Faber & Faber

Friday 7th to Sunday 9th August 2009

Shakespeare and Company
37 Rue de la Bucherie
Paris

Course cost: £450 / €505 (inclusive of VAT)

Paris: Sense and Sensuality
with Erica Wagner and Helen Dunmore

Where better to pay close attention to the tastes and textures of writing than in Paris? 'The Inhabitants of Paris, who must be considered as a distinct People, are reckoned silly, that fool away their Time with gazing at everything,' wrote a M. Murault in 1726. Murault was 'a gentleman of Switzerland'; the Swiss being notorious for their clocks, we can perhaps forgive him for his notions of foolishness. For who can blame the Parisians for their gazing, given what they have to gaze upon? Rain or shine, winter or summer, the compact delights of Paris are a joy - and a challenge - to any writer.

Over the course of three days in Paris students will have the opportunity to explore the city from our base at Shakespeare & Co. Head down into the catacombs at Denfert-Rochereau, stroll beneath the arches of the Place des Vosges or along canal Saint-Martin and the Bassin de la Villette - come back to our workshop and describe where you have been and what you have seen. We will explore story and character through the setting of this extraordinary city; students may find it beneficial to think about locations they’d like to investigate in advance - suggestions will be offered but no guided tours, and the point will be to discover your own Paris.

'Life in the quarter,' Orwell wrote in Down and Out in Paris and London. 'Our bistro, for instance, at the foot of the Hotel des Trois Moineaux. A tiny brick-floored room, half-underground, with wine-sodden tables, and a photograph of a funeral inscribed credit est mort, and red-sashed workmen carving sausage with big jack-knives; and Madame F., a splendid Auvergnat peasant woman with the face of a strong-minded cow, drinking Malaga all day "for her stomach"; and games of dice for aperitifs; and songs about "les fraises et les framboises" and about Madelon, who said, "Comment épouser un soldat, moi qui aime tout le regiment?" and extraordinarily public love-making. Half the hotel used to meet in the bistro in the evenings. I wish one could find a pub in London a quarter as cheery.'
   
A city such as Paris is can never be pinned down by anyone’s pen - but there’s infinite pleasure to be had in the attempt.

The course will be tutored by celebrated writers, Erica Wagner and Helen Dunmore.

Course cost: £450 / €505 (inclusive of VAT)

Course places available: 12

The course includes:

•    Two and a half days intensive tuition by Erica Wagner (10am-5pm)

•    Half a day of tuition by Helen Dunmore on point of view and storytelling

•    A complimentary Moleskine® Paris City Notebook

•    A daily Parisian lunch

•    Regular coffee breaks

•    A Friday night reading in the bookshop by Erica Wagner followed by wine

•    A handy course pack including Paris recommendations

•    A special discount off Faber books purchased at www.faber.co.uk

•    Discounted rates on select Parisian accommodation*

* The Faber Academy is happy to suggest/book accommodation for participants. Please contact Patrick for further details

About the Tutors

Erica Wagner (www.ericawagner.co.uk) was born in New York City. She is the author of Gravity: Stories (Granta), Ariel’s Gift: Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath and the Story of ‘Birthday Letters’ (Faber) and Seizure (Faber). She lives in London where she is the Literary Editor of The Times.

Helen Dunmore is a poet, novelist, short story and children's writer. Her latest novel is Counting the Stars (Penguin 2008) and her latest poetry collection is Glad of These Times (Bloodaxe 2007).  Her work has been awarded the Orange Prize for Fiction, the Signal Award for Poetry, the Alice Hunt Bartlett Award, the McKitterick Prize and the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Silver Medal. She has also been shortlisted for the Whitbread Fiction Prize and the T. S. Eliot Prize, and her work has been translated into twenty-five languages. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a past Chair of the Society of Authors.

About Faber

Faber and Faber is the last of the great independent publishing houses in London. We were established in 1929 by Geoffrey Faber and our first editor was T. S. Eliot. Among our list of authors we are proud to publish five Booker Prize winners and eleven Nobel Laureates. We are particularly well-known for our unrivalled list of modern poets and playwrights, as well as for publishing writers of prize-winning fiction and general non-fiction.

About Shakespeare and Company (website)

The first incarnation of Shakespeare and Company was run by Sylvia Beach and was the centre for American and British writers in Paris during the 1920s, 30s and 40s, including Hemingway and Joyce. Most notably, it was first to publish Ulysses. Reopened in 1951 by George Whitman, the shop became popular in the 50s and 60s with writers such as Allen Ginsburg, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, Anäis Nin, Henry Miller, Lawrence Durrell, James Baldwin and Richard Wright. While still an alluring presence at 95, George has now handed over the reigns to his 28-year-old daughter, Sylvia, who is committed to fostering the literary life in Paris, notably through regular readings and literary festivals.

To Make a Booking

Contact Patrick on either patrickk@faber.co.uk or telephone +44 (0) 20 7927 3822.

Alternatively, write to:

Patrick Keogh
Faber and Faber Ltd
74-77 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DA

Places are strictly limited so book early to avoid disappointment.