While college writing programs have proliferated in the West, there’s only one such in Russia: Moscow’s Literary Institute. As Anna Malpas reports in a Moscow Times story, “The institute was founded in 1933 by writer Maxim Gorky, and began by providing evening courses for workers.” Writes Malpas, “Housed in an 18th-century mansion on Tverskoi Bulvar, the institute looks as if it has seen better days. Ceiling tiles are peeling off, and the yellow corridors are dimly lit.” One classroom is hung with portraits of Ivan Turgenev, Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov.” But even though the school seems to be falling apart, and “Despite the low market value of poetry these days, the institute continues to attract students to its five-year program in creative writing.” Rector Serge Yesin says that “There can be as many as 10 applicants for each student’s slot.” However, he says, “Of course it’s difficult, but everyone wants to take the risk, because the prize is very big. The prize is to go down in history.”