1 May 2012
A salon is a gathering of people held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase knowledge.
(Wikipedia)
I am delighted to invite you to our 13th Peirene Salon on Saturday, 16th of June at 7.30pm. Our star guest will be Peirene author No 8, Denmark’s leading writer Pia Juul. She will be in conversation with writer and journalist Melissa Benn. Dinner, wine and whiskies will be served.
Exactly three years ago I opened our house for the first Peirene Salon. Since then, every four month we welcome 50 book lovers – readers, writers, critics, artists, Peirene fans. Some of the guests I’ve known for a long time, some I am meeting for the first time (anyone can come, but please book online). Together, in our front room we have listened to leading European authors, such as Büchner Preis winner German Friedrich Christian Delius, bestselling French author Véronique Olmi and Austria’s most critically acclaimed author Alois Hotschnig. We have heard readings by outstanding UK poets - Jacob Polley, David Harsent, Robin Robertson - and admired the brilliance of English writers, such as Sophie Hannah and Sarah Hall.
We are now taking our successful Salon on the road.
Peirene at Home. If you live in London, you can book us for an exclusive, tailor-made literary hour in the comfort of your own home. The Nymph and I will curate an hour-long event, based on your choice of a Peirene Series and arrive at your house with wine and cheese.
Peirene Occasion. Do you want to throw a party with a special twist? Or would you like to entertain your work colleagues and clients in a literary fashion? We will curate an exclusive Peirene Salon evening for you. We will arrange the attendance of an author, organise live background music, set up a buffet dinner and select the wine.
‘’We are all consumers of fiction but rarely have the chance to interact with the creator of the images that can fill our heads. Not knowing quite what to expect, I gathered my London team for a social evening hosted by the Peirene Press …We all arrived thinking we had a novel inside us, and left with a novel as a gift and a much greater appreciation for the craft involved. Definitely an event to remember. ‘’ Andrew Clark, Vice President, Booz & Co
If you would like further information about “Peirene at Home” and “Peirene Occasion”, please contact me.
In the meantime, here are our May events:
European Literature Night, May 16th, 6.30pm – 8.30pm at the British Library: with Peirene’s Danish author Pia Juul (No 8, The Murder of Halland) and many more leading European authors from Hungary, Germany, Poland, France.
Peirene Coffee Morning: Tuesday 29th of May, 10am-11pm: At our next Coffee Morning at Hightea in Highgate we will give you a taster of The Murder of Halland. No need to book. Entry free.
Hay Festival, 4th June, 8.30pm: Lisa Dwan takes her triumphant performance of Veronique Olmi's 'Beside the Sea' to Hay – if you missed it last month at South Bank Centre, catch it in beautiful Walse.
Our Roaming Store will be on Crouch End Broadway, outside Budgens Friday 11th May, Friday 25th of May and Saturday 26th May, from 10am – 4pm.
A note to our subscribers: The Murder of Halland by Pia Juul, translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken, will be sent out to you this week. The book will be in bookshops in the middle of June.
Best wishes Meike