Parisian Literary Salon

creating community through reading and discussing literature

March in London

Filed under: Upcoming Events — toby at 11:08 pm on Saturday, March 19, 2011

Parisian Literary Salon News

March 13, 2011

Spring struggles in; everywhere there are bursts and smatterings of energy and light—made more poignant as the buds are still shy, the air still biting.

Here is a former student of mine reminiscing:
The best part of winter in London is the morning when the candy-colored crocuses suddenly all pop out of the snow, and they look so incongruous and fragile, like they really think spring is going to come, and you shake your head and laugh bitterly because you’re thirteen and everything’s all dramatic.
(C. Harvey, 02.2011)

Even as I worry those buds have broken the surface too soon, they feed my hope. Believing in that energy, I am offering a variety of studies starting mid-March through May…hope you are able to join the dance.
1. March/April Short Story Salons
2. Frankenstein March 25th (Five Hour intensive)
3. The Divine Comedy continues…Purgatory (two spaces available) April 26th
4. Midnight’s Children starts May 5th (five week Salon; Thursday evenings)
5. Children’s Creative Writing Workshop (Start date and times TBA)

*To register for any of these, simply email me your choice and I will respond with registration details and opening notes.

Short Story Salons:
The many vacations and interruptions of March and April offer a good opportunity to consider the short story in its own unique form. This Salon does not require a long commitment; you may choose to do all or only a few of the listings. This study is ideal for those who would like to try the Salon…though quite a few of the Dante explorers may join us as we take a rest from our difficult journey through the Divine Comedy. The Salon is confirmed once six participants have signed up; each study is limited to nine participants (I will post updates on the Salon website—but sign up early to avoid disappointment!)

DETAILS:

· Each Salon costs 17 pounds per individual meeting (if you sign up for five, the cost is a reduced 60 pounds)

· Evening studies meet from 8-10 PM, afternoon studies meet from 12:30-2:30 PM

· Although most Salons list two works, I will always choose depth rather than breadth of coverage; in other words: we may get to both or may find one story requires our full attention. Either way, you will have considered two rich works…

· Most of the studies will meet in our regular Kentish Town space

· Most of the short stories are available on line or in anthologies. For a small fee (postage + copying) I will provide copies if needed.

This Salon will provide ideas about how to enter the short story, find your footing and how to use the tools provided by the writer to immerse yourself in this precise and complete world. We will look carefully at the creation of voice, tone, perspective and setting in the micro world of short fiction. Frank O’Conner suggests ‘…there is in the short story at its most characteristic something we do not find in the novel—an intense awareness of human loneliness’. I am interested to consider this proposal in our studies…is this true? Or is there something else that gathers this precise form into itself—something beyond the size and shape that makes the world of the short story unique?
Week One: “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin

21 March Evening

24 March Afternoon

Week Two: “The Dead” by James Joyce, “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver

29 March Evening

28 March afternoon

Week Three: A selection from Runaway by Alice Munro and MUD by Michele Roberts

11 April Afternoon

13 April Evening

Week Four: “Revelation” by Flannery O’ Connor and a Chekov—probably “The Misery”

19 April Afternoon

20 April Evening

Week 5: “A Distant Episode‘” by Paul Bowles and “The Liar” by Tobias Wolff
27 April Afternoon

27 April Evening

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