Yet another year with fluctuating fortunes... Still, I kept spreading my love for writing and empowering people to write. 💜

So, in 2025, I

- ... made two presentations at MISIS University Conference in Moscow - again. And again - absolutely wonderful, warm, welcoming audience!

- ... was a guest on a podcast with the wonderful Maria Polukhina! Watch here: https://t.me/irinalutsenko/556

- ... got my third #IELTS 9! Curiously, for the test I took back in 2024. This year, IELTS suddenly admitted to their global screw-up. My reading score was changed from 8.5 to 9, leading to an overall 9.

- ... contributed nine #IELTS writing sample answers to a free pdf collection with about 100 answers. Available completely free of charge here: https://t.me/irinalutsenko/551

- ... took a course on Writing Pedagogy with an American instructor and tried to improve my feedback-giving skills (admittedly, my weakness).

- ... conducted a workshop on creative writing at a conference by the Moscow State University!

- ... wrote another 3000-word story (my fourth one) in my "Creative Writing Bootcamp" project. Couldn't have done it without my creative team, which has grown in different senses of the word.

- ... continued the short story reading club "Small Stories Big Ideas" - our short stories do deserve a reader. Hosted by the one and only Irina Kireeva - an avid reader, a professional book club host, and a source of all my reading for pleasure.

- ... continued spreading the passion for writing with free projects: "Creative Writing Club," "Writing Incubator," and "Poetry Writing mini-course." These projects are mostly done by my like-minded writing fans who are happy to share their passion too: Veronika Shirobokova, Alena Nikitina, Evgenia Karabatova, Elizaveta Zanozina, Maria Botina, Svetlana Kukharevich. 💜

I couldn't have done so much - and so meaningfully - without the people mentioned and many others helping behind the scenes. My unending gratitude to every single person who contributed and supported us! 🩷

And, of course, the wonderful New Year image is by the wonderful Anna Skopina - the artist behind all my visuals and illustrations over the last years. 🧡