The Faculty and Student Reading is Back in 2023!

Remember the good old days when once or twice a year the International Writers’ Collective would organize a student reading? It was a beloved tradition when students and faculty would come together as a community to be inspired by each other’s work. And, as at every Collective event, we would close off the evening with drinks and bites and fun.

COVID-19 threw a bit of a wrench in those works but this spring we’ll be back, bigger and better than ever.

How it works

If you participated in one of our core courses anytime from 2020 through to the Winter 2023 term, you are eligible to submit your poetry, flash fiction/CNF or a taste of a story, novel or essay for consideration. Your piece must have originated as an IWC exercise or, for upper levels, have been workshopped in an IWC course. The deadline has been extended to Sunday 12 March 23:59.

Up to two students from each course level (I, II, III and IV) will be selected to read for our community. Different word limits apply to each level. For example, Level I submissions will be capped at two pages, the same as an exercise. Current students will have received the submission guidelines from their respective instructors (check Course Materials). Former students can contact us here to request guidelines (please include the year and level of the last course you took with us in your email).

You must be able to attend the student reading in person. For online students unable to travel to Amsterdam for this event, if your work is selected, you’ll need to designate a local reader or we’ll help you find someone. The reading will be recorded and the videos made available online (with the author’s permission). You can view previous readings here.

The judge

Our judge for the 2023 Student Reading is Lisa Schantl, editor-in-chief of the international literary magazine Tint Journal. She will be reading all submissions “blind”, that is to say, without knowing the name of the author.

Lisa is a pro at reading submissions through her work at Tint and her own writing practice. You can read more about how Lisa selects prose and poetry for Tint in her interview with teacher Karen Kao here.

The reading

The reading will take place on Sunday, 23 April 2023 from 18:30-20:00 at Boekhandel van Rossum in Amsterdam, with drinks and bites to follow. We welcome all students (former, current, and prospective) and friends to attend this reading, cheer on the writers, and revel in this moment of community.