met with local students and writers in Muscat and Nizwa. The program, coordinated by the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program (IWP), brought together Americans and Omanis with an interest in literature and poetry to exchange ideas and share their works.

Participating in the tour were novelist and short-story writer Ron Carlson; memoirist and poet Patricia Hampl; poet Richard Kenney; fiction writer and essayist Michelle Latiolais; and poet and non-fiction writer Christopher Merrill, who is also Director of the IWP.

At an event hosted by the English and Translation Society at Sultan Qaboos University, students read sonnets recently composed for a poetry competition. The visiting American writers talked about their works, what inspires them to write, and the importance of creative writing as a means of communication. Visting Bayan College, the writers met with students of journalism and communication to discuss experiences writing for the media. The discussion explored the different techniques and inspiration required for literature, poetry and journalism. At Nizwa University, the visitors read from their works and had discussions with students.

After their visit to Oman, the delegation traveled to Saudi Arabia for events in Riyadh and Jeddah.

The University of Iowa’s International Writing Program is perhaps America’s foremost international creative writing forum. Each year, the U.S. Department of State and American embassies worldwide coordinate with the IWP to bring talented writers from all over the world for in an intensive writing program in Iowa. The U.S. Embassy in Oman is proud to have sponsored an Omani participant recently.