Christopher Merrill

A radio interview with four members of the 2016 International Writing Program (IWP). Listen to what they have to say about their countries and their work here. 

A documentary film about a cultural diplomacy mission Christopher led to China. It "follows four renowned American artists—two writers, a choreographer, and a composer—as they travel to Guangzhou, China, to engage disabled and non-disabled populations by collaborating and creating together through a reading tour organized by the International Writing Program." Watch it here. 

Translations of excerpts from Christopher's book, Necessities into Italian, along with an essay by Giorgio Mobili. Read it here. 

Iowa Public Radio's Ben Kieffer interviews a few writers of this year's residency who attended a welcome party in Iowa City. He also talks to Christopher, U.S. Congressman Dave Loebsack, and interim UI President Jean Robillard about literature as a tool for cultural understanding--as opposed to politics.

Miriam Kotzin of Per Contra reviews Flash Fiction International: Very Short Stories from Around the World, a curated collection of 86 stories "accompanied by not only an expected introduction and contributor's notes, but also a selection of comments on flash theory by a number of well-known authors." Find out more about the contributors and Kotzin's great thoughts on the book here. 

An interview with Christopher, in Ukrainian. Read it here. 

Christopher and current U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey read their own work and discuss "the relationship between poetry and historical memory" at an event hosted by NYU-Abu Dhabi. Watch it here.

The Colorado Review has published a generous and thoughtful review of Flash Fiction International, Very Short Stories from Around the World, an anthology of flash fiction edited by Christopher. Read it here. 

In which Christopher speaks about Joseph Brodsky, the humanities, and more at the 9th Krasnoyarsk Book Fair in Siberia. He also talks about his role on the National Council on the Humanities saying, "[m]y role on the council is to review grants and advise the chairman. I get to look at the incredibly broad range of intellectual work being done by people in the humanities—work that invites to wake up, to hope that forces for good will prevail over evil." Read the full interview here. 

In which Christopher talks to the marvelous Pakistani poet Harris Khalique about "literary traditions in Pakistan, the cultural influences of different cities, and the important role of women in Pakistani literature." Listen to the full talk here on Poetry Foundation.