HALLIE EPHRON: I'm thrilled to report that I'll be teaching a 5-day master class on writing a mystery/suspense novel in (drum roll...) PARIS (31 May - 5 June 2026).
When the invitation to teach a master class at the 2026 WICE Paris Writers Workshop arrived, I pinched myself.
I present at a lot of writing confeence, but it's not often that I get to teach a really intensive, down in the nitty-gritties, week-long master class on writing with a group SMALL enough (max 12). With plenty of time for me to get to know the writers in the room and for them to get to know each other.
And Paris? Zoot alors!!
Then I scurried about making sure it was real... because, well, you know, sadly you've got to double and triple check everything that arrives via the Internet these days.
Turns out the Paris Writers Workshop, founded in 1989, is the oldest writers workshop in Europe. It's run by WICE ( Where Internationals Connect in English) which was started by a group of American expats back in 1978.
Earlier this week I caught up with Lorie Lichtlen, this year's workshop co-director. Thirty years ago, she came to Paris as a journalist and she's still there. More recently Lorie made her living writing for big businesses like Euro Disney.
Lorie has been coming to the Paris Writers Workshop since 2014, and fondly recalls the year she got to learn from Carol Shields (that same year that Shields won the Pulitzer).
She credits WICE for nurturing the creative nonfiction writer in her, and for introducing her to a community of writers.
She was delighted to talk about this year's faculty - six of us - and their first time offering a master class on writing mystery and suspense.
To say I'm looking forward to this would be an understatement! Because I *love love love* Paris. And my happy place is teaching.
The workshop will be held at the Paris College of Art, near the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées.
I'm hoping that some of the aspiring writers among our Red readers will be up for joining me in Paris. (No you do not need to speak French.)
And today's question: Do you have memories of Paris, or is it on your travel wish list?
REGISTER WICE Paris Writers Workshop - 31 May - 5 June 2026
https://wice-paris.org/paris-writers-workshop
Early bird registration until 2 March
PROGRAM
https://www.wice-paris.org/pww2026_program
PHOTO of the Arc de Triomphe By Kainet - Flickr: Arc de Triomphe HDR, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30352419
How wonderful, Hallie . . . this sounds amazing --- and in Paris! [No, I've never been there; of course it's on my travel wish list] . . . .
ReplyDeleteIt's *always* on my travel list, too ... even though I've been there several times. There's always more to experience.
DeleteCongratulations, Hallie! A writing workshop in Paris sounds like a dream. I’ve been to Paris and I remember having my first Kir Royal drink there. I just learned that there are more bikes in Paris now. We visited the Louvre and the musee d’Orsay.
ReplyDeleteLove the Louvre and the musee d'Orsay. And the museum with the Nicki St. Phalle sculptures frolicking in the fountain out front (the Pompidou Center).
DeleteHallie, that is going to be fantastic! Your lucky students... I've been to Paris several times - once on Bastille Day - but not for many years.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Edith. That must have been an interesting experience.
DeleteHallie,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you'll have a great time both on the trip itself and teaching the class.
However, Paris and/or France in general is not on my mythical list of travel destinations. It's just never held any draw for me. Probably something to do with the fact I was abysmal in French class in high school.
Yeah, well, it does help if you at least try to speak french. But travel time is precious, best to go where your heart leads.
DeleteHallie, that sounds absolutely fabulous. You are going to have a great time and what an experience for the ages! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteI was in Paris 50+ years ago. I was traveling through Europe with my school's art teacher and you can imagine how much she wanted to see. Unfortunately, I had eaten something at the train station when we left Switzerland that made me really sick. I think that by the day we left Paris, I could finally eat an omelet. We did go sightseeing and to the Louvres, but it wasn't fun like it should have been. I've not gone back.
Judy, you're reminding me of the time I got so sick, too, and ever since I've avoided eating any food dressed with mayonnaise that lures you in from a sunny window display. Raw eggs + sun ... recipe for disaster.
DeleteHow wonderful. And how lucky the attendees!
ReplyDeleteI've been to Paris twice and loved it both times and would love to go again, but on holiday, to see the art, although I have and refer often to your book, Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel.
That makes me smile... Thanks, Elizabeth.
DeleteI agree with Elizabeth -- how lucky your students will be!
ReplyDeleteI have never been to Paris. I studied French in high school and college and was dying to go back then. I didn't keep using the language, though, so I retain only a small portion of what I once knew. Over time, other places have eclipsed Paris in terms of desire to visit, but I do still hope to make it there at some point.
Oh, Susan, I do hope you make it. Find someone to go with!
DeleteSounds great for you, Hallie. Is it an all expenses paid gig?
