Upcoming events

If you're looking for a little boost of your creativity and and hour of peace and quiet to just WRITE, we invite you to join us once per month to do just that. So bring your writing tools and meet us in front of the (BNL) National Library Luxembourg. Those who wish to do so can join us for a drink and a chat afterwards.

Practical information:
The meeting point is the entrance hall (near the couches). The writing will take place in the reading area. After we meet, we will proceed in silence in the reading area to one of the tables (most probably back of the 3rd floor).
More organisational details will be provided upon registration. 

Regular events

If you're looking for a little boost of your creativity and and hour of peace and quiet to just WRITE, we invite you to join us once per month to do just that. So bring your writing tools and meet us in front of the (BNL) National Library Luxembourg. Those who wish to do so can join us for a drink and a chat afterwards.

Practical information:
The meeting point is the entrance hall (near the couches). The writing will take place in the reading area. After we meet, we will proceed in silence in the reading area to one of the tables (most probably back of the 3rd floor).
More organisational details will be provided upon registration. 

Past events

About the venue: 

Onda is a café in the Gare-Petrusse area that offers organic and natural plant-based food as well as a fine selection of soft and warm beverages. It is easily accessible by public transport (tram stop: Place de Metz).

To support our venue, a minimum spending requirement (treat or beverage) is kindly encouraged for each participant during the event. After the event, you can also stay for lunch and a chat (please let us know in the event form in order to book the table). 

About the facilitator:

Of Maltese origin (b.1982), Karina Fiorini currently lives in France. Last October she won the London Independent Story Prize 2023 with the poem Sea major. Some of her poetry featured in Modern Poetry in Translation - Call the Sea a Poet: Focus on Malta (2023); PEN International / PEN Malta (2021); Scintillas - A New Maltese Writing Anthology (2021); and Les Cahiers Luxembourgeois (2020). 

Her poem La Moselle, an editor's choice, was published in Survival Anthology by Hammond House Publishing (2021) whilst Twelve Inky Years received a special mention by the International Welsh Poetry Competition (2018).  In 2022 her poem Habiba was highly commended by Joelle Taylor, a judge for the Ledbury Poetry Competition. Karina is currently consolidating her first poetry collection. She has a BA in Geography (Uni of Malta), a MSc in Sustainable Development (Imperial College & SOAS); a BA in English (Major) and Philosophy (Uni of London - Goldsmiths and Birkbeck). 

She works in the European public administration, and for over 10 years worked within the Maltese public sector in the environmental and sustainable development sphere. www.karinafiorini.com

A Writers Who Talk showcase is always an afternoon of friendship, food, and festive fun, and of course an opportunity for members to present their favourite pieces of creative work to you, their fellow writers, and friends.

The showcase will take place in Restaurant QoSQo Ville (Place d'Armes). The gathering will be in an upstairs room (lift available if needed).

One welcome drink is included in the ticket. A minimum spending for the event is required in order to privatize the space, therefore we encourage our guest to order lunch or drinks. All attendees are responsible for their own costs for food and extra beverages.

Readings are open to registered members of Writers Who Talk asbl provided they have renewed their 2024 membership before the event . If you are not yet a member of our asbl but would like to be considered, and also have the opportunity to present a piece of your creative work at the showcase, you may apply (no later than Friday, 15. January) for 2024 membership. Details: https://www.writerswhotalk.lu/membership.

For this last workshop of 2023, Writers Who Talk welcomes a guest from Romania, but do not worry - it will be conducted in English. Participants will however write in the language of their choice.

This fun and practical online bootcamp will combine exercises on dialogue and mise-en-scène to get your stories started and let that creative writing run free. The premise: everything is right in writing.

The bootcamp will be online via Zoom. The link will be provided to participants upon registration. Places are limited.

About the facilitator:

Adrian Teleşpan is a Romanian writer and journalist. In 2013 he published his first novel, The Cemetery, which soon became a Romanian best seller. The book currently waiting the attention of a gifted translator - one who will manage to recreate its wits and world-play in English - to turn it into an international success. His work has also been included in two anthologies.

Adrian is also known for his satirical column and the participation to Asia Express reality show. He is passionate about food (he's a big fan of slow cooking and "potatoes purée*), music, dance and spirituality. 

To end the year in good spirits, Writers Who Talk is inviting writers and friends at MUDAM for an in-person meetup. The museum entrance is free on Wednesdays evenings and the cafe is open up to 10pm.

We will meet at the entrance, then go to have a drink at the Cafe and talk about writing, creativity and exchange ideas.

Those who wish can do a tour of the museum which is free on Wednesdays. 

We are delighted to announce our Summer Showcase 2023. This year, the event will be in a new and exciting venue with which many of you are already familiar. 

A Writers Who Talk showcase is always an afternoon of friendship, food, and festive

fun, and of course an opportunity for members of the asbl to present their favourite pieces of creative work to you, their fellow writers, and friends.

The gathering will be in an upstairs room (lift available if needed).

