Working in collaboration with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, this project of the University of Iowa focuses on mentorship between young, emerging female writers, and female International Writing Program (IWP) Fall Residency alumni. The IWP has invited 8 mentors to collaborate on this project. Each of these 8 mentors will be assigned 2 mentees from her home country, for a total of 16 mentees, and 24 project participants overall. In the case of Argentina, the mentor will be Maria Sonia Cristoff
The Women’s Creative Writing Mentorship Project will begin with a 4-day in-person conference in Portland, Oregon in late March of 2019 (travel, meals and lodging provided by the project), followed by a six-month distance program. The in-person conference will include master classes, manuscript consultations, one-on-one meetings between mentors and mentees, and other activities, such as special seminars with visiting authors and other creative professionals, both U.S.-based and overseas. At the conference, mentees will work with assigned mentors and IWP staff to develop personalized plans which will provide the structure for the six-month distance portion of the project, ending in September 2019. After the conclusion of the distance portion of the project, participants will submit a piece of creative writing to be published in a print and online anthology. Mentors and mentees will also submit a short essay detailing the experience of mentorship, and advice for future mentors and mentees.
The deadline for applications will be January 1, 2019.
Final selections will be done by a panel of writers within the IWP. Final selection will be based on mentees’ creative writing abilities, creative and professional ambition and seriousness, and suitability with specific mentors.
Women’s Creative Writing Mentorship Mentee Application should be emailed to cate-dicharry@uiowa.edu, and must include the following:
- Application Form
- Copy of passport (if available)
- CV
- 10-15 pages of original creative prose or poetry in English.
- A statement of purpose answering the following questions:
o What do you hope to achieve as a writer, including long-term and short-term goals?
o Describe where you are currently in the writing process.
o What kind of guidance are you hoping to receive from your mentor? - Recommendation Letter (optional)
All the information must be submitted in English, and English fluency is a requirement for participation.
About Maria Sonia Cristoff:
(novelist, nonfiction writer; Argentina) is the author of five books, two of them non fiction narratives -Falsa Calma (2005)[False Calm, recently published in the United States by Transit Books and translated by highly acclaimed Katherine Silver], and Desubicados [Misfits] (2006)-, and the rest of them novels -Bajo influencia [Under the Influence] (2010), Inclúyanme afuera [Include Me Out] (2014), Mal de época [Sign Of The Times](2017). Her whole narrative is an exploration of ways in which fiction and non fiction can intermingle in literary pieces. She is also the editor of three story and essay collections that have close links to her own narrative: Patagonia (2005), Idea crónica [Chronical Idea] (2006) and Pasaje a Oriente [Passage to the Orient] (2009). She attended the International Writing Program of the University of Iowa as a writer-in-residence in 2011. Her literary pieces and criticism have been published in newspapers and magazines such as La Nación, Clarín, Página 12, Perfil, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Noticias, Siwa, Anfibia and Letras Libres. Cristoff teaches creative writing at Universidad Nacional de las Artes (UNA) y Universidad Nacional Tres de Febrero (Untref). Her work has been translated into six languages including English, French, German, Italian, Arabic and Swedish.
