In biweekly sessions of Short Story Reading Club, we will read and discuss short stories by contemporary writers published in literary magazines available in the American Center in Moscow’s free eBook Library.

During these interactive and engaging online sessions, we will have public readings, animated discussions, and do creative writing exercises together to enrich our English, broaden our outlook, and have some literary fun. For each biweekly session (before the session) you will be required to read a specific short story from a digital issue of a literary magazine, which you will be able to borrow and read for free from American Center in Moscow’s eBook Library. Borrowing books and magazines from the library requires creating a free library account; to register for one, go to this page.

Led by Denis Aksenov, long-running host of reading and drama workshops at the American Center in Moscow; founder of Funky Chekhov’s Society; current student at the University of Massachusetts, history & art history majors.

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REQUIRED READING FOR AUGUST 18

1) Begin Again by Leonard Cohen from the Summer 2022 (240) issue of The Paris Review. You can borrow this digital issue from the American Center’s free eBook Library here. If you don’t have a free library account, you get one here.

2) Shouts and Murmurs: Are Mice People? by Cora Frazier from the August 1, 2022 issue of The New Yorker. You can borrow this digital issue from the American Center’s free eBook Library here. If you don’t have a free library account, you get one here.

Please make sure you read the stories before the session on August 18, 2022.

Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) was a Canadian poet, singer, and novelist remembered for his literary works and his musical creations alike. Begin Again is the beginning of a previously unpublished novel by Leonard Cohen that is due for publication together with his several other never-before-published pieces of short fiction on October 11, 2022, by Grove Press under the title A Ballet of Lepers: A Novel and Stories.

This is how the story Begin Again starts:

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ALL AMERICAN CENTER IN MOSCOW EVENTS ARE FREE OF CHARGE / ВСЕ МЕРОПРИЯТИЯ АМЕРИКАНСКОГО ЦЕНТРА В МОСКВЕ БЕСПЛАТНЫ

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This session is hosted on Zoom, so if you are interested in joining, please create a Zoom account beforehand. When registering below, please submit your valid email address to receive a link to the Zoom meeting 30 minutes before the session begins.

To join other AMC Online programs, please check the American Center’s TimePad calendar.