Paris Literary Salon and Writing Workshops
About this Event
European Writers Salon (www.saloneurope.org) is travelling to Paris to host an open mic and two writing workshops in a cosy, welcoming cafe space and in the city beyond. All are welcome!
Our event has the theme of 'My Self In Other Cities' and takes place over two days. You can join as much or as little as you like:
Full details of the programme are below but it includes:
Friday Lunch - a delicious, light lunch at Feuille Blanche Cafe and a chance to get to know other writers joining us for the salon.
Friday Afternoon Workshop - Fingers In The Text : a new self writes the city
Make a rendez-vous with artist and textual flaneuse Isabella Streffen and explore how reading your favourites might lead you to a new self for writing the city (and more).
'the soft action of her fingers in the text, will become philosophy, will become poetry, in a passive but total infiltration' - Lisa Robertson, The Baudelaire Fractal
'&& sometimes th entire City / pisses me off'– Sean Bonney, Baudelaire In English
In Lisa Robertson’s first novel, The Baudelaire Fractal, her protagonist Hazel Brown wakes up one morning to discover that she has become the author of the works of Baudelaire, the iconic writer of Paris. Imagine if that happened to you.
Inspired by Hazel – and other writers reimagining favourite texts – we will seek other versions of ourselves to meet the city (and beyond) through the works of our favourites. We will practice writing through as a technique of self-discovery in a series of guided exercises and short readings to find out what the city wants of us, what the text wants of us, and who we might become in answer to its call.
Writers in all genres are welcome, and no prior workshop experience is necessary – just a willingness to play with form and to share a short piece by a writer you love with the group. We will drink tea, attend to our sensory experiences and conjure up some new versions of ourselves. Full details in agenda below.
Friday Evening Literary Salon
We'll listen to excellent readings, drink wine and get to know writers from Paris and across Europe in a friendly setting.
Further details will be made available nearer the time, including how to sign up to read and exact timings.
Ticket prices include wine and soft drinks.
There will be an optional dinner after the salon, which you will be able to sign up to separately if you want.
Saturday Morning Workshop - The Art and Practice of Flânerie: Writing in Paris’s Covered Passages
On Saturday morning, join us for a literary walk and generative writing workshop in the covered passages of Paris, led by novelist and poet Yara Zgheib.
“The arcades are houses or passages having no outside — like the dream…The true home of the flâneur is the arcade.”— Walter Benjamin
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.'— Marcel Proust
Together, we will wander through the glass-covered galleries, vestiges of the Belle Epoque, which, with their hidden cafés, mirrored storefronts, old bookshops, tiled corridors, and shifting light, have long belonged to the flâneur: the attentive walker, collector of details, and observer of human life. We will linger, observe, and write, using our attention, memories, and imagination.
Through guided prompts, short readings, and moments of quiet writing in different parts of the galleries, we will explore and practice the art of flânerie: write the rain on glass, the choreography of strangers and fragments of conversations, the found treasures in shop windows, and the feeling of being briefly, beautifully lost in a city.
Writers in all genres are welcome, and no prior workshop experience is necessary — just a notebook or your phone, and a willingness to notice what usually goes unseen (and comfortable shoes!) We will begin at the Galerie Vivienne and end in the Galerie des Panoramas, at the historic Bar des Variétés where, for those who wish, we will have a reading and lunch.
This will be a friendly and welcoming event - if you are planning on coming alone, don't worry.
We look forward to meeting you in Paris!
Friday
🕑: 01:00 PM - 02:30 PM
Welcome Lunch
Host: The EWS Team
Info: Join us for a delicious, homemade lunch and a chance to meet people before the event really starts. All food will be vegetarian and allergies and intolerances can be catered for.
🕑: 03:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Fingers In The Text : a new self writes the city
Host: Isabella Streffen
Info: Join us to make a rendez-vous with artist and textual flaneuse Isabella Streffen and explore how reading your favourites might lead you to a new self for writing the city (and more). Inspired by Hazel – and other writers reimagining favourite texts – we will seek other versions of ourselves to meet the city (and beyond) through the works of our favourites. We will practice writing through as a technique of self-discovery in a series of guided exercises and short readings to find out what the city wants of us, what the text wants of us, and who we might become in answer to its call.
Writers in all genres are welcome, and no prior workshop experience is necessary – just a willingness to play with form and to share a short piece by a writer you love with the group. We will drink tea, attend to our sensory experiences and conjure up some new versions of ourselves.
🕑: 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM
Literary Salon
Host: The EWS Team
Info: Join us in the salon to hear from a host of great readers from around Europe responding to our theme. You can sign up to read or just listen. Wine and light snacks provided.
🕑: 09:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Optional Post Salon Dinner
Host: The EWS Team
Info: We will write to you with details of this nearer the time, but for those who want, we will head out somewhere near to the salon for a delicious and affordable dinner.
Saturday
🕑: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
The Art and Practice of Flânerie: Writing in Paris’s Covered Passages
Host: Yara Zgheib
Info: On Saturday morning, join us for a literary walk and generative writing workshop in the covered passages of Paris, led by novelist and poet Yara Zgheib. Together, we will wander through the glass-covered galleries, vestiges of the Belle Epoque, which, with their hidden cafés, mirrored storefronts, old bookshops, tiled corridors, and shifting light, have long belonged to the flâneur: the attentive walker, collector of details, and observer of human life. We will linger, observe, and write, using our attention, memories, and imagination.
Through guided prompts, short readings, and moments of quiet writing in different parts of the galleries, we will explore and practice the art of flânerie: write the rain on glass, the choreography of strangers and fragments of conversations, the found treasures in shop windows, and the feeling of being briefly, beautifully lost in a city.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 22.38 to GBP 87.38
