Poet, journalist, and spoken word performer Soonest Nathaniel has emerged as a participant at the prestigious International Writing Program (IWP) Fall Residency at the University of Iowa in the United States.
Nathaniel is joining a select group of writers that includes numerous Nobel Prize winners in Literature, such as Orhan Pamuk of Turkey and Mo Yan of China. At the IWP, these well-known authors began their path to international prominence.
The author of two outstanding poetry volumes, Teaching Father How To Impregnate Women and Burying The Ghosts Of Dead Narratives, Nathaniel is renowned for his powerful and evocative rhymes.
Whether in poetry, journalism, or spoken word performances, Nathaniel’s writings are praised for their lyrical beauty and extraordinary insight into historical and modern situations.
Nathaniel, a fan of the speculative realism subgenre, took up the RL Poetry Award in 2017. He also held the position of Poet Laureate for the Korea Nigeria Poetry Festival and was appointed a Langston Hughes Fellow at the Palm Beach Festival.
His poetry have been widely anthologized and have been published in British, American, and Nigerian literary periodicals. Nathaniel, who works as a reporter for Channels Television, is a prominent voice on a number of social issues-related platforms.
Nathaniel is a fantastic addition to the program this year because to his distinctive style and stirring poems. He will be one of 34 writers chosen from around the world to participate in the three-month residency, which is in its 56th year at the University of Iowa after starting in 1967.
The primary objective of the IWP is to provide authors with an unrivaled intercultural opportunity as well as the space they need to write, read, translate, study, conduct research, travel, give readings, stage works, and integrate into the lively literary and academic community at the University of Iowa.
Due in part to the IWP’s influence, Iowa City became the first American city to be named a UNESCO City of Literature.
The fact that Nathaniel was chosen for this esteemed program is proof of both his extraordinary talent and the widespread acclaim for his creative output. His participation in the IWP Fall Residency is expected to mark a crucial turning point in his already burgeoning career and solidify his position on the literary scene around the world.