The Showcase readings will start promptly at 12.00.

There is no cost for the showcase itself. The event is not catered, but food and drinks can be order directly from the restaurant. Menu: https://qosqo.lu/en/carte/

All attenders are responsible for their own costs for food and beverages.

Registration is open until 19:00 on  01. August, but as usual spaces are limited so we urge you to book early to avoid missing out. 

If you are not yet a member of our asbl but would like to be considered, and also have the opportunity to present a piece of your creative work at the showcase, you may apply (no later than Friday, 21. July) for 2023 membership.

We look forward to welcoming you.

A native New Yorker, Susan Alexander has lived in Luxembourg since 1989. She has had a non-linear career path that has included working as a professional musician, being ordained as a Presbyterian minister, heading derivative and fixed income research at a Wall Street firm, founding a web site and web application development company, and lecturing on snowdrops to Britain’s Hardy Plant Society. She holds a BA and MDiv in Theology and an MA and PhD in Human and Organisational Systems.

Susan is the author of twenty-three books, as well as short stories, film scripts, and three musical comedies. She enjoys writing about women who have led complex and interesting lives, their relationships, and the choices they have made. She is listed in the Directory of Luxembourg authors: https://www.autorenlexikon.lu/page/author/102/10203/FRE/index.html

We are delighted to announce our Summer Showcase 2022. This is the opportunity for members to present their work to fellow writers and friends and an opportunity to socialise.

The event will be held on Sunday 17. July from 12:00-16:00 at Café Villa (195 Rue de Beggen L1221 Luxembourg).

The restaurant/bar is opening exclusively for Writers Who Talk, so we will have the place with a lovely garden entirely to ourselves and enjoy a delicious buffet. The cost is EUR 25 per person, which will includes food. The number of places is limited and will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

Members of Writers Who Talk in good standing will have the possibility to read up to two pieces of their writing (the total reading time should not exceed 12 minutes per person).

We look forward to seeing you there.

Writers Who Talk - Winter Showcase

Sunday 30 January 2022 from 2-6pm online via zoom

Our Winter Showcase will follow the same format as the Summer one and provide an opportunity for members to share their work. 

Writers Who Talk asbl - Annual General Meeting

Tuesday, 11 January 2022 from 7-9pm CEMT - on Zoom. 

The AGM will look back on the work of 2021 and will offer a formal opportunity for members to share feedback and ideas. 

Before a film can get made, or even financed, we need a screenplay.

Writing for the screen is very different from writing a novel. The best argument is that many distinguished writers (Faulkner, King...) have failed miserably when adapting their books or writing original scripts for Hollywood.

Poetry focuses on the form, novels on the interior voice of the writer to stimulate the reader’s imagination, theater on dialogue and external conflict.

Screenplays are about visualizing the words.

A good screenplay is a tool to make a film in the long run. Great prose or long descriptions don’t make for better screenwriting... neither does long dialogue. It’s all about writing scenes that will work through visuals and sound.
“Less is more”.

In this workshop you’ll learn the most important basics of screenwriting:

• setting up characters so they jump out of the screen

• writing scenes that contain a goal

• finding dialogue that embodies your character without explaining the plot: “show, don’t tell”

• creating the main conflict that will launch the story

• finding the right situation to illustrate the main character’s conflict through their actions

Unlike most screenplay theories that simply cut the story into three arcs, Jacques' approach will be an organic way to build a story step by step so that the viewer will have an emotional experience.

“The movies are like a machine that creates empathy” Roger Ebert

===================================

BIO

Jacques Molitor was born in Luxembourg in 1980. After two years of medical studies, he enrolled at film school Institut des Arts de Diffusion (Belgium), where he obtained a degree with honours in 2005.

In 2008, Jacques co-wrote and directed With the Dust (“En compagnie de la poussière”). This short film about a failed gay romance, exploring the intersection of love and death, was screened in the official short competition Pardi di Domani at Locarno, as well as in numerous international festivals.

It is no surprise that Jacques’s first cinema documentary tackled similar themes. Sweetheart Come, which premiered at Festival du Film Francophone in Namur in 2012, explores marginalised sexualities in Luxembourg.

Jacques fiction feature Mammejong (2015) -a drama about a man-child who tries to sever the unhealthy ties that bind him to his mother - debuted at Max Ophüls Filmfestival 2015 in Saarbrücken and has since been screened in numerous venues like New Filmmakers NYC, Chicago European Union Festival and Francophone Film Festival in Rome.

For the small screen, Jacques co-created the RTL documentary series Routwäissgro (2015-2018), of which he directed four episodes.

He also co-directed the first season of successful Belgian RTBF series Coyotes in 2020 with Gary Seghers (“Ennemi Public”). From the 2nd of December, Coyotes will be available on Netflix.

Jacques is currently in post-production of his second fiction feature, Kommunioun, with the company Les Films Fauves. Alongside 19 other projects, the film was selected as part of Frontières 2017 pitch market in Montréal. 

