high-school student in Pakistan finds the Writers House

In the Christian Science Monitor newspaper, there is currently an article about how a high-school student in Lahore, Pakistan - Taha Tariq - discovered the Kelly Writers House and Penn through our free, open online course called "ModPo." A passage from the article: "He was also attracted by the bohemian culture of the Kelly Writers House – a literary salon on the Penn campus that hosts poetry readings, film screenings, lectures, and cultural events. It was founded by a group of students and faculty in 1995 in a spirit of cultural communitarianism. As a high school senior in his native Pakistan at Lahore Grammar School, a network of private schools that prepares students for British-style exams, Taha was struck by what he saw as a relaxed relationship between professors and students in the MOOC and at Kelly Writers House events." Click here for more.

RealArts interns announced

We received hundreds of applications again this year for nine paid summer RealArts@PENN internships. Below is a list of the students who have been appointed as RealArts interns for 2014.

For more about RealArts: http://writing.upenn.edu/realarts/.

I want to thank Mingo Reynolds and R.J. Bernocco, who coordinate RealArts; and Anthony DeCurtis, Director of RealArts and creator of the series of RealArts events and symposia at the Kelly Writers House, co-sponsored by Creative Ventures. We also wish to thank Dirk Wittenborn, Paul & Ossi Burger, & Alan Berger for their support of RealArts.

If you know the winners of this year’s internships, please take a moment to congratulate them; the quality of the applications was very high, the competition acute.

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Interning with the Philadelphia Inquirer’s editorial blog will be Iris Williamson. Iris is a sophomore Art History major.

The intern at Philadelphia Magazine will be Manola Gonzalez. Manola is a junior majoring in English and French Studies with a Political Science minor.

Isaac Kaplan, a Junior in Art History, will be interning at The Jewish Museum this summer.

The intern at Viacom Creative Services will be Julia Liebergall.  Julia is a junior majoring in English with minors in Creative Writing and Consumer Psychology.

This year's Rolling Stone Magazine intern will be Katie Behrman.  Katie is a junior studying English with a minor in French.

Carolina Beltran, a junior in English with a Creative Writing concentration and minoring in Spanish, will be working at Brooklyn Films in L.A. with producer/director Jon Avnet.

Caroline Yost will be working in L.A. with writers David Stern & Stuart Gibbs.  Caroline is a junior English major with a concentration in Creative Writing and a minor in Fine Arts.

The intern for Shore Fire Media is Nathan Platnick. Nathan is a sophomore in the College intending to major in English with a Creative Writing concentration.

This years McSweeney's intern will be Brenda Wang. Brenda is a sophomore in the College, majoring in English.

Buzz video

Al Filreis interviews Buzz Bissinger (video recording; 1 hour): LINK. Bissinger was the first of three Kelly Writers House Fellows this semester.

podcast: 15 mins. with sportswriter Bob Ford

Episode #38 in the Kelly Writers House podcast series: a 15-minute excerpt from the recent visit to KWH by prize-winning sportswriter Bob Ford, introduced by Dick Polman. http://media.sas.upenn.edu/writershouse/podcasts/Kelly-Writers-House-Podcast_38_Bob-Ford.mp3

experimental radio host/producer featured in new podcast

Benjamen Walker featured in new Kelly Writers House podcast: https://jacket2.org/commentary/benjamen-walker-and-year-sound . Part of the University of Pennsylvania's "year of sound."

new podcast - writing about TV

New Writers House podcast released today - #33 in our series. This time: writing about television. Click here to listen. Or go to your iTunes Music Store and type "Kelly Writers House" in the searchbox.

podcast on Kanye West-fest

KWH podcast number #31 in our series is hosted by Allison Harris - a 15-minute excerpt from our November 2013 Kanye West-fest. Have a listen here.

Zach Djanikian performs a song about the future

Zach Djanikian performs a song about the future - commissioned by Anthony DeCurtis for an event held at the Kelly Writers House in Philadelphia in which several artists, critics and historians each addressed the topic of the future. The event was held on January 31, 2014, as the second annual sympoisum honoring the recipient of the Beltran Family Award for Innovative Teaching & Mentorship at the Kelly Writers House. The 2012-13 winner was Karen Rile. The 2013-14 winner is Anthony DeCurtis. For more information about the event, and for links to full audio and video recordings of the program, see the KWH calendar.