By Jaafar Jaafar
The content editor of Daily Nigerian, Gimba Kakanda, has been selected for the highly competitive residency at the University of Iowa, United States.
The International Writing Program, IWP, is the oldest and largest multinational writing residency in the world. The program annually brings outstanding authors from every continent to the University of Iowa, a major American research institution internationally renowned for its writing program.
IWP is the starting-point of many renowned writers, including winners of Nobel prize in Literature, Orhan Pamuk from Turkey and Mo Yan, from China.
Mr Kakanda is the author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection, Safari Pants (Krafgriots, 2010). He’s known for his skilful and stimulating writings, whether poetry, fiction or analyses of topical issues.
“His other work has been anthologized. He is an editor at the Daily Nigerian, a daily committed to promoting transparency in governance, and maintains a weekly column in other periodicals concerned with social issues,” announces IWP Monday.
“The goal of the IWP is to provide authors a one-of-a-kind inter-cultural opportunity and the time and space to write, read, translate, study, conduct research, travel, give readings, stage work, and become part of the vibrant literary and academic community at the university and in Iowa City, the only American city designated as a UNESCO City of Literature, in part because of the IWP’s presence.”
Mr Kakanda is one of 35 writers selected from 190 nations to participate in the three-month residency, which began in 1967. Participants in IWP are expected to work on writing and research projects. He’s one of four Africans chosen to participate in this 50th anniversary session, alongside Hajar Bali, a playwright and professor of mathematics from University of Sciences and Technology, Algiers; Dilman Dila, 2013 Commonwealth Short Story Prize winner, from Uganda; Antoinette Tidjani Alou, fiction writer and lecturer at at Abdou Moumouni University in Niamey, from Niger Republic. This year, the program also hosts an alumna, Kenya’s Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, winner of the 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing.
Other renowned writers participating are Fatena ALGHORRA, Belgium; Ubah Cristina Ali Farah, Italy; Audrey Chin, Singapore; Kristian Sendon Cordero, Philippines; Lava Omer Darwesh, Iraq; Maung Day, Myanmar; Enza García Arreaza, Venezuela; Santiago Giralt, Argentina; Anne Kennedy, New Zealand; Lau Stuart, Hong Kong; Tilottama Majumder, India; Vladimir Martinovski, Macedonia; Matjaž Pikalo, Slovenia; Yuriy Serebryanskiy, Kazakhstan; Subraj Singh, Guyana; Wipas Srithong, Thailand; Kinga Tóth, Hungary; Kirmen Uribe, Spain; Julienne Van Loon, Australia; and Xavier Villanova, Mexico.
While in America, the participants are expected to work on research projects and visit various cities in the United States. Optional literary activities are also offered, including talks and readings, panel discussions, a university course, the Iowa City Book Festival, and visits to places of interest.
