Introduction to Creative Writing (St. Petersburg, Russia)

Course Description

In partnership with SAAS (Slavic Anglo American School) Marina in St. Petersburg, Russia, IWP Distance Learning (DL) will create an introductory creative writing course, sampling both American poetry and short fiction, for 7th – 10th grade high school students enrolled at the school. The course will run from March 13 through April 17, 2013. Iowa Writers’ Worskhop alum and fellow Sara Akant will lead five, hour-long sessions, which are scheduled over the course of six weeks. Sessions will be conducted via Skype and Blue Jeans Network, a program that facilitates multiple video users. The course website Lore will be used in conjunction with the live sessions to post reading and writing assignments. Structurally, the course includes two sessions on fiction, one session on multi-genre literature (prose poems) and two sessions on poetry. During class, students will discuss the assigned reading with the instructor and will complete multiple in-class writing exercises based on the reading. Akant will provide individual feedback on writing assignments via email. The intent of the course is to offer students the chance to discuss literature and write their own prose and poetry in English.

Instructors

Sara AKANT received her MFA in Poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is currently teaching creative writing at the University of Iowa as the Postgraduate Provost Fellow in Poetry. Her work has appeared in Super Arrow, Petri Press, and Wag’s Revue, among others.

Happening Now

  • We regret the passing, on April 11, 2024, of the distinguished Romanian author and critic Dan Cristea, who served as the editor in chief of the Luceafărul de Dimineață cultural monthly. In addition to being an alum of the 1985 Fall Residency, Cristea received his PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Iowa.

  • Our congratulations to 1986 Fall Residency writer Kwame Dawes, who has been named the new poet laureate of Jamaica.

  • Congratulations to our colleagues Jennifer Croft and Aron Aji, who are among those serving as judges for the National Book Awards this year, in their case in the category of translated literature.

  • Ranjit Hoskote’s speech at the 2024 Goa Literary Festival addresses the current situation in Gaza.

  • In NY Times, Bina Shah worries about the state of Pakistani—and American—democracy.

(more)

Find Us Online