Belleville is a creative writing school based in Milan. Born out of the shared literary passion of a group of friends working in the publishing and art worlds, it opened its doors in 2014. More than 10 years later, Belleville is a place in which to write, read, conjure new worlds and question reality through the consubstantial practices of storytelling and critical thinking.
The school offers live as well as online classes focusing on various forms of writing, from novels to short stories, from poetry to translating and screenwriting. It also caters to the needs of companies aiming to strengthen their employees’ skills in areas ranging from communication to business writing to team building.
Belleville’s faculty includes such esteemed writers and publishing professionals as Walter Siti, Loredana Lipperini, Marcello Fois, Simona Vinci, Luca Sofri, Marco Balzano, Paola Capriolo, Massimo Cacciari Vincenzo Latronico, Marco Rossari, Silvia Ballestra, Vanni Santoni, Laura Pariani, Beatrice Masini, Francesco Costa, Tiziano Scarpa, Nicola Lagioia, Claudia Durastanti, Antonella Lattanzi and Giorgio Fontana.
Our courses include the Scuola annuale di scrittura (an annual, 300 + hour course for learning the fundamentals of storytelling, journalism, screenwriting and editing); the evening classes of Scrivere di notte, and Cantiere romanzo, a monthly workshop for those who have a novel in the works.
In October 2024 we launched CENTO PAGINE, a two-year-long course aimed at broadening the students’ cultural and narrative horizons through increased doses of reading, literary history and criticism as well as forays into the philosophical and scientific discourse. In its second year, CENTO PAGINE guides its participants through the stages of the conception, development, completion and editing of a “short” fiction or non-fiction text (the symbolic “one hundred” pages of its title) to be presented to a selection of publishing professionals.
Belleville offers grants for all its major courses and hosts free public events such as panels, round tables and book signings.
Many of its former students have gone on to publish with major publishing houses including Mondadori, Einaudi, NN Editore, Fandango, Giulio Perrone, Piemme, Rizzoli, Bompiani, Bollati Boringhieri, Salani, Corbaccio.
Since 2022, in the second week-end of September, the school organizes 2084 – Un piccolo festival per i tempi che corrono, two days of free, public conversations about the most urgent issues of the present & the future featuring international writers, thinkers and performers. Amitav Ghosh, Ben Lerner, Katja Petrowskaja, Elvia Wilk, Geoff Dyer, Bjorn Larsson, Elif Batuman, Claire-Louise Bennett, Stefano Mancuso, Telmo Pievani and Alessandro Bergonzoni are among those who participated in previous editions.
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