Myth Trips and Workshops

These are a couple of great international academic experiences I wish I could participate in. Since I can't, I'll post my wistful musing about them here:

• Mark Vecchio, who teaches the myth tours I TA'd for, is leading a Peru trip this May/June. Think about this, if you will: lines drawn on the earth to communicate with the gods; a liminal city where earth and sky are close enough to be almost indistinct; a voyage to the birthplace of the world, where twin islands are the sun and moon in a lake of sky. Does it sound awesome yet? The trip flyer offers even more details. If you are a college student (or know a mythically inclined college student), find out more as soon as you can -- all of the myth tours I've gone on have been amazing experiences, and this one sounds like a brilliant new course!


• Donna Jo Napoli, who worked with me recently on the autobio project, is teaching a writing for children workshop in Siena, Italy this May. Donna Jo is a linguistics prof at Swarthmore and is an award-winning children's writer. She's teaching the course for free; all the funds she would earn are going to the Siena School for the Liberal Arts, which aids the elderly, disabled, immigrants, and the Deaf. The course information, from Swarthmore, is posted here, and the program is open to writers from novices to professionals.

Both programs have deposits due in the not-too-distant future, so any students and writers interested in applying should do so pretty quickly. If you go, I'll be going vicariously through you!