Literary courses remotely. Additional education Distance courses to improve literature how to become a writer

Interview

TVERSKOY BOULEVARD, 25... This is not just an address, but a sacred, “prayed” place for writers, on which the buildings of the Literary Institute and the Higher Literary Courses (VLK) are located. Today our conversation will be about VLK.

A unique and famous educational institution that has nurtured more than one generation of talented writers and writers - honest, bright, original, with a piercing, heart-breaking feeling of love for the Motherland; special conscientious attitude towards native language and the word. I just want to exclaim: “What people, what destinies, what names!” And these names will never go down or fade in the high firmament of literature: Chingiz Aitmatov, Oles Gonchar, Kaisyn Kuliev, Mikhail Alekseev, Alim Keshokov, Nikolai Shundik, Victor Kochetkov, Pyotr Proskurin, Victor Astafiev, Ivan Akulov, Rimma Kazakova, Anatoly Zhigulin, Vladimir Sangi, Vasily Ledkov, Yuvan Shestalov, Andrey Tarkhanov and many, many others...

Who else can talk about VLK with more love and knowledge than a graduate of the courses, their vice-rector (for 28 years already!), head of the poetry seminar, laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR named after. M. Gorky, International Prize named after. M.A. Sholokhov and many other well-deserved awards - Valentin Vasilyevich Sorokin, member of the editorial board of the magazine “Priokskie Dawns”.

— Valentin Vasilievich, when were the Courses organized and for what purpose?

In May 1953, the secretariat of the board of the Union of Writers of the USSR appealed to the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Soviet government with a petition to open All-Union Higher Literary Courses, and already in August a resolution of the Soviet government was adopted: “Give the Union of Soviet Writers the right to organize from September 1 at the Literary Institute. A. M. Gorky permanent Higher Literary Courses..."

The goals and objectives for the Courses were set by life itself and the real course of the literary process, and they were clearly stated in the Regulations on the Courses: “Increasing the general cultural and ideological-theoretical level of professional writers, developing their creative individuality, improving literary skills.”

— And how were the assigned tasks accomplished?

VLK became a school of skill and creativity. Here, graduates admit, a holy sense of vigilant responsibility grows before oneself, before the word that you pronounce and before the deed that you are obliged to do. Multi-ethnic unity and citizenship are strengthened here. You gain the most important experience for a writer of speaking in front of a wide variety of audiences.

— What did VLK graduates become under Soviet rule?

Having received their diplomas, they often became leading employees of branches of the USSR Writers' Union in the regions, Writers' Unions of fraternal republics, and were appointed to responsible positions in publishing houses, newspapers and magazines, supporting the creative and human friendships that began during their studies.

The authority of the Courses was very high. I myself repeatedly sent letters to district and regional party committees of various republics and cities with a request to improve the living conditions of listeners and instantly received a positive response. Now, after many months, empty replies often come... There have been changes that are detrimental and sad for literature in the conditions of study at the VLK. Previously, the government paid students a stipend, but now students pay the government for their studies. Traveling with performances throughout the country stopped. There is no concern for creative people who could bring great benefit to the Motherland.

— And what was the attitude of the Board of the Union of Writers of the USSR towards the Higher Literary Courses?

I remember the cordial attitude of Georgy Mokeevich Markov, Chairman of the Board. He was like a father to us. He invited me to his place every week and asked me about the lives of his listeners and their problems. He was always ready to support and help. For the holidays, he wrote out financial assistance, and if he promised 100 rubles, then we found 250 in the statement, this was very substantial money at that time.

Many, many eminent and talented writers who have already left us always gladly came to seminars on poetry, prose and criticism, generously donating their talent and soul. And now we continue creative meetings with famous writers and VLK graduates.

And the creativity of our geniuses! The lines of all those who died in the camps and dungeons... Divine Yesenin’s poems and prose... From there, from afar, they support us and inspire us as if alive, we just have to open the pages of their unfading books:

I have now become more stingy in my desires.

