John offered a refresher on the significance of UNESCO and the City of Literature during his opening remarks.

 

UNESCO is an international organization which stands for:

United
Nations
Educational
Scientific and
Cultural
Organization

 

Iowa City applied to be a City of Literature in 2008 under the direction of Christopher Merrill, director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. Iowa City was the 3^rd city deemed a City of Literature after Edinburgh and Melbourne. There are now 11 total cities that share this distinction. UNESCO seeks applications on a yearly basis and makes the final determination on who can join this esteemed list of cities. Iowa City was selected because of our amazing writing programs, great libraries and outstanding local book stores. John and his staff are responsible for managing the designation, advocating for our local literary resources, networking and programming.

 

The next program offered is the Iowa City Book Festival which will be held on Oct. 1-5, 2015. It is a free event that runs for four days and will feature 50+ events and 100+ authors/presenters at local venues. The three highlights that were noted were “An Evening with Jonathan Katz: Life, Death and Public Health After the Haiti Earthquake” through a partnership with UI College of Public Health; the Paul Engle Prize Presentation to Chicago-based mystery author, Sara Paretsky; and Bryan Stevenson on “American Injustice: Mercy, Humanity, and Making a Difference”.

 

For a full schedule of events, visit www.iowacityfestival.org.

 

John Kenyon introduced Mallory Hellman, director of the Iowa Youth Writing Project. The Iowa Youth Writing Project was founded by University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduates in 2010. Ms. Hellman is a graduate of Harvard and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and oversees this non-profit organization which provides service and outreach to underserved K-12 children in our district. The programming is at little or no cost and enables our students to be empowered with what our city has to offer and get them excited about creative writing through one-of-a-kind writing, publishing and creative learning opportunities. Schools and community centers are selected based on need.  The program is funded through grants and donations from the community and is supported through IYWP volunteers, partnerships with local organizations and institutions, and the generosity of community members.

 

For more information, visit www.iywp.org. 

 

Oct. 1 – Joint Service Club Luncheon @ University Club

Nov. 5 – Noon Rotary Centennial Celebration at the Iowa Memorial Union