Thank you again to our remarkable judges: Mary Gaitskill, Tony Hoagland, and Ander Monson, as well as out contest partners: The Walrus, Black Warrior Review, DIAGRAM, The St. Petersburg Review, The Center for Fiction (The Literarian), Graywolf Press, Joyland, and  Branch. 

Read on in this newsetter:

SLS Lithuania 2012 Program Updates

SLS Kenya 2012 Annoucements

Photo Contest Deadline Approaching!

LITHUANIA 2012: UPDATES ON OUR 20th PROGRAM:

JOIN US AT OUR LARGEST, MOST UNIQUE 

PROGRAM TO DATE!

Renowned Russian artist Vitaly Komar and great Russian poet Sergei Gandlevsky join Lithuania Faculty  

SLS is thrilled to announce the addition of artist-in-residence Vitaly Komar and poet-in-residence Sergei Gandlevsky to our 2012 Lithuania faculty. 

Vitaly Komar was born in Moscow in 1943 and has been living in New York 

since 1978. He was one of the founders of the Sots Art movement (soviet Pop/Conceptual art) and a pioneer of multi-stylistic post-modernism (1972-73). Vitaly Komar worked in collaboration with Alex Melamid from 1973 to 2003.  Their work is included in major art museums across the world.

Born in 1952 in Moscow, Sergei Gandlevsky was an important figure in nonofficial alternative poetry circles during the 1970s. After 1989, Gandlevsky has come to be considered one of Russia's most important contemporary poets. He is the author of many books of poems, a memoir and a collection of essays. He has one collection in English from Zephyr press, A Kindred Orphanhood, translated by Philip Metres. In a 2001 critics poll he was voted the "most important living Russian poet". 

The expanded, meaningful, and unique new Lithuania program offers you the choice of one of two dynamic two-week sessions or the chance to stay for a month in the heart of central Europe: Vilnius, Lithuania. We are also expanding our Jewish Lithuania component, including prominent local and Eastern European participation. Our award-winning faculty includes  Eileen Myles, Laimonas Briedis, Peter Cole, John Coy, Jonathan Garfinkel, Eric Goodman, Arielle Bernstein, Adina Hoffman, Ilya Kaminsky, Sergey Kanovich, Claudia Keelan, Kerry Shawn Keys, Fiona McCrae, Andrew Miksys, Ander Monson,  Quintan Ana Wikswo, Josip Novakovich, Dawn Raffel, Pierre Joris, Donald Revell, Steve Stern, Meg Wolitzer, and more!   

Space is filling up for what should be the most interesting and and intense of all our programs, SLS Lithuania 2012: The Heart of Europe.   

Come join us for a unique literary and cultural journey -- SLS is like no other program in the world.

APPLY TODAY!

KENYA 2012

SLS will be returning to Kenya in December, and we couldn't be happier! We will be partnering again with Kwani Trust, the Nairobi-based literary journal and writing network. Participants will be able to attend Kwani's LitFest, a literary festival with readings from and appearances by Africa's greatest living writers and thinkers. 

Our 2012 Kenya program is currently being finalized, and we will be announcing our full faculty roster in early April. We hope you will join us in December!  

DEADLINE APPROACHING: THE FIRST ANNUAL SLS PHOTO CONTEST IS NOW MORE THAN 80 PHOTOS STRONG!  We have received over 80 photos and counting for our brand new Facebook contest! Check them out here, and vote for your favourites! Submit your own images to our very first photo competition,so that we can take a look at SLS over the years through your photographs! Send us the best photograph that you took in one of our seminar locations: Russia, Montreal, Kenya, and Lithuania. The first place winner (chosen by SLS) will receive free tuition in the next upcoming program of their choice! (A prize worth up to USD2950!) As well, the photo with the most "likes" will receive a 50% tuition waiver to one of our upcoming programs, and some lucky contestants will be offered fellowships! 

Each photo sent to us will be posted on the SLS Facebook Page. 

Remember, the second prize will be determined by how many "likes" your photograph receives, so make sure you get your friends, family and your brother's girlfriend's cousin and her uncle to "LIKE" your photo!

Submission Guidelines: 

"Like" the Summer Literary Seminars Page.

Send your best photograph taken at one of our seminar locations (Kenya, Russia, Lithuania, Montreal) to slsphotocontest2011@gmail.com. 

Please include:  

• your name
• a title
• photo location and year
• a brief description

Deadline: April 5th 2012. 

Remember, the longer your photo is posted, the more likes it can get! 

*Each contest entry is restricted to two photographs per person.

*Photos do not need to be taken during an SLS Program. 

We look forward to seeing SLS over the years in your pictures! Details here. 

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SLS is interested in cooperating with creative writing programs across North America; if you're interested in bringing your students to an SLS Program, contact us today to learn how you can partner with us! 

We wish you the best of luck with your writing -- and we look forward to seeing you at SLS!