My life! or did I dream about you?

As if I were a booming early spring

He rode on a pink horse.

Sergey Yesenin

— Are the students of the Literary Institute and the VLK students friendly with each other? After all, there is a huge difference between them both in age and life experience.

Listeners and students treat each other with respect and attention, often participating together in various creative workshops. All of them are literary institutes. Their world of inspiration is the same. There is only one teaching staff.

One cannot help but recall the kind attitude towards VLK of the rector of the Literary Institute, Vladimir Fedorovich Pimenov. To forget it is to betray the memory of it. Those who headed the Literary Institute, each at one time, Evgeny Sidorov, Vladimir Egorov, Sergei Yesin and the current rector, famous scientist and writer Boris Tarasov, have always maintained a traditionally kind attitude towards the VLK. Low bow to them for this!

— Have there been any bright new names among VLK graduates? recent years?

Recent graduates: Antonina Spiridonova, Vladislav Tsylev, Vasily Popov, Lyudmila Snitenko, Igor Mukhin, Irina Eremenko, Evgeny Popov, Elena Mozzhukhina, Olga Drobyshevskaya, Oleg Malinin and many others are talented writers. And among those who are studying now, there are gifted noble people who will definitely make themselves known in the coming years!

— Valentin Vasilyevich, what do you think about the current state of the literary process and what future, in your opinion, awaits multinational Russian literature?

Today the book road has been completely destroyed. The program of work with authors has been changed not only in publishing houses, now private, but also in bookstores. Neither the state nor publishers financially support writers; support and assistance are now a rare exception.

Authors publish books at their own expense, in very small editions. If earlier the circulation was beneficial to both the state and the author, now the author's funds are enough for 500-1000 copies, and even, sadly, for 50-100 copies. It clearly doesn't pay off. What kind of fee are we talking about?

Numerous small “creative” Unions interfere with the revival of the state book route, undermine the authority of literature, and do not provide assistance to writers.

You can count on one hand the number of publishing houses that care deeply about the author and their literary reputation. I consider it necessary to highlight the talented, honest, highly professional writer and publisher Leonid Vasilyevich Khanbekov, whom I respect, the head of the Independent Literary Agency “Moscow Parnassus”, who publishes books honestly and responsibly under the most difficult conditions. And much more than all the Writers' Unions combined. What is it like for him? His agency is crammed into one small room! And he is not part of any Union! Until the state takes up the revival of the civil and patriotic path of writers, there will be no sense...

It is necessary to revive the conversation of writers with the people, with the state, contact between peoples, not only in Moscow, but in all districts and republics of Russia! It is necessary that the writer’s sigh, which is higher than prayer, be heard, that the path of friendship and respect be paved again, and that national holidays be resumed.

Russia's multinational population has lost its common voice, and it is almost unheard of in the half-ruined country. There is no continuity of generations, the decline of morality is glorified and welcomed, fornication and irresponsibility are approved. There are no worthy television programs about the creation and revival of the great multinational literature of Russia.

With a worthy, noble and honest approach, you can revive and direct the entire literary process along the right path in six months, entering into fruitful contact with Russian writers, Russian officials and the people of Russia!

— What would you like to wish both beginning and famous writers?

I believe that a writer is obliged to read every day, think, work on himself and his own words, and clearly know his place not only in life, but also in creativity. Lean on your favorite writers. And a poet - I’m not kidding - every hour, every moment, not only with his soul, but also with his heart, is obliged to hear his favorite poets, without whom there is no path to inspiration. And support his active colleagues close to him with speeches, essays, reviews. This is not only the path of the writer, but also his destiny... Honesty and courage of the word will never let the author down!

The first courses in literary excellence in Russia and abroad by Andrei Vorontsov, which have been successfully operating on the basis of the Moodle training system for the seventh year, announce a new enrollment of students for September 2019 - March 2020. The workshop is headed by the Secretary of the Board of the Union of Writers of Russia, a teacher of literary excellence at the Moscow State regional university, for many years he led prose seminars at the Literary Institute. Gorky...

