Course content
Do you want to write better, differently, more unusually, crazier, more consistently, more concisely, more, less or just the same as before? Then this course is just right for you! Starting from writing and sentence to the complete text: This workshop is dedicated to writing in its various facets. Where do you start - and how do you stick with it? What is better: screen and keyboard or pen and paper? Should you rely on divine inspiration or on chat GPT? At what point does a chat message become a literary text? Can (good) literature also be (good) therapy? How do you write biographically and yet literary? How much should you shorten? How do you know when a text is really finished? How do you deal with criticism? And who are you writing for anyway? In this course, participants can exchange ideas about such questions and try out the answers in practice. Because the focus is on writing games and text experiments. The starting point is the participants' own writing experiences, attempts they bring with them, or spontaneous writing attempts. In workshop discussions, we will then exchange ideas about the texts that have been created.

target group
The workshop is aimed at people who want to share their joy of writing with one another, exchange ideas about it in a group and deepen their knowledge. It is open to anyone interested, regardless of age - with or without previous experience. If you wish, you are welcome to bring texts you have already written to the course.

Course leader
Alexander Estis is a writer and columnist. Born in Moscow in 1986, he studied in Hamburg and subsequently taught German language and literature at various universities, including in Zurich and Geneva. Since 2016 he has lived as a freelance author in Aarau. Alexander Estis has published eight books to date; in 2022 the prose volume »Fluchten« was published in the edition mosaikHe writes columns, essays and reports for newspapers such as NZZ, WOZ, SZ and FAZ, for the Tagi magazine and for Deutschlandfunk Kultur. He gives writing courses at schools and universities and teaches professional writing at the University of Cologne, among others. He has received numerous grants for his texts and has received several awards, most recently the Kurt Tucholsky Prize. In 2025 he will be Dresden's city writer.

Data:
Saturday, August 23, 2025 – Arrival, welcome at 5 pm – followed by dinner together
Sunday, August 24, 2025 – Course start
Friday, August 29, 2025 – end of course, individual departure

Course times
Mornings 10 am to 12 pm, afternoons by arrangement with the course leader

Bring with you
Writing utensils and notepad or notebook, and if you like, a laptop

Number of participants
Min. 6 / Max. 10

Course fee
CHF 420.00

Registration deadline
July 15, 2025