Susanne Davis

Writing in St. Petersburg, Russia

Experience the ghostly presence of czars and writers and those who built this waterside city of canals on the Baltic Sea by writing about it. Hear echoing through time the footsteps of Raskolnikov, Dostoevsky's main character from Crime and Punishment, see the flat of Pushkin's famous duel, and explore the terrain of poet Anna Akhmatova.

This program is an exciting and unique Study Abroad opportunity, as participants spend two weeks in the summer in one of the world's most beautiful cities, inspired by some of the world's greatest writers. Our writing workshop is hosted by the Summer Literary Seminars, which includes excursions to world famous museums, ballet, opera and palaces of the czars, and a midnight boat ride. I invite undergraduates and graduate students from other universities to join us, as well. The course is a 3 credit course, with graduate credit available. Below is the course description.


Writing a Sense of Place While Displaced

Eudora Welty said that all the arts celebrate the mystery of place. Where does this mystery lie? Place gives a writer roots and somewhere to stand; it can provide a base of reference, a point of view. It can also, by itself, have a character. Place as country, region, plot of land, home. We displace ourselves to St. Petersburg, Russia- where we will immerse ourselves and write as observers of the culture, its history, art, literature, etc. We will also reflect on our displacement and our own culture as our views change by virtue of this displacement. Does place have a more lasting identity than we have? Are we destined to attach ourselves to that identity? Is place a shield against chaos or a mask against exposure, or does place sharpen a writer's sense of focus, as Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County gave meaning to his work.

As the course progresses, we probe meanings of place. Place may define for us a status in society, in cyberspace, or even the imagination,--if we believe as Joyce Carol Oates once asserted that it is the landscape of the imagination that endures, that is truly real.

We read works from a selection of American literature, including Emerson, Faulkner, Hemingway, Silko, Lopez, Sanders, McPhee, Norris, Agee and Baldwin; Russian literature including Gogol, Chekhov, Pushkin, Iossel, Dostoevsky, Novokovich and others. Students write journals, 1-2 page response papers to SLS literary readings and excursions and two longer, more original projects.

To read more about the University of Connecticut Program, including student endorsements of the experience go to: www.studyabroad.uconn.edu and type "Writing in St. Petersburg, Russia" to find the program.

To read more about the Summer Literary Seminars, go to: www.sumlitsem.org


Other Workshops:

Words on Fire Studio Workshop

Writer in Residence Offerings


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