Forms of training - remote (passing through the Internet in on-line mode, with access 24 hours 7 days a week) and full-time(with classroom lessons on Saturdays).

Start of distance learning courses -September 18, 2019 Training period - 6 months. Short-term introductory classes on working in the Moodle training system for DO-Courses will be held from September 9.

Start of full-time courses - September 14, 2019 . Training period - 5 months in the premises of the magazine "Moscow" (Arbat, 20)."

Authors writing in Russian (from 18 years of age) are accepted for courses, regardless of their social status, place of residence and citizenship. Entrance exams are not carried out. Candidates for admission pass creative competition, for which you need to send your works in the genres of prose, poetry, drama, criticism, journalism, no more than 80 thousand printed characters with spaces, typed in 14 point, with an interval of 1.5, to the email address specified in the application form. For those with no experience creating literary works, allowed after a written interview admission as volunteers. A volunteer listener, unlike other listeners, may not present his works for discussion, but performs theoretical and practical tasks on an equal basis with everyone else and participates in discussions.

For admission to the Courses, the following documents are also provided:

1) application addressed to the manager (indicate the chosen form of training) ;
2) a copy (scan) of the education document (optional);
3) autobiography;
4) applicant application form(download in formats rtf , txt );
5) photograph (any format).

Documents are sent by email to the address specified in the application form (download) .

After students are enrolled in distance courses, before classes start , free introductory classes on working in the Moodle training system are held.

The Literary Mastery Course program is aimed at improving the artistic, theoretical and practical level of aspiring writers. The specifics of the literary process require constant creative improvement from the writer, which novice writers are not always able to cope with alone. Interactive classes are divided into theoretical (lectures, answers to questions from the master) and practical. Practical are creative seminars that represent general discussion works of the author with a final analysis of the master. Thus, the creative volume, continuity and versatility of the process of improving literary skills is ensured. Students will also have to complete creative tasks from the master, which will also be submitted for interactive discussion. A week is allocated for each theoretical topic, practical discussion or creative task.

In ideological and spiritual terms, the training is designed to promote an in-depth understanding of Russian literature as one of the world's main literary schools, membership itself, to which is a natural advantage of every beginning Russian-speaking writer. At the same time, naturally, the heritage of other world literary schools will not be ignored.

You can study with us according to the most low prices among courses of this kind and at any convenient time time for you (at the PRE-Courses). The minimum tuition fee (taking into account discounts provided for prepayment) for distance courses is 3500 rub. per month , on-site - 4500 rub. per month . We invite everyone! Details and payment details will be communicated additionally. Other aspects of interest in the conditions of admission and training can be clarified by correspondence to the address indicated in the application form.

The form of final control is certification. Upon completion of the Courses a corresponding certificate is issued. Best works listeners will be published in the almanac on the website and recommended by the master to central literary publications.

Graduates of pre-courses have the right to participate in the work of the literary association "Points" under the Prose Council of the Union of Writers of Russia.

How I studied three literature courses at the same time and what it led to

Text: Marina Bezuglova
Drawing by Charles D. Gibson from www.zazzle.com
Photo of Marina Bezuglova from her Facebook page

A new one is coming academic year, 2017/2018 . Which has a chance to go down in the history of Russian literature as the year of a breakthrough in the field of professional writing education - which, according to editors of publishing houses, sometimes our talents are sorely lacking. The Institute of Culture has opened admissions for students majoring in children's writing. graduate School economy for the first time began admission to master's program- and, according to those involved, the competition for budget places exceeded ten people per place.
And this, of course, does not count, which quietly and systematically continues its work. And the incalculable number of offline and online literary courses that have emerged over the past few years.
A direct participant in the process shares her vivid impressions of the latter.

