Writing with scissors. How to create and edit a literary anthology

The Instituto Cervantes presents the workshop “Writing with Scissors: How to Compile and Edit a Literary Anthology” led by an undisputed authority on the subject: Philippe Ollé-Laprune. The creator of a working model backed by more than twenty years of successful professional experience in this field, Philippe Ollé-Laprune offers participants group work sessions, one per week. As to format, the sessions will consecutively be held in person + on-line and online. Along the sessions, each participant will devise and carry out a project to edit a literary anthology on a theme (or an author, or a period) of their choice. To this end, they will learn literary and editorial criteria that enable them

• To define a field of study

• To assemble as broad a corpus as possible

• To select texts based on defined criteria

• To organize their presentation, and to make an editorial proposal that includes the elements necessary for its realization, such as the preparation of a general introduction, editorial notes, transitional and introductory texts, and a general bibliography.

The workshop will consist of 12 sessions lasting an hour and a half each. In addition to teaching the workshop, Philippe Ollé-Laprune will coordinate each of the projects and tutor the work with specific advice and guidance, never in a dogmatic way, but rather in conversation with the participants. The knowledge acquired in each session will then be put in practice, largely outside the classroom, through guided consultation of library collections, interviews with specialists, or internet research, all of which as discussed and prepared in advance during the sessions. An anthology is not a catalog or a special issue of a magazine. Its meaning and editorial success depend on flexible but rigorous rules. The workshop is an invitation to learn the secrets that enable anyone who wants to create a literary anthology, whether they are a teacher, writer, journalist, philologist, advanced student or literature lover, to propose suitable and attractive publishing projects. Once the workshop is complete, the project will result in the publication of a book that will bring together the literary anthologies created during the workshop. This edition will be presented later at the Instituto Cervantes.