Residency programme where literary scholars will mould pens, minds

Prof Mikhail Lossel (left) plans to set up a residency programme to mentor Kenyan writers. On the right is Jannat House hotel owner Goran Emitslof. [Tony Mochama, Standard]

In the June of 1998, a 42-year-old Russian-American university professor of literature held the opening talk of what he called the Summer Literary Seminars (SLS).

This was in St Petersburg, Russia, a great literary city that he had immigrated from only 12 years before, barely able to speak English – but returned to as a lecturer in English literature at Union College, NYC.