...I rewind time and think: why did I need literature courses at all? Philological education I have no. I am the manager of a small mirror production workshop. My interest in writing grew out of my love of reading. But I didn’t know how to approach my own work. I needed to test my strength and give myself permission to write.
I live in Rostov-on-Don, and literary education is concentrated in the capital. Therefore, I could not study in person, only online. Then I organized an intensive course for myself with complete immersion in the topic: for four months I studied in parallel at three writing schools and eventually received a triple blessing from the masters of the world of literature.
I’ll say right away: all the courses do an excellent job of inspiring.
Now more about educational process. This is not an advertisement, so I won’t name the courses themselves, but I’ll explain a little. In my school years there was such a wonderful concept as a class “with a bias”. In relation to courses, this word is also appropriate. So, I chose: courses with an emphasis on genre commercial literature (these are those books that are published in series by publishing houses), courses for beginners with an emphasis on the so-called great literature (works from the lists of large prizes) and courses with a slight emphasis on Western literature. In addition, there are courses in poetry, screenwriting, non-fiction courses, etc. Prices vary from several thousand to several tens of thousands of rubles. Many schools provide discounts, hold drawings for free places and competitions. (Thanks to this, I had the opportunity to try three options at once.)

But if you are not as extreme of literature as I am,

When choosing a direction, ask yourself the question: “What does it mean to me to be a writer? Be the author of a paper book? Publish posts on social networks and collect likes? Win competitions? An honest answer will greatly help you get your bearings.

In addition, before studying, it is very important to read special textbooks, as well as take advantage of free resources - there are a lot of articles and videos on the Internet. And if you realize that you are ripe for professional courses, these are the parameters I recommend using to choose an online school.

1. First parameter- the same “bias”. However, in reality the “bias” was very conditional. All of my courses covered literary craftsmanship fairly broadly, with little or no duplication of information.
2. Number and duration of classes- calculate your strength. As a rule, these are weekly lectures lasting from 30 minutes to 1 hour. But there are courses that will require 3 hours 3 times a week.
3. Homework. Each lesson consists of theoretical lecture and creative assignment. Courses that involve peer review of written work, that is, feedback from teachers, are many times more useful. Discussing your texts only with students like you is not particularly effective.
4. Quantity and volume creative tasks performed during the course. The more text you write, the more responses you get, the better.
5. Teaching Staff. Perhaps the most important point. Of course, it’s nice when mentors are popular writers. But their level of fame should not be decisive. After all, writing and teaching it to others are two different things. Their teaching talent is more important to you. Read the works of your future teachers, search the Internet for videos of them, and finally look at their profiles on social networks. If these people captivate you, then the training will be interesting.
6.Feedback. How can you ask questions to teachers? In a webinar format, in a special group on social networks, by email, or is there no such option at all?
7. Further fate. What are the chances that students' work will be published? Albeit on a competitive basis, albeit not in the most popular publications, but the very existence of such an opportunity is a big plus.
8. Video. With online learning, you will receive recorded lectures. Most of us perceive information best visually, so having a video helps.
9. Full-time/correspondence form. If you have an ability full-time training, use it. This form, of course, is preferable to correspondence.

These points can be compared. Now I’ll briefly tell you what I personally learned from my training.

Firstly, a small miracle happened: for the first time, I came up with a coherent, finished work - a story. Then another, and another... The first reviews of texts give an unforgettable experience.
Secondly, the courses gave a holistic understanding of how the plot and characters should be structured in order to hold the reader’s attention. Many aspiring authors would save their own and others’ time by learning these simple principles. In fact, works written based on these laws compare favorably with those written at random.
Third, my reading perception has sharpened. I see how the text is “made”. But this does not at all prevent one from enjoying a good work - on the contrary. Strong texts (the assessment is subjective, of course) give even more joy, weak ones - even more irritate.
The training required more time and dedication from me than I expected. (I didn’t even complete one of the courses because my situation changed and I didn’t have enough time.) I also should have better prepared my household for my new hobby. Wouldn't you be wary if a person mutters to himself while looking at one point? And he, by the way, selects words for his text. Or he sits at night at the computer, and in an hour he needs to submit his work. By the way, this is how I learned the great power of a deadline, when as it approaches, inspiration just hits you in waves.
After completing the training, a certain “withdrawal syndrome” occurred. Now there are no deadlines, no one praises, criticizes, or asks tricky tasks. Then everything depends only on me. After all, literary courses are not a factory of literary stars. Of those who have completed the training, only a few will write anything, only some of it will be published, and only a few will become successful authors.
What about the rest? Well,

