Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Kosovar writer Laura Kanushev recounts life under Milosevic and reads poem in Iowa City
Summary
At an Iowa City Foreign Relations Council event, International Writing Program resident Laura Kanushev described growing up in Kosovo under Slobodan Milosevic, the 1990s makeshift schools and 1999 expulsions, and read a poem reflecting on Iowa City and her grandmother.
Laura Kanushev, identified in the program as an International Writing Program fall resident, told an Oak Knoll audience in Iowa City on an ICFRC stage that she was born in Pristina in 1981 and spent her childhood amid political repression and mass protests.
Kanushev described school segregation after Kosovo’s autonomy was revoked under Slobodan Milosevic, saying Albanian students were moved to basement classrooms while Serbian students used the upper floors. She described a community response in the 1990s that established “makeshift” schools; she said some reports indicated up to 8,000 high‑school students experienced a…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
