In spring 2011, poets and writers Joshua Ferris, Eliza Griswold, Bob Holman, Nathalie Handal and Christopher Merrill traveled to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and UAE as part of a literary tour sponsored by the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. POSTCARDS is a series of short pieces about their trip including their experiences in Pakistan when Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Special Forces.