Our Instructors
Elisabeth McKetta
Fiction & Poetry
Elisabeth McKetta teaches writing for Harvard Extension School and Summer School since 2012 and was awarded the James E. Conway Excellence in Teaching Writing Award in 2018. She also teaches poetry for the Oxford Diploma in Creative Writing. She is the author of ten books including a biography, a writing guide, five books of poetry, a children’s book, an anthology of women’s resilience stories, and the novel She Never Told Me About the Ocean. Her poetry and prose have won awards and been published widely.
McKetta holds degrees from Harvard (BA, English), Georgetown (MA, English), and University of Texas (PhD, English). Much of her work focuses on the intersections between fairy tales and life writing. She lived three years in a tiny house with her young family, an adventure she discusses in her 2019 TEDx talk, “Edit Your Life Like a Poem.”
Elizabeth H. Filippouli
Non-fiction & Ancient Greek Plays
Elizabeth H. Filippouli is a journalist, writer, and social entrepreneur. Her early career in print and broadcast journalism in Greece and at CNN and Al Jazeera English, was prelude to now over a decade of serial entrepreneurship that includes founding Global Thinkers Forum (GTF) an independent international organisation incubated at the University of Oxford. It was launched in Jordan in 2012 under the patronage of Queen Rania of Jordan and developed into a global network of thought leaders promoting values-driven leadership. It supports and inspires women and youth through mentoring programmes reaching more than 70 countries.
Her second non fiction book ‘From Women to the World-Letters for a New Century’ was published by IB Tauris in July 2021, receiving praise in the international press (The Guardian, Vanity Fair, the Independent, The National UAE, Arshaq Al Aswat) and opened Hay Festival Wales in May 2021, with excerpts read by known actresses and authors such as Kate Winslet, Louise Brealey, Juliet Stevenson, Livia Firth, Dame Stephanie Shirley. Filippouli holds degrees from Harvard (MLA), Oxford University Said Business School (MBA), City University London (MA) and Athens Kapodistriakon University (BA).
Di Sherlock
Finding the Actor Within
Di Sherlock is a writer, director and actor.
Di recently collaborated with The London College of Fashion, exploring performative costume with Peta Lily and Donatella Barbieri. The suit was designed by Veronica Toppino. She has led workshops with young people and adults for various companies including The City Lit and Hot Tin Roof Drama Project at Highbury Roundhouse. International collaboration includes working with Dutch and Swedish theatre practitioners on the EEC funded European Theatre of Science. She co-led workshops with scientists and local theatre practitioners in La Città della Scienza (Naples), Edinburgh University, Malmö University, Eindhoven University (Holland), Le Palais de la Découverte (Paris).
Subsequently she was invited by Dutch theatre company Pandemonia to collaborate with Nano Scientists and Spanish theatre practitioners on A Science Theatre Cabaret at the University of Santiago de Compostela.
Di was Visiting Lecturer in Acting at University of Birmingham from 2008 to 2011. She speaks Spanish, German, Italian, French and Portuguese.
Paul Benney
Art & The Process of Creation
Paul Benney is an international British artist who explores the interplay of light with elements such as fire and water in his work. Born in Chelsea in 1959, Benney spent the majority of his childhood in Beenham, West Berkshire.
Benney’s grandfather was Sallis Benney, the early 20th century British impressionist, an artist who in 1914, at the age of 18 found himself, by default, Principal of Hull School of Art. A key member of the Neo-Expressionist group of the early 80’s in New York’s East Village, Benney became known for his monochromatic paintings, sculptures and mixed media works. Stygian themes of mortality, absence and remembrance have preoccupied him throughout his career. Artist uses a variety of techniques in his paintings like oil on resin, wood, metal and feathers.
Among the country’s leading portrait artists, he has painted many prominent cultural and political figures. One of Benney's most known works is his group portrait of the Supreme Court of Israel which has become known as a State Portrait for Israel. He has painted the portraits of John Paul Getty III, The Marquis of Bath, Lord Weidenfeld, Baroness Amos, Lord Rothschild, Sir Mick Jagger, as well as the portrait of Dorian Grey in the feature film A Portrait of Dorian Grey in 2008. He has exhibited in eight BP Portrait Award Exhibitions and twice won the BP Visitors’ Choice Award in 1996 and 1997 and received a Commendation for the portrait My Daughters in 1999.
Faye Balomenou
Wellness & Meditation
Having completed her first training in India, Faye has been practicing for over a decade several types of yoga (especially Vinyasa and Ashtanga) and started teaching seven years ago.
After attending numerous workshops and classes with great yoga teachers (Kino MacGregor, Dylan Werner, Laruga Glaser, Iain Grysak, Savvas Giantsis and many others) she has created her own personal style of Vinyasa, which is based on the structured and anatomical approach of the asanas and her own unique creativity. Soon she decided to deepen her knowledge in advanced asanas and practice, thus she completed with excellence the first 300h Yttc of House of Yoga in Athens.