Paris Poetry Workshop
May 10 - 15, 2009
For the seventh year, the Paris Poetry Workshop will offer English-speaking poets from the U.S. and Europe the opportunity to come together for a week of intensive workshops, talks and readings. This is a chance to see and experience a side of Paris not readily accessible to the average tourist, and an opportunity to spend time in Paris as a poet among poets. Participants generate new work, hone their craft, offer feedback and support on one another's creative endeavors, make new friends and expand their literary horizons.
This year's Paris Poetry Workshop will once again kick off with a festive poetry potluck dinner in a private apartment in Paris's 19th arrondissment belonging to Marilyn Smith. Chez Marilyn will also serve as our headquarters throughout the week. The 19th is a vibrant, diverse and very friendly quartiere near the picturesque Canal St. Martin and the Bassin de la Villette, a few steps from the metro stop "Laumiere."
I'll lead the daily workshop sessions from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. every day, with a break midmorning for coffee and croissants. If weather permits, we'll wander down to the waterfront or to the beautiful nearby Buttes de Chaumont to do some writing together. We'll spend workshop time both generating new work and offering close critique of work-in-progress, so you should plan to bring with you some poems you're working on, and also plan to do lots of writing while you're in Paris.
We'll break for lunch at 1 p.m. -- there are wonderful and reasonably priced cafes right in the neighborhood, or it's always nice (and cheap!) to buy a baguette sandwich at a boulangerie and take it to the park ... Our afternoon break will be long enough to give everyone some time to write and relax, as well. There will be late afternoon sessions with poets and writers who live and work in Paris. Most evenings, there will be poetry readings and informal gatherings. Mid-week, we'll make an excursion to Roigny and spend a day there with Jeffrey Greene. The week will culminate with a public reading by workshop participants and then a gala farewell dinner.
The workshop is limited to 10 participants ...
In order to provide intimacy and intensity as well as attention to each person's writing, the workshop will be strictly limited to 10 participants.
Cost
The full fee will be the same as last year's: $895, with a $500 deposit due by March 15 and full payment due by April 1. The fee will cover all workshop activities, midmorning refreshments, and afternoon and evening lectures. It does not include meals, local transportation, air fare or lodging.
The fee in euros is 700 eu.
Travel & Lodging Arrangements
Many participants found wonderful apartments to rent (and share) last year in the immediate neighborhood of chez Marilyn. There are numerous websites that offer short-term apartment rentals in Paris. Marilyn has also informed me that there's a new complex just across the canal that has both a Holiday Inn and a youth hostel. Several of her friends have stayed at the Holiday Inn and she's seen the rooms. She says they're VERY nice, and only 99 Euros per night if booked in advance. Here are the links to both (both in separate wings of the same building):
Hotel: http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/
Hostel: http://www.hostelworld.com/
I hope that's enough info to whet your appetite! Paris is always gorgeous and exciting, but especially so in May. Please feel free to contact me with questions, and let me know soon if you can join us in Paris this spring ~
Cecilia Woloch
CeciWo@AOL.com
http://www.ceciliawoloch.com
To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget. -Arundhati Roy
This looks amazing!! Have you found a place to stay?
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited for you!!
xo,
A-