In monthly 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.

In these sessions, we will:

• Share our current and favorite readings on Padlet and with the group (read previous suggestions here);
• Read part of the selected short story together. Before each session, you are encouraged to read this selected short story from a digital issue of a literary magazine (The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Paris Review, and others), you can find information about the selected reading in the Required Reading section of this announcement below. You will be able to borrow a digital issue of the magazine with the selected short story free from AMC’s eBook Library. Borrowing books and magazines from the library requires creating a free library account; to register for one, go to this page. For the se
• Discuss the whole short story;
• Write individual reviews of the short story. We may also do other creative writing exercises together to enrich our English, broaden our outlook, and have some literary fun together.

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.

Open to: Adults with intermediate to advanced English language skills.

Perfect for: Readers who want to discover contemporary short fiction.

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REQUIRED READING FOR JUNE 8, 2023:

The Plaza by Rebecca Makkai from the May 8, 2023, issue of The New Yorker. You can borrow the digital magazine issue for free here in AMC’s free eBook Library. To get a free library account, go to this page and fill out a registration form. You can also listen to the short story read by the author here.

Rebecca Makkai is the author of a story collection and four novels, including “The Great Believers,” which won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and was a finalist for the National Book Award, and “I Have Some Questions for You,” which came out in February.

This is how the short story The Plaza begins:

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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.