Paris writing workshop students debut new works in print and onstage

One of my favorite things about teaching writing at the Paris American Academy every summer is the chance to see our students find success in print, onstage, and onscreen in the months and years that follow. A number of Paris writing students from 2006 and 2007 have recently debuted new work in venues around the world. Here are some examples (and unless otherwise noted, they are all students from 2007):

• Andrea Ronkowski’s Japan-based travel tale Hustling Nakamura-san appeared in The Smart Set last October.
• Cass McGovern’s memoir “Something Special in the Air,” which details her experience of flunking out of the American Airlines stewardess school, appears in the Spring 2008 issue of the Massachusetts Review.
• Dulci Pitagora performed a nonfiction monologue at Stage Left Studio in New York last fall, and was recently named managing editor at GO Magazine.
• Subzero, Razvan Marc’s travel documentary about Arctic Finland, debuted on Romanian television last fall. A trailer for the DVD version of his show is online here.
• Alexis Apfelbaum has a story appearing in “It’s All Relative,” an upcoming issue of the Global City Review.
• Perth-based Carmen Jenner, who attended the Paris writing workshop in 2006, has published a number of travel stories in The Australian, including an article about traveling with children in Paris.
• 2006 student Marlene Nichols will be performing her new solo show “Seeing Voices” at New York’s Stage Left Studio later this month. Performance dates are Thursday-Friday, May 29th & 30th; then Friday-Saturday June 6th and 7th, at 8pm each night. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. More information available here.
• John Biguenet, who teaches literary fictions at the Paris writing workshop, has had a string of successes for his Pulitzer-nominated play about Hurricane Katrina, Rising Water. The 20th annual Big Easy Entertainment Awards named Rising Water its Best Original Play of 2007, naming Biguenet “Theatre Person of the Year”. The play debuted at Southern Repertory Theater and became the playhouse’s bestselling show ever. It is scheduled for production in several cities in the United States, and has recently debuted in southern California.

On a final note, I’ll note that registration is still open for the July 2008 session of the Paris American Academy writing workshop, and we welcome new applicants! For more information,, check out our official website here.