A $250,000 donation has been awarded to the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program in response to the U.S. Department of State terminating the program’s grants.
Donor Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. is an investor and lawyer from Sarasota, Florida with a history of funding under-resourced arts and community organizations, and is encouraging IWP’s supporters to match his giving.
“I am so very grateful to Mr. Culverhouse for giving us the chance to build a bridge to a sustainable future,” said IWP Director Christopher Merrill. “We look forward not only to welcoming a larger than planned cohort of distinguished poets and writers to our Fall Residency, but to exploring new ways of understanding what their role may be in our changing world.”
In addition to the gift and any matching donations, Mr. Merrill said the IWP will develop creative programming to sustain the program amid the loss of federal funding.
The IWP’s Fall Residency, an 11-week program, brings established writers from around the world to UI’s campus. While in residence, participants are given time to focus on their literary projects and are immersed in the social and cultural life of the U.S. The program also gives them opportunities to engage with American university life and contribute to literature courses at the university and institutions nationwide.
In February, The U.S. Department of State notified the IWP that nearly $1 million in grant funding through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs would be terminated, claiming the program “no longer effectuate agency priorities” nor align with “agency priorities and national interest.”
The loss of funding has forced the IWP to cancel several programs and make significant cuts to its signature Fall Residency.
