Saturday, November 1, 2008
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM, with reception following
at the Chopin Theater
1543 W. Division Street, Chicago

Free to attend, but reservations are required. (See below.)

The Guild Complex, in collaboration with the Iowa Writers' Workshop, presents The Exchange for 2008. The Exchange is the Guild's annual international forum on new literature.

This year's program examines the dichotomies of borders and cultures from the writer's perspective. Because lines on the map do not necessarily define lines on the page, this year's program is titled "Migrating People, Migrating Literature." The 2008 program presents four special foreign authors with two distinguished Chicago authors, and is moderated by one of the city's best-known experimental poets.

The Exchange builds a bridge of creative dialogue between Chicago's top critics and practitioners and some of the best emerging writers abroad, through the participation of the International Writers' Program at the University of Iowa.

From the Iowa Writers Workshop's International Writers Program, we're inviting Laila al-Atrash (novelist, journalist; Jordan), Tarek Eltayeb (novelist, fiction writer, poet, playwright; Austria), Yael Globerman (poet, fiction writer, novelist; Israel), and Gutierrez Mangansakan II (journalist, poet, essayist, filmmaker, editor; The Philippines). For our international writers' biographies, click here.

From the Guild's local community of writers, we're inviting Paul Martinez Pompa (poet), and John Keene (poet). The discussion will be moderated by fellow Chicago poet Tony Trigilio. For our Chicagoans' biographies, click here.

There are only 60 seats at this special event. Reservations for The Exchange are now booked full. If you wish to correspond with the Guild Complex about The Exchange click here or send e-mail directly to the Guild Complex.

agenda:

forum, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Conversation on "Migrating People, Migrating Literature" by the panel and guests. Audience members may forward questions to Guild Complex volunteers in the room.

 

social time, 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM

Everyone is invited to meet the artists and mingle for more conversation after the forum. Enjoy beverages and snacks in the Chopin Theater, and consider plans for dinner after the forum.

photo credit for background of The Exchange banner: NASA