Desired Essays: An Online Writing Workshop

Desired Landscapes was never just a magazine. It was a way of reading cities and experimenting with words to capture the sense of place. 

Desired Essays invites you into the editorial spirit of Desired Landscapes. A space for personal, experimental, sharp, and concise writing. You’ll learn how to craft text with the same attention to form, angle, and tone that defined the magazine. 

↘ Selected pieces will be published in a new print format that you could again carry in your pocket.

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This workshop is not just about writing, but about editing as a form of thinking — experimenting with words until they fold into that balance we like to call poetic academia, at the intersection of the poetic and the critical.

• 9 hours of guided editorial work
  Across three sessions: selected readings, free writing, editorial guidelines, and hands-on editing tips.
• In-class writing & feedback
  Time to write, share, and receive direct feedback. Group discussions and peer edits, plus a guest visit by a Desired Landscapes contributor.
• Resources to take away
  References, checklists and notes to guide your practice beyond the workshop.
• An intimate group
  Capped at 12 participants, so every voice is heard.  

↘ Towards publication
Each participant develops one essay, with the chance for selected pieces to appear in the next chapter of Desired Landscapes — in new, small-scale printed format.

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Group A: Mondays, 5–9 pm EEST
Dates: 15, 22, 29 September
A focused way to kickstart your week with writing momentum.

Best for Europe and the Americas. 

Group B: Wednesdays, 10–1 pm EEST
Dates: 17, 24 September, 1 October
A midweek workshop designed to meet your day in its flow.

Best for Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Australia. 

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Instructor 
Anastasia Pappa is the founder, publisher, and editor of Desired Landscapes — a publishing project exploring cities through magazines, maps, walking tours, and writing clubs. With a background in graphic design, she has spent the past decade teaching design and design writing, next to her research on visual culture, oral history, urbanism, and the vernacular. Her work has been featured in The Guardian, Monocle, AIGA Eye on Design, Lonely Planet, and more.

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The full journey (3 classes, 9 hours together)
This is the first time I’m offering this workshop online, and I want this first edition to be especially open and accessible — a chance to welcome more voices into the fold. Choose the pricing option that fits you best, no questions asked:

• Standard — €204
• Reduced — €120 (for students or those who need it)
• Supporter — €252 (for those who wish to support this new chapter of Desired Landscapes)

First cohort 📌 Future workshops may be priced differently once this new format takes shape. This first edition is a chance to join at an early stage, as we unfold it together.

Click above to join the first cohort.
Limited spots — small group.