Valley High Senior to Read ? and Write ? 'Between the Lines' with ...

An aspiring journalist, Gracie Cobb receives full scholarship to attend the University of Iowa?s Creative Writing and Cultural Exchange Program.

A news release from the International Writing Program:

From June 22-July 6, 2013, rising Valley High senior Gracie Cobb of Des Moines will travel to Iowa City, an international hub for creative writing, to take part in Between the Lines (BTL) Arab World, a creative writing and cultural exchange program that brings talented young writers ages 16-19 together with peers from the Arab World for two weeks of intensive creative study.

BTL is organized by the University of Iowa?s International Writing Program (IWP) in partnership with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Cobb is one of two BTL Arab World participants to be awarded a full scholarship ($1,800) to attend the program.

?The quality of the applications???and of the creative writing samples in particular???was impressive.? ? Program coordinator Kelly?Morse

?We?re excited to have Gracie participate in the program this year,? BTL coordinator Kelly Morse says. ?We?re enthusiastic about her writing and delighted to have students from Iowa participating in the program, which attracts students from such a broad range of backgrounds.?

Intensive Creative Writing Mentorship

Cobb, an aspiring journalist, will spend two weeks on the campus of the University of Iowa, in Iowa City, home of the famed Iowa Writers? Workshop and the only UNESCO City of Literature in the United States. Cobb will participate in intensive writing workshops and seminars, attend literary events, and even have the opportunity to give a public reading of her work at local literary landmark, The Haunted Bookshop.

During the intensive two-week program, Cobb will work closely with instructors John Murillo, and Ghada Abdel Aal, receiving feedback on her writing and honing her craft. Murillo, an award-winning poet, serves on the creative writing faculty at New York University, while Abdel Aal is a bestselling novelist, screenwriter, and blogger from Egypt, and an alumna of the International Writing Program?s Fall Residency.

?Having passionate instructors who are successful writers themselves is part of what makes BTL such a unique program,? Morse says. ?They encourage students to consider writing and literature from new angles and help students to bring their own writing to the next level.?

Joining Young Writers from 10 Countries and 7 U.S. States

Cobb, who was born in China but has lived in the United States since she was a baby, will join 21 other young writers from 10 Near East countries and 7 U.S. states. Participants will travel from Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen as well as California, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Pennsylvania to read each other?s work, offer feedback, collaborate and share ideas, rooming together in dorms on the University of Iowa campus and forging long-term literary friendships.

The BTL Arab World Program received applications from 11 countries in 2013. ?The quality of the applications ? and of the creative writing samples in particular ? was impressive. We had to make some very tough decisions,? Morse says. American students submitted their applications to the program directly, while international students had to first be nominated by their respective embassies, with dozens of students competing for the coveted slots.

?Writing stories?allows me to forget about what is going on in my life and get lost in someone else?s for a while,? Cobb says of her own writing. ?The problems I face in my day-to-day life often end up in my writing as the problems that my characters have to overcome.?

Cobb will get to know instructor John Murillo and her American peers before coming to the program; the group will use Blackboard technology to connect to a virtual classroom and go over workshop basics before meeting in person in Iowa City on June 22.

?This way, once they arrive, they really hit the ground running,? Morse says.

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Source: http://westdesmoines.patch.com/groups/editors-picks/p/valley-high-senior-read--and-write--between-the-lines-with-peers-in-arab-world

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