In 1980, Wu was invited to stay at the Iowa Writers 'Workshop for nine months as an artist in residence. In America, he had access to much information he couldn't get at home, and he was shocked.
1980 年，吳晟應美國愛荷華大學國際作家工作坊之邀，擔任為期 9 個月的訪問作家，在國外接觸許多國內無法看到的資訊，對吳晟產生了極大衝擊。