News

A group picture from the
2010 Paris American Academy summer writing workshop

Above: 2010 Paris American Academy writing participants, pictured here outside the Schola Cantorum classroom, included: (front row) Sonal Aggarwal, Lindsey Block, Ayesha Sindhu, Courtney Schilling, Alicia Malone; (second row) Erin Thompson, Marsha Biguenet, Katie Applebaum, Mark Ayling, John Mauldin, Kate Korman; (third row) Lindsey Rue, Jordan Koontz, Lauren Grodstein, Cass McGovern, Julia Reckless, Lucretia Grindle; (back row) John Biguenet, Rolf Potts, Troy Rodrigues, Julia Zemiro.

—July 2010

New books by Paris writing workshop graduates

Macmillan will publish The Villa Triste by Lucretia Grindle (PAA '08) in the summer of 2010. The publisher's plot-description reads: "In modern day Florence, the new Director of Elite Policing — Inspector Pallioti — is called to oversee the investigation into a most shocking crime. A recently decorated Partisan hero has been discovered dead in his apartment, a bullet wound to his head and his mouth stuffed with salt. Later, another former Partisan is found murdered in the same brutal, unnerving way. During the course of the investigation, Pallioti finds the old wartime diary of Caterina Camaccio. Increasingly drawn into Caterina's tale of love, longing, heroism and ultimately treachery, Pallioti gradually discovers the dark secrets in Florence's bloody history and begins to realize that the past really does inform the present. For it is Caterina herself who will lead him to the shocking truth behind these bloody murders…"

Grove/Atlantic has signed Patricia Engel (PAA '03) to a two-book deal, which includes a short story collection and an as-yet-unnamed novel. Vida, the collection of stories, will debut in the fall of 2010. Patricia's publisher calls the book "a subtle and beautiful map of the Colombian diaspora through the eyes of a wise and wonderful young heroine." Elsewhere, Engel's short story "The Bridge" will appear in the Atlantic Monthly's 2010 Fiction Issue, and her story "Madre Patria" is forthcoming in Quarterly West.

Haifa Mahabir (PAA '08) has edited an anthology of creative nonfiction essays, which Codhill Press will publish in the spring of 2010. Entitled In Search Of, it includes work by 2008 Paris writing workshop students Sara Hamdan and Cass McGovern, as well as instructor Rolf Potts and visiting writer Jeffrey Tayler.

Jenna Weber (PAA '07) has let us know that Sterling Publishing will release her as-yet-untitled food memoir in the spring of 2011. Jenna's food and nutrition blog is Eat Live Run: A Food Journal of a Girl with a Healthy Mission.

—January 2010

New books and awards for Paris American Academy writing teachers

Paris Journal teacher Lauren Grodstein's latest novel, A Friend of the Family (Algonquin, 2009), debuted in November to wide critical acclaim. The Washington Post called it "horrifyingly plausible and deeply poignant"; the Wall Street Journal called it "dark and unsettling"; Bust Magazine called it "difficult to put down." People Magazine praised its "harsh, honest prose"; USA Today noted how it "beautifully captures the ever-striving angst of parents who will take any step to ensure their children's lives are easier or better"; and the Boston Globe noted, "if there’s any justice in the world, A Friend of the Family will be [Grodstein's] breakout book." More information, including book-tour event details, online at Lauren's website.

Literary fictions teacher John Biguenet received the Faulkner Society's 2009 ALIHOT Award for Contributions to Literature, the organization's major annual award. His new play, Shotgun, has been nominated for the American Theatre Critics Association's 2009 ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award for best new American play of the year, and his previous play, Rising Water, will be published by Northwestern University Press in 2011 in a volume entitled Katrina On Stage. His short story collection, The Torturer's Apprentice, will be published in French translation by Edition Albin Michel — and both The Torturer's Apprentice and Oyster, his novel, will be published in Dutch translation by Uitgeverij Ailantus in Amsterdam. His essay "In Between: the DeZurik Sisters," which appeared originally in the Oxford American's annual music issue and was then chosen for Best Music Writing 2006, will be included in the forthcoming Autumn House Anthology of Essays. An online interview with him appears in Story in Literary Fiction.

In November of 2009, creative nonfiction teacher Rolf Potts became the first American writer to receive Italy's prestigious Bruce Chatwin Prize in travel writing. His newest book, Marco Polo Didn't Go There, also received a 2009 Lowell Thomas Award from the Society of American Travel Writers. Rolf's stories and essays have recently been anthologized in The Best Travel Writing 2009, the Best of Lonely Planet Travel Writing, and The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 2. His Believer story "The Henry Ford of Literature" was given notable mention in Houghton Mifflin's The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009.

—December 2009

A group picture from the 2009 Paris American Academy summer writing workshop

Above: 2009 Paris American Academy writing participants, pictured here outside the Schola Cantorum classroom, included: (front row) Penny Newell, Danielle Lachance, Darelle Duncan, Deanna Romano, Julia Moore, Francesca Latella, Princess Ayelotan; (second row) Lauren Grodstein, Emily Ingram, Misha Habib, Julia Reckless, Denise Kron; (third row) Stacey Tuel, Mike Fong, Beth Perry, Joe Masterman; (back row) Rolf Potts, Andrew Nunnelly, John Biguenet, Gabe Moseley.

—July 2009

Workshop essays land in Best Travel Writing 2009

Jill Paris reads an early draft of "Shopping for Dirndls" at the PAA student reading at Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore.

We are pleased to announce that Jill Paris (PAA '08) has a story ("Shopping for Dirndls") appearing in The Best Travel Writing 2009. Jill developed her story in the creative nonfiction workshop taught by Rolf Potts (who also has a story appearing in the anthology).

Elsewhere, Haifa Mahabir (PAA '08) won a Solas Award in travel writing for her essay "A Writer in Paris: On the Road of Vision Seekers," and Stacey Tuel (PAA '09) has a travel story ("My Mexican Housewife") appearing in The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2009.

—March 2009

A group picture from the 2008 Paris American Academy summer writing workshop

Above: 2008 Paris American Academy writing participants, pictured here in the school garden, included: Cass McGovern, Lucretia Grindle, Tina-Marie Patane, John Biguenet, Irina Reyn, Bettye Givens, Jill Paris, Malia Yoshioka, Sarah Hamdan, and Haifa Mahabir.

—July 2008

Paris writing workshop students debut new works in print and onstage

A group picture from the 2007 Paris American Academy summer writing workshop

Above: 2007 Paris American Academy writing students included: (front row) Lexi Apfelbaum, Tess Vella, Catherine Butler, Rea Frey; (middle row) Annalise Proctor, Dawn Turek, Deborah Nyuli, Alethea Brown, Jenna Weber, Gabi Flam, Tyler Mollenkopf; (back row) Joanne Lappas, Razvan Marc, Dulci Pitagora, Cass McGovern, Erik Olsen, Jenny Nauss, Andrea Ronkowski, Anna Rodriguez.

—July 2007