Playwright | POONAM DHIR**

Poonam Dhir is a queer playwright, poet, Punjabi descendent, and settler currently based in Iowa City, where they are an MFA candidate in Playwriting at the Iowa Playwrights Workshop. Poonam’s work explores identity, trauma, memory and the relationship between belief and belonging. They contemplate themes of migration, displacement and loss. They are the recipient of a 2024 Stanley Award for International Research, a 2024 Graduate College MFA Summer Fellowship, a 2023-24 Iowa Arts Fellowship, a 2022 Lambda Literary Fellowship in Playwriting and a finalist for the 2021 PEN Canada New Voices Award, Poetry. You can read their latest pieces in The Capilano Review, Vallum, Minola Review, Contemporary Verse 2, PRISM International and Best New Poets.

Ensemble | APOORVA RAIKWAR

Ensemble | BAISHALI BHAUMIK

Ensemble | SUMITA SUBRAMANI

Ensemble | FABIENNE RINK**

Fabienne is an MFA Literary Translation candidate from Germany with a love for the arts, especially music and theatre. Since early childhood, she participated in concerts, sang on CDs, and pursued acting in a youth theatre group. After her BA in Journalism and MA in Literary & Cultural Studies in Dortmund, Germany, she found her way back on stage at the University of Iowa Department of Theatre Arts. A few of her past shows include Lil G: A Gatsby Remix in the New Play Festival 2023, American Rusałki in Fall 2023, Leeches in the New Play Festival 2024 and An Enemy of the People in Spring 2025. For her last reading at the University of Iowa, she’s excited to work alongside a great cast and thankful for the opportunities the theatre department gave her over the past three years. 

Ensemble | JOSH THERMIDOR

Ensemble | KARTHIK KERAMALU

Born and raised in Bangalore, India, Karthik Keramalu began his career as a freelance writer. His essays on movies and books have been published in national newspapers and magazines, such as The Hindu, Deccan Herald, Frontline, Open, etc. And for his poetry, he has received a fellowship from Brooklyn Poets.