expressive and precise formulation of one’s thoughts has never stopped anyone, not just writers or bloggers.

It is unknown how my creative destiny will turn out. In my understanding, being a writer means having at your disposal a certain amount of texts that you are not ashamed to show to professionals and ordinary readers. I can’t call myself a writer yet. Now I'm writing a novel, there are several short stories. Short creative distances turned out to be closer to me. My reviews of two fairly famous novels have been published. There was a victory in a small literary competition. I try to enjoy life, and literature is part of it.

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Tarkovsky’s classmate at the Higher Literary Courses, Yulia Neiman, recalls:

Arsik – that’s what they called him back then. He was eighteen then. 1925 Autumn. This is the time of action... Place?.. You say: “Moscow. Literary courses” - and you can’t express anything. Who now remembers the colors and smells of those years? Moreover, our “Literary Courses” did not exist for so long! The untimeliness and illusory nature of this educational institution was guessed from the very beginning: not long before, the “Bryusov” Literary Institute was liquidated, apparently as unnecessary... And yet, as soon as a message about the Literary Courses appeared somewhere, in the Herzen House, where the course office was then sheltered , girls and boys, as they would now say, applicants, ran with documents and an audacious desire to devote their lives to literature.

These were, for the most part, the offspring of “former” or at least simply intellectual families - those who were barred from entering the “workers’ and peasants’” universities of those years. Not exactly “alien”, but not “our own” either. By at least, not “in the board” - that was the formula then!

Who enrolled in our courses?.. A little earlier - Danya, Daniil Andreev, whose mystical poems are now known to many. A little later - Yuri Dombrovsky: this name speaks for itself.

Among the course participants, Arseny clearly enjoyed the greatest success. Julia Neiman admits:

We, first-year students, immediately noticed that he was handsome. But the originality, the specialness of this black and white beauty was realized late and gradually. The first glance captured only what could be inherent in any handsome brunette: black wings of eyebrows on a very white forehead. And a bright mouth. So bright that I couldn’t resist asking:

- Tarkovsky! Do you paint your lips?

A footnote is needed here. Young men with painted lips were not such a rarity in Moscow in those years. And we, literary students, treated them tolerantly. In short, I didn’t want to offend my new acquaintance with my question.

And yet he was offended. And he began to rub his lips with all his might with the sleeve of his black shirt.

- Look, look! Look!

I looked... There were no lipstick marks on the black. And the lips became even brighter. We both laughed. His resentment passed. He moved to my desk (I remember it was in the row to his left) and quickly drew a picture of a pig in my notebook that I had prepared for notes. The conventional drawing was not bad. The author clearly knew how to draw.

We walked home together. The code of “knightly” honor said: the “lady” must be escorted wherever she lives. The “lady”—that is, me—lived quite far away. During the journey, he managed to tell me about his hometown Elizavetgrad - he called it with good-natured playfulness - “Eldabesh”. Then I remembered the names of his best friends - Kolya Stanislavsky, Misha Khoramansky, Yurka Nikitin... The fourth was him, Arsik.

Arseny Tarkovsky. Mid 1920s

These cheerful friends took for themselves, most likely in the spirit of contradiction to the era, loud titles - “prince”, “count”, “marquis”. Arsik was called a prince, although at that time he, it seems, did not know (in any case, he never said) that the ancestors of the Tarkovskys were indeed princes - the Dagestan princes Tarka.

