Trump renounces the international influence of soft power
The new administration’s cuts to cultural programs, research grants and Voice of America represent a shift in America’s relationship with the rest of the world
In the 1930s, Iowa City went all in on the literary game in its fight to stand out in the vast national imaginary. And so it was that its writers’ workshop became a legendary place in American literature and home to greats like Marilynne Robinson and John Cheever. This fame later crossed borders thanks to its international program, which began 58 years ago, inviting foreign authors to spend the fall and write there. There have been 1,625 in total, from 160 countries. Among them, three Nobel Prize winners: Turkey’s Orhan Pamuk, China’s Mo Yan, and, most recently, Korea’s Hang Kang.
