Top Creative Writing Workshops in Paris

Paris offers many opportunities for creative writing workshops

Here you’ll find the best creative writing workshops in Paris, conducted in English

• WICE – Paris Writers’ Workshop

  

The Paris Writers’ Workshop is the longest-established English-language writing program in France. Choose from four writing courses in Paris taught by distinguished authors:

• Writing Novels led by Ayana Mathis
• Writing Short Stories and Novellas led by Nahid Rachlin
• Writing Poetry led by Marilyn Hacker
• Writing Creative Nonfiction led by Michelle Huneven

In addition to the morning master classes, the workshop will also include an expert panel, author readings and social events. Come improve your writing skills with guidance from accomplished instructors. Surround yourself with other writers who are working to elevate their craft. Immerse yourself in Paris, the city that has inspired authors and creative minds for generations. Other writing courses in Paris include Shaping the Short Story, Paris Vignettes, Travel Blogging in Paris, The Craft of Memoir Writing and Writing Your First Novel.

• Paris American Academy: study with professional writers

Join select students and professional writers for an intensive course in Paris. College credit is available for this hands-on writing program, with instruction in:

• Fiction
• Poetry
• Travel Writing
• Memoir
• Personal Essay
• Journal Writing
• Plays and Screenplays
• Presentation and Performance

In addition to taking French writing classes in Paris and participating in workshops, students will receive one-on-one consultations with professional writers, attend literary panel presentations, give readings in beautiful venues and receive survival French lessons in Paris. Between classes and tutorials, there will be ample time to experience the city, attend cultural events, visit museums, learn history, take day-trips to the countryside, read books, hang out in cafes, dance by the Seine, and make friends from around the world.

The Paris American Academy is located in the heart of the Latin Quarter, on the rue Saint Jacques, a block from the Luxembourg Gardens, and less than a mile from the Seine and Notre Dame cathedral.

• Paris Lit Up Drop-in Writing Workshop

Are you a writer? Have you written something that needs fresh eyes? Want some feedback on your work? Paris Lit Up has weekly Drop-in Writing Workshop. This feedback workshop is for any writers – poetry or prose – looking for eagle-eye editing and constructive group criticism of their work. The workshop is held every Saturday afternoon. Simply bring up to 2 poems or 5 pages of prose (in multiple copies, double-spaced, 12 pt. font) and our expert workshop hosts will guide the group through a careful reading and discussion of it. All participants will be encouraged to share their opinions on how the work reads, what thoughts it provokes, and to comment on it. Any style or form of written word, prose, poetry, scripts, essays, your English homework… if you can write it, we’ll read it. Come once or come every week, no commitment necessary.

Writing classes in Paris are conducted by Jason Francis Mc Gimsey, a professional writer and translator with a BA in Philosophy and an MA in Translation. He has published short stories and experimental prose in many publications including Today, Flashficiton, Through Europe, The Bastille, Belleville Park Pages. His translations (English, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese) have been published by Princeton University Press, Cambridge University Press, Semiotext(e), Einaudi Editori, Il Manifesto, Autonomedia and many others. The French writing course in Paris takes place at Berkeley Books of Paris, 8 Rue Casimir Delavigne, 75006 Paris (métro Odéon).

• Low-Residency MFA Writers Workshop in Paris

WRITE IN PARIS. The NYU Creative Writing Program has distinguished itself for over thirty years as a leading national center for the study of writing and literature, inviting promising new writers to work closely with a faculty of the finest contemporary poets and novelists.

That tradition continues with the low-residency MFA Writers Workshop in Paris, which offers students the opportunity to develop their craft under the guidance of internationally-acclaimed faculty—including Chris Adrian, Catherine Barnett, Mark Doty, Nathan Englander, John Freeman, Myla Goldberg, Aleksandar Hemon, Katie Kitamura, Nick Laird, Meghan O’Rourke, Matthew Rohrer, Helen Schulman, Zadie Smith, Darin Strauss, and Colson Whitehead—while writing and studying in one of the world’s most inspiring literary capitals.

Recent visiting writers and editors include Charles Bock, Olena Kalytiak Davis, Lydia Davis, Geoff Dyer, Percival Everett, Jonathan Safran Foer, Marilyn Hacker, Matthea Harvey, Edward Hirsch, Marie Howe, Ishion Hutchinson, Leslie Jamison, Etgar Keret, Hari Kunzru, Ben Lerner, David Lipsky, Dinaw Mengestu, Julie Orringer, Claudia Rankine, Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, Danzy Senna, Brenda Shaughnessy, Charles Simic, Tracy K. Smith, Craig Morgan Teicher, Michael Wiegers, and Rachel Zucker, among many others.

• Paris Writers Retreat

May 23 – 27, 2016. Story and manuscript development come alive at this acclaimed, professional workshop for authors of fiction, nonfiction, screenplays, plays and poetry. Develop your book, fine tune your manuscript, and perfect your writing in progress. Writers of all levels attend to generate new material, develop ideas, or shape their stories.

The Paris Writers Retreat is hosted by the Rohm Literary Agency and led by NY Times best-selling author and literary agent Wendy Goldman Rohm. Ms. Rohm’s conferences have  been held since 2002 worldwide, originally inspired by the series of honorary Masters Teas she presented at Yale University. At the conference, participating writers are guided through the creation process, fine tuning and perfecting their work – from the seed of an idea to a high-quality draft. The conference includes all sessions for five days and continental breakfast each morning. There is an optional networking soiree and group dinner each evening.

• Lucy Wadham

Paris-based British author, Lucy Wadham will now be offering creative writing and personal narrative workshops in Montmartre every Saturday morning. Limited to 10 participants, Lucy’s 3 hour workshops are designed to help you find your writing voice and build the confidence you’ll need to start and/or sustain your project – whatever it may be: short story, script, memoir, or novel. Knowing from her own experience how tough writers can be on themselves, Lucy has crafted her workshops to provide a nurturing but hard-working atmosphere in which you can build your confidence. Her personalised exercises and feedback will help you improve your technique and boost your motivation. The creative writing workshops in Paris take place in Lucy’s sitting room between 10h and 13h.