Click Here: Check out "Summer Literary Seminars - The Program"
Dear Writer,
I am inviting you to apply to Summer Literary Seminars in St. Petersburg, Russia, where I will be teaching a Playwriting/Screenwriting Workshop for two weeks, June 17th to June 30th, during the fabled White Nights.

Summer Literary Seminars is non-profit international literary program, attracting English-speaking writers from throughout the world.  The faculty consists of some of the most important American, Canadian, European and African writers and the program is affiliated with Herzen University.  (If you saw the Stoppard trilogy, you'll especially enjoy being on the campus of a university named in Alexander Herzen's honor.)  The program is open to professional writers, promising grad students, and the occasional extraordinary undergraduate.  A limited number of partial scholarships are available.

In addition to my Playwriting/Screenwriting Workshop, an optional second workshop may be taken.  Study Creative Non-Fiction with Anthony Swofford, the author of JARHEAD, or study Fiction with Gary Shteyngart, the author of ABSURDISTAN and THE RUSSIAN DEBUTANTE'S HANDBOOK.  Summer Literary Seminars also offers the opportunity to delve into Russian literature of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.  Enjoy captivating literary walks in St. Petersburg with scholars from the program (a personal favorite was the Dostoevsky Walk, which traces Raskolnikov's trail from CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, ending at the pawnbroker's apartment), attend lectures on contemporary Russian politics, enjoy faculty readings, and tour (alone or with guides from the program) some of the best cultural sites St. Petersburg has to offer.

Some of my favorite moments from last June: seeing OUR TOWN in Russian at a small, packed theatre overlooking the Fontanka canal.  (St. Petersburg is considered the Venice of the East and is bisected by the Neva River and numerous winding waterways.)  Laying flowers at Pushkin's duel site, a tradition that Russian's have upheld since the early 19th century.  Visiting the Anna Akhmatova museum in the Fontanka Palace then listening to Russian absurdist plays from  the 1930s (in English translation) in the infamous Stray Dog Cafe.  Staring up at a poster-size photo of Anton Chekhov in his 20s with the writer George Saunders beside me in the Theatre Museum.  (George insisted that Chekhov looked like Heath Ledger.)  Relaxing in the banya (Russian bath).  Taking a boat ride on the Neva River and various canals in the wee hours of the morning (the sun never sets in June) with other writers from the conference.  And, of course, drinking vodka.

Please go to the link above if you'd like to find out more about the program and its application process and fees.  Costs are tax deductible as an educational expense.

All the best and da svidanya!
Laura Maria Censabella