Higher educational establishments The 1920s are quite strange formations, judging by the standards of our time. Emma Gershtein, a literary critic and close friend of Anna Akhmatova, Osip and Nadezhda Mandelstam, left a very colorful description of them.

In the first years after the revolution, admission to the university was free. Lena and I, for example, signed up for the philosophy department when we were still in the 7th grade of the gymnasium, which had already been turned into the Unified Labor School. At the university we also found such philosophers as Berdyaev, Ilyin the Hegelian (however, he read at the Gnesin music school in a small mansion on Arbat Square), Kubitsky, and listened to the historian Kiesewetter... But soon all this brilliant professorship left forever abroad, and the university gave the impression of a manor's house, given over to the care of a steward and household servants.<…>

But what especially turned me away from the university were the university students. In the classrooms, waiting for the lecturer, they sang in chorus; at evenings they danced to a brass band; in the hostels they indulged in violent passions. But I saw something feigned, affected, excited in everything they did. The new people had tastes that were alien to me, different habits, different concepts of good and evil.

It seems to me that the vulgarity and swagger of the student audience frightened even Bryusov. At the university he felt less confident than in the literary courses he organized, where he accepted selective students, that is, those who had already realized their literary abilities. I remember his depressed and confused look at the lecture, when all the girls, by inertia, declared Blok to be the first poet, and men in Red Army overcoats wide open jumped onto the lectern, jumped over the backs of the student benches and shouted their poems “like Mayakovsky.” One day Bryusov could not resist and addressed the audience:

– Why do you all love Blok so much? After all, he is a bad poet.

- Who is good? – they shouted indignantly from the ranks.

“Pasternak,” Bryusov surprised everyone.

The teachers of the Higher Literary Courses did not belong, so to speak, to the “darlings” of the era. Among them were, for example, Gustav Shpet and Professor Solovyov, who read ancient Greek literature - a relative of a very odious in the eyes Soviet power philosopher and theologian Vladimir Solovyov... We can also recall several other brilliant scholars whose fate was tragically cut short.

For a short time, one of the seminars on the course was led by Andrei Bely. He liked to give students “technical” tasks in the field of poetry and versification exercises. Once he suggested composing a phrase with the maximum possible number of vowel letters in a row, without interruption by consonants (like the letter “e” in the word “long-necked”). Tarkovsky came up with a phrase containing eight (!) letters “and”: “The lips trembled in confusion and I. And - “Sweet Jesus!” - she exclaimed".

Bely was completely delighted with this phrase, and spent the rest of the time before the break, walking around muttering:

- Lips trembled in confusion...

During the courses, Arseny met and became friends with Semyon Lipkin, Maria Petrov and Arkady Steinberg. Translator Vladimir Bugaevsky once jokingly called this group of young poets “quadriga.”

Lipkin recalled:

We met, if not every day, then every other day or two. This was facilitated by the proximity of the city: I studied at the Engineering and Economic Institute on Novaya Basmannaya, Steinberg lived on Staraya Basmannaya. Tarkovsky was nearby, in an alley near Razgulay, and the Petrovs lived relatively nearby - in a wooden house in Sokolniki.

Subsequently, Arseny Tarkovsky wrote about this time and what brought the members of the “quadriga” together:

Several young poets, not caring about publishing their poems, raised a banner almost unnoticed by anyone. It was written on it: Poetic truth...

Our poetry should not be deliberate, we said... and in this naturalness we saw the truth... - What is realism? – we asked – and here we could not agree with each other. Then we put forward a general hypothesis: this is a system of creativity where the artist is truthful when alone with himself.

Higher literary courses were closed in 1929. Students received the right to take final exams in 1st Moscow state university, but Tarkovsky did not take advantage of this. In his autobiographies, he explained this by his “serious illness of his wife.”