Writers Who Talk Summer 2021 Showcase

Sun 29. August 2021 at 12:00 - 16:00 

Café Villa · Rue de Beggen 195, 1221 Luxembourg, District de Luxembourg 

Registration mandatory here.

Price: 20 euros

What makes people laugh? Why? And how can I harness this in my writing?

“Laughter is the sun that drives the winter from the human face”, wrote Victor Hugo. It lifts the soul and is a great leveller, as Victor Borge wrote: “Laughter is the closest distance between two people.”

But for many writers, what can be funny to us, may not be funny for our readers. Knowing what triggers laughter and applying this knowledge to our writing, can add a new dimension to our work and help us engage readers.

Whether you are writing to entertain or share an important message, there are no limits to the applications of humourous writing.

What is more, the stress and strain of the pandemic mean the world is looking for humour as a release mechanism. As teacher and stand-up comedian Dean Lewis says: “When the covid-19 measures ease, people will be crying out for comedy!”

This three-hour workshop developed by Jess Bauldry for Writers Who Talk asbl is aimed at creative writers who are newcomers to humorous writing. It will explain the key ingredients of laughter and will take participants through some techniques to generate humour and laughter in their writing. The workshop will focus on humour in character development, word play and exaggeration while giving an overview of the spectrum of humour and elements that can add humour to a text.

About the instructor

Jess Bauldry is a UK/Luxembourg national who has worked as a journalist for the past 15 years. She writes short stories and four years ago began a journey to inject more humour in her writing. Since then, she has been a regular performer of stand-up comedy in Luxembourg and abroad, has trained with American comedians Judy Carter and Dean Lewis as well as UK comics Sally Holloway, Jane Postlethwaite and Tired ‘n’ Tested’s Sophie McCartney.

Twitter @JessBauldry

Description

This workshop is about how to motivate creative effort, particularly (but not limited to) writing. It is based on the research done over twenty-five years with a host of successful artists on their implicit motives and their creative process.

Implicit motives are the nonconscious emotional drives that energize, select, drive, and direct patterns of behavior over time. They are your sources of emotional energy, and thus have a large impact on what you do. However, because they are not conscious, motives can act both to promote and to derail productivity.

The purpose of this workshop is to discuss the nature of implicit motives in creators, to help you identify your own motivation, and to discuss methods for taking best advantage of the motives you already have, and the creative styles you prefer. We can also discuss different myths associated with creativity, and how to use motives as a tool for creating compelling characters.

There is no one way to be a creator, and my own research backs this up, so we will discuss what helps you work best. As Kipling wrote: “There are nine and sixty ways/of constructing tribal lays/and every single one of them is right!” 

Biography

Steve Kelner is a motivational psychologist, assessor and developer of people, and a writer - not necessarily in that order. After seven years of research studying published writers, inspired by his wife, award-winning mystery writer and bestselling editor Toni L. P. Kelner (AKA Leigh Perry), he published the first edition of the book Motivate Your Writing!, which collected formal psychological research (as well as his own) into writing, creativity, goal-setting, and related issues into a practical work aimed at people who wish to increase their artistic productivity. In the 15 years since publishing the book, he has appeared at numerous conferences, coached and developed writers’ groups, and worked with individual writers and artists in other fields, and as a consequence updated the book and put it out this year in its second edition in ebook form, having done extensive editing and providing additional content based on the input and findings of other artists (including his two children, an animator and a musician). The new edition is available in various formats here. 

Kelner has himself published numerous nonfiction articles on leadership, competencies, assessment, development, and motivation, as well as short mystery fiction. He is working on a proposal called Climbing Everest, on how to evaluate top executive leadership and develop oneself to get there, based on his 30+ years as a practitioner and authority in leadership.

He is currently President of Ascent Leadership Networks, LLC, which develops leaders and organizations in ways that matter (ascent.net).

Practical information: 

Places are limited. The zoom link will be sent to participants one day before the event. 

Price for non-members: 10 euros.

The event is free for members of Writers Who Talk asbl who are already registered and in good standing one week before the event.

Virtual Bootcamp: Writing for Children

Join Luxembourg children’s author Isabelle Marinov for this online talk aimed at writers and readers on 20 February, from 10:30am-1pm.

Isabelle published two picture books in January 2021: “The Box Whose Head was Filled With Stars”, through Enchanted Lion Books, and “Leo and the Octopus”, through Templar Publishing. Her agent is also currently approaching publishers with her middle grade novel. Prior to that she has written a number of picture books and screenplays.

During this bootcamp, Isabelle will read from her books, talk about her approach to writing and the process of getting published. Plus, she’ll share some writing exercises that participants will work on during the bootcamp.

More about Isabelle here

This online workshop is aimed at writers of all levels. It is conducted in English and organised by Writers Who Talk asbl.

Participation is free for members of Writers Who Talk, and €10 for non-members. The zoom link will be sent to participants one day before.

Register here

Cancellations are possible via email at contact@writerswhotalk.lu. Reimbursements are only possible up to 17/02/2021.