Michael Meyer at Trude-Herr-Gesamtschule Köln-Mülheim

On March 19, 2024, Michael Meyer conducted a workshop at Trude-Herr-Gesamtschule Köln-Mülheim. The workshop comprised two sessions held within a single day, with a break in between. In the initial half-hour segment, Michael shared insights into his writing journey, discussed his books, and assigned a writing task for students to explore an object of their choice. Following the break, students continued working on their texts. In the latter part of the workshop, students engaged in discussions, shared their writings, and received feedback from Michael. The final segment involved a 45-minute discussion led by Michael about life in the USA, addressing students‘ perceptions, concerns, and questions. Topics ranged from healthcare and education costs to American culture and the concept of the ‚American Dream,‘ sparking a lively and enriching exchange.

Michael Meyer is Professor of English and Faculty Electus member of the Honors College at the University of Pittsburgh, where he teaches journalism and nonfiction writing and received the 2023 Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award. He earned his BS in Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, MA in Education from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed programs in advanced Chinese studies at National Taiwan University in Taipei and Tsinghua University in Beijing. Meyer was previously a visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong, and, in 1995, one of the first Peace Corps volunteers sent to China.

He is the author of A Dirty, Filthy Book: Sex, Scandal, and One Woman’s Fight in the Victorian Trial of the Century (Penguin UK and Harvard US, 2024). Meyer’s journalism has appeared in publications including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Smithsonian, Slate, Foreign Policy, and on NPR’s This American Life. A Fulbright Scholar, Guggenheim fellow, and Whiting Award winner, Meyer has also received support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center, Bellagio, MacDowell, and University of Oxford’s Centre for Life-Writing. He is a Holtzbrinck Fellow of the Class of Spring 2024 at the American Academy in Berlin.

Photography: Francis Oghuma for Holtzbrinck Berlin.