This is the first of a three-part newsletter about the European Writers Salon. Next week’s email will cover a panel I was on about balancing writing and parenting. Part three will discuss my takeaways from the weekend when it comes to revising my novel. But first, let’s talk about meeting in person!

If I’ve been quiet in my newsletter recently it’s only because I’ve been busy with a series of Great Meetups™! For three weekends in a row, I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with and learn from my fellow writers. One of the main pleasures of organising my life around writing is meeting with people in person; it increasingly gives me a sense of belonging I’ve struggled to find elsewhere.

Great Meetup™ #1! One of my online critique groups held their annual in-person reunion. These guys are serious writers and fabulous friends; it’s so rewarding to continue to workshop novels I’ve been invested in for nearly two years now, and it helped me see a path forward for my own work too. (Several of them receive this email – hi!) Fiona and I hosted a special edition of our living room salon as part of the weekend, at which the wine flowed so freely our corkscrew broke. (Anyone got ideas for a sturdier replacement?)

Great Meetup™ #2! I attended Paris Lit Up’s IGNITE! Festival, which brought together Paris’s anglophone writing community. We’re lucky to have such an active scene. The Thursday open mic was full of familiar faces sharing newly published work, and the Friday showcase was brilliant for discovering even more new talent. I meet someone interesting every time I attend a PLU event. I’m writing this sat at one of their weekly write-ins, surrounded by other creatives.

Great Meetup™ #3! I’m such a fan of the European Writers Salon, which was founded a few years back by Deborah Zafer. Their events bring together fascinating, engaged writers from across the continent, eager to share and learn from one another. This was my first time attending their flagship salon, which this year took place in Madrid. I was so busy with a packed workshop schedule I barely saw any of the city! (Though I did manage a stop at the Desperate Literature bookstore – definitely worth a visit if you’re in town.)

What literary age are you living in?

The Madrid salon took the theme “The Age Of...”, asking attendees to consider the literary age we live in, both in terms of history and in terms of a writer’s responsibility to respond to it. Part of this included an exercise in which we were asked which age we are in personally – how would we define ourselves as writers and humans at this present moment in time?

As part of a keynote panel, a potential answer was offered by Yael van der Wouden, author of the spectacular Booker-nominated novel The Safekeep – which I devoured almost as enthusiastically as I did jamón ibérico. She spoke on the importance of returning to in-person gatherings – what she called dinner parties – as a way of combatting rising political division worldwide.

That’s the age I’m in then: The Age of Great Meetups™. Meeting in person is working for me! The Zoom calls of the pandemic feel further away than ever. If I’m discussing a friend’s story, I want it to be over coffee; if I’m discovering someone’s poetry, I want them to read it aloud. There are so many opportunities out there to share work with people in person, and deciding to pay more attention to that is the biggest recent change in my writing life.

Meeting the author often adds a new dimension to a piece; it makes me pay closer attention. The desire to improve my writing is essentially a desire to learn new ways to make sense of the world. When I hear someone talk about their own work, it reveals layers and ways of thinking I would never have uncovered alone; whether that’s Yael van der Wouden or a first-time poet at an open mic.

I’m pretty confident these days in the assertion that I’ll keep writing until I die. I wouldn’t feel myself if I wasn’t meeting people who are committed to self-reflection; who appreciate the importance of trying, even failing; who offer vulnerability and accept it in return. Writing is so often called a lonely pursuit, but that’s not my experience at all. Projects may be personal, but for me my writer’s life is increasingly social.

When I open myself up to the experiences of others, it makes me feel like I’m part of a literary conversation that extends beyond any one age. All of us are here, just muddling through, trying to make sense of things that seem nonsensical. The process feels so much easier when everyone’s in the same room.

What age are you in right now? What Great Meetups™ are helping you through? Hit reply and let me know!