Der European Writers Salon (EWS) wurde mit der Idee ins Leben gerufen, Schriftsteller*innen aus ganz Europa zusammenzubringen und deren Vernetzung, Kollaboration und gegenseitige Unterstützung untereinander zu fördern. Was mit einem einfachen Tweet begann, hat sich schnell zu einer gemeinschaftsorientierten Initiative mit großen Plänen für die Zukunft entwickelt. Mit Veranstaltungen in mehreren europäischen Städten und einem wachsenden Netzwerk will EWS ein Gefühl der Zugehörigkeit und Inspiration für Schriftsteller*innen in jeder Phase ihrer Karriere schaffen. Im Vorfeld der kommenden EWS Open Mic Night, die am 27. März in der Lettrétage stattfinden wird, sprachen wir mit Deborah Zafer, der Gründerin und Leiterin von EWS, über die Vision hinter diesem aufregenden neuen Projekt und darüber, was für die Zukunft alles noch geplant ist.
What inspired the idea to create the European Writers Salon and ultimately got the ball rolling?
Once a year in the US they have a huge writing conference called AWP and every year I (Deborah Zafer) have watched it from afar and felt jealous of the opportunity those writers had to meet and connect across different states. I really felt we should have something similar in Europe. Last year, I sent a tweet asking if anyone else felt the same and got hundreds of responses.
A group of us met and decided to start something for writers in Europe to connect. Now we have a Management Committee, and a Steering Group of 20 from all across Europe. I think this speaks to a shared desire to have a real and genuine community – not just an online one.
The past annual salons took place in the UK and Brussels. Are you intending to bring these type of events to other European countries?
Yes! We are in London in April, then we hope to be in Paris and Madrid later this year. Next year we plan to be in Copenhagen, Venice and Madrid (and other places tbc). We will visit a different city every year for our main Annual Salon and also host pop-ups every few months like we are doing in Berlin.
We’ve had such a great response to Berlin that we’d like to come back here again in 2026 too – if you want us back!
Your vision is to connect writers all throughout Europe and support and encourage them at all stages of their careers. How do you think can the connection and exchange between writers positively influence their (creative) processes and craft?
This isn’t an easy time to be a writer or creative of any kind. Our belief is that community, connection and friendship can sustain us all on our writing journeys – which can often be lonely. We want to create new conversations that will then lead to new ideas, collaborations, partnerships and writing. We also strongly believe in a European wide conversation about writing and literature – especially now.
As online platforms become unreliable, we feel that community is even more important. We want to build one that is stronger than any platform.
How do you expect will the EWS continue its work and develop in the future? Are there any set goals and/or aspirations?
We have huge plans for EWS! We will be visiting a lot of cities over the next five years, continuing to grow our online offer (including our regular online salons, a new book group and other exciting ideas), and we will keep growing our community and responding to what they want from us.
Our events will offer the opportunity to hear from established authors who are leading conversations and thinking around European literature, and also platforms for new and emerging writers.
Our aim is that ultimately, it will seem like we were always here. We hope that as a result of our events, new work will be written and lasting friendships will be made.
What can the audience expect from the Open Mic Night on March 27th? How many writers will present their work and what are their backgrounds?
We hope to host a very fun and informal evening. Our hosts will be Katherine Plumhoff and Barbara Diggs from EWS. They will introduce twelve writers who have signed up in advance to read – a mix of poets, prose writers, fiction and non-fiction, and different genres. Some are from Berlin and some have traveled from afar to come.
Once all these writers have read, there may be time for others to take the mic depending on how much time we have. We will write to people on the waiting list and invite them to come prepared in case there is time for them to read.
We hope that we will hear brilliant words and that between our readings there will be lots of time to meet, talk and make new friendships and connections.
We are also organising other opportunities to meet on Weds 26th and Thurs 27th for those who are interested – do get in touch with us contact@saloneurope.org if you’d like to know what we’ve got planned.
We can’t wait to meet you all.