The Salon is born! Long live The Salon!
22 writers from Europe walk into a bar...
Dear fellow European Writers,
What happens when you bring 22 writers from all over Europe together in a beautifully renovated building in the most culturally vibrant neighborhood in Brussels? Food, drink, readings, writing, and lifelong friendship, for starters.
We’ve just returned from our first Mini Salon, and we’re still swooning over how wonderful it was. More on that below, as well as forthcoming salon events and our usual rundown of useful links. We also have another exciting competition!
For more information on us and to find out more about who we are, visit our website.
As ever, if there are things you’d like us to share in future, please let us know.
Our Very First Mini Salon in Brussels
Last weekend, 22 writers (and one dog) headed to Brussels to try out our as-yet untested model of descending on a European city for a weekend of writing, connecting, exploring, eating and drinking.
Activities included a literary salon, writing session, planning for 2025, coffee tour, literary readings, dinners and a tour of Brussels.
Friday night
The salon began on Friday with a cocktail hour at Full Circle, the aforementioned beautiful venue. Writers who had previously only spoken online suddenly found themselves in a room together, and much hugging, wine drinking and book exchanging ensued.
After the cocktail hour, we heard readings from the group. From flash to novel excerpts to historical fiction, the readings were varied and inspiring.
This was followed by drinks and supper at the iconic Cafe Belga, a bar and cafe in the heart of Flagey. 10/10 cheese croquettes.
Saturday
Saturday started with a tour of Brussels with Brussels by Foot, which included a chocolate tasting and ended in the beautiful Grand Place.
We met back up at Full Circle for lunch, a tour of the venue, and a planning session. Deborah’s brilliant brainstorming activities made sure everyone was included, and we left inspired by the possibilities for next year’s event.
In the evening, we met for drinks at Pepete & Ronron, followed by a leisurely dinner at Cocina Chatelain.
Sunday
On Sunday morning, the group met for a coffee tour and reading from Mark Bowles’ novel, All My Precious Madness, out this month from Galley Beggar Press. Then we strolled to nearby park for a guided writing session.
The final word
As organizers, we couldn’t have asked for a more open-hearted, enthusiastic and kind group of people to join us for this new adventure. Truly some of the most wonderful creative people. We can’t wait to see them again.
Here’s some feedback from our attendees:
‘It was one of the best single-shot weekends I’ve ever spent in my life. No joke.’
‘A wonderful heart-warming weekend…..My heart is full.’
‘Every moment has been wonderful. The perfect weekend with the loveliest people.’
‘Well-organised, varied, inclusive.’
Special thanks to organizers Katherine Plumhoff and Barbara Diggs, whose meticulous planning made this weekend such a success.
Next up
Booking for our next Brussels event will open in January and will be limited to 80 places. As a remider, our first main salon will be in Brussels, with subsequent salons in cities all over Europe. Watch this space for announcements. We hope you’ll join us!
October Online Salon
When: 7 October at 7:00 CST (6:00 GMT)
Where: Online via Zoom
We are hosting our next online salon on 7 October. This is now sold out but if you want to join the waitlist, please book in here and we’ll let you know if a place comes up.
Granta Giveaway Competition
We are delighted to offer one reader the chance to win a Granta Tote Bag and a free copy of the current edition Significant Other which includes writing by J.M. Coetzee, Mary Gaitskill and more.
To enter, please follow us on X @saloneurope or on Instagram at @salon_europe and follow the instructions when they’re posted. NB only open to those in the UK and Europe due to postal costs. Apologies to our friends elsewhere. The competition is open until 30 September for anyone who subscribes on Substack.
Our Cultural Life
Featured European writers
Tom Vowler is an award-winning author living in the UK. A university lecturer with a PhD increative writing, his work has featured on BBC radio and been translated into multiple languages. His 6th book, The Trajectory of Ghosts is a collection of flash fiction, and he’s working on a memoir. Find him @tom_vowler on X. At Friday’s salon, Tom read this story which was first published in Ink, Sweat and Tears. He also won the prestigious VS Pritchett Prize with this story.
Nora Nadjarian is a poet and writer from Cyprus. Her work was included in Europa28 (Comma Press, 2020) and her short fiction has appeared, among others, in Sand Journal, FRiGG, Milk Candy Review, and Gone Lawn and was chosen for Wigleaf‘s Top 50 Very Short Fictions of 2022 (selected by Kathy Fish). Her most recent collection Iktsuarpok, which she read from at our online salon, is a book of (mostly) prose poems published by Broken Sleep Books (2024).
Events & residencies
Bergen
Join a Reading Group for Writers at Literaturhuset (The House of Literature) on 28 October - in English and Norwegian. Free.
Berlin
Fancy a writing retreat in Berlin? We (a married writer couple) have a spacious and airy 23-square-metre (247-square-feet) room with private balcony in our beautiful turn-of-the century flat available to rent to writers. You would have access to your own bathroom, and you’d be welcome to use the shared kitchen. Meals can be provided if desired. The room has a double bed with a brand new mattress, a desk, and space for clothes and books. The retreat could be self-guided or structured as you prefer. We would be delighted to organise writing and feedback sessions with you, and give you tips for exploring Berlin’s lively literary scene. The length of stay is negotiable depending on your needs. Please contact berlinwritersretreat@gmail.com for more information.
Brussels
Our partner Writers Festival Belgium are hosting their annual event in Brussels on 5 October with a fantastic and varied programme.
Passaporta is hosting a celebration of the life of James Baldwin on 21 October.
Cork
Cork International Short Story Festival is happening 16-19 October at the Munster Literature Centre.
London
A Write and A Pint are hosting a day-long writing session inspired by Freedom, including drinks and food in Finsbury Park on 28 September.
London Literature Festival takes place 23 October to 3 November at South Bank Centre.
Feeling fit? Literary London 7k run takes place on 4 and 5 October. Immerse yourself in London's literary scene with this unique 7k guided running tour. Starting and finishing at London Bridge, you'll see locations that inspired the works of Shakespeare, Dickens and other literary heavyweights
Paris
Minor Incident - an evening of readings and discussion of literature is on 12 October at Le Lieu Dit.
Lauren Elkin is speaking about her new novel Scaffolding at the American Library in Paris (online as well) on 16 October.
WICE (Where Internationals Connect in English) has some great writing courses this autumn including this sprint writing class on 9 November.
Competitions
2024 QuietManDave Prize open for entries offering £1000 for Flash Fiction and £1000 for Flash Non-Fiction. Deadline 25 October.
Scratch Books have launched an A4 Competition with the theme The Poet and The Echo. Submit a <1000 word story inspired by a verse or line from a favourite poem by 20 October.
That’s it for this month! Please let us know if you would like us to publicise your event, competition, happening, residency etc.
September highlights
This month we’ve enjoyed reading Permafrost by Eva Baltasar, set in both Barcelona and Brussels. A really good read about a young woman exploring her freedom and sense of self in relation to her family. This book is part of a trilogy written by the acclaimed Catalan poet.
We’ve enjoyed listening to the latest season of our Associate Director Eleonora Balsano’s podcase Chosen Tongue which explores the experience of being a translingual writer. In this season so far Eleonora has interviewed Aleksandar Hermon, Miriam Calleja and Grace Loh Prasad.
We’ve enjoyed seeing the exhibition Now You See Us Women Artists in Britain 1520 to 1920 on at Tate Britain until 13 October.
See you online soon!
A bientot,
The Team at Salon Europe