ReplyDeleteMy experience with Paris is the airport enroute from Minneapolis to Naples, Italy. Not my favorite.
Oh, sorry to hear. It's paid, but I'm sure I'll exceed their reimbursement quotas, and looking forward to doing so.
Deletecongrats! Yes, I will be in Paris later this year. Always fun, always new and different things to visit.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
DeleteCongratulations Hallie! I love, love, love Paris and I plan to make another visit soon. My favorite thing was visiting the Louvre and Notre Dame.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I've gone in the past we've stayed just across the seine from Notre Dame. Such a great area.
DeleteBonjour Madame!
ReplyDeleteOh Hallie, I am so proud of you! Julie and I both think you’re a star teacher, and those 12 people are beyond lucky to have you for a week.
I am also jealous. Paris is my favorite city in the universe. And you’ll be there when the weather is perfect, sun shining and everything blooming. Please tell us more about the course, where you’ll be staying, and what is the one thing you’d like to do there that you’ve not done before. How’s your French? I discovered early on that if I attempted French, I’d get a response in English. This is because they are proud of their language and don’t like hearing it mispronounced and garbled!
We always have stayed in the 7th, close to a Metro stop and our favorite restaurant, le Florimond. If you get there, tell Laurent hello from Madames Mason and Weidman.
Do you think you might have room in your carryon for me?
A bientot
I WILL I WILL relay our bonjours... I'm already taking both of my daughters in my carry-on, Ann...
DeleteSuch exciting news! Zoot alors indeed! Wish I could be in your class.
ReplyDeleteI did some of the touristy Paris things with my family when I was 15 and loved it (despite being sick--we had a doctor come to our hotel, but that's a different story). When I was 21 and we were traveling in Europe after our overseas study in the UK, we planned to stay at a youth hostel outside Paris, but got into Paris too late to get to the hostel before it closed. We (4 students) were sitting on the floor in the Gare du Nord trying to figure out what to do, when a couple of young African-heritage men came over and talked to us. They knew a cheap hotel and walked us there and then met us for breakfast the next day. I haven't been back to Paris, although I spent some delightful days in Antibes more recently.
What a lovely story! Reminds me of the time my daughter broke down in Puerto Rico and had to thumb a ride, and my daughter stepped up to it fearlessly. "9 times out of 10 people would rather help you than kill you," she said. And isn't it lovely when that's proven right?
DeleteDo enjoy Paris and your class – of that I am jealous of the lucky participants. The closest that I have been to France is the French pavilion in Expo ’67, and it was quite boring – I was probably too young (16) and even then, noticed that they tried to put too much ‘stuff’ in it, meaning that you did not enjoy the highlights. I would, however, love to go on a French country tour with Rick Stein – cafes, market stalls, and shopping for fish on the wharf.
ReplyDeleteDO IT!!
DeleteHallie, so exciting! Enjoy teaching in Paris…Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteThanks, Elisabeth.
DeleteCongrats Hallie!! What a wonderful opportunity.
ReplyDeleteI've been to Paris a few times mostly with our daughter who speaks French so it was a lot of fun. Plus she had been living and studying in Paris the whole summer so she knew all the great cafes and restaurants. Such an exciting city and so much to see and do. I've also traveled to the Dordongne (sp) area and then throughout the Bordeaux wine areas, visited the Lascaux (ancient prehistoric cave paintings), the south of France and the Mediterranean coast area. So much to see. Another trip I'd like to go to the Brittany area of Northern France.
We've loved Normandy and Brittany and the part of France that bumps up against the Spain.
DeleteOH, so fabulous! YOu are the coolest. I love Paris, of course, and I always remember the light. The light is just so different. ANd everywhere you go there is something gorgeous, or historic, or infinitely chic. Or delicious. SO perfect.
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason why they call it "the city of light"
DeleteHallie, how exciting! WICE is a wonderful group, you'll love them!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Victoria - you'll have to tell me all about how you know...
DeleteCongratulations! Paris is new every time. I spent the month of September last year in an apartment on the Ile Saint-Louis, the home of an American ex-pat writer, in fact! As often as I've been there, there's always more to explore, discover, and relish.
ReplyDeleteThere's an ice cream shop on the Ile Saint-Louis.... I wonder if it's still there.
DeleteSo excited for you, Hallie! And lucky students, who get to soak up your amazing knowledge of writing mystery and suspense. And to soak in the lovely, lovely City of Lights; I hope you will be able to extend your trip a bit so you can spend some time just being a tourist, too.
ReplyDeleteWish I could be in two places at once, because Paris is one of my favorite places to visit--isn't it everyone's? Not ten minutes ago, though, I was wrestling with air timetables, trying to book our trip to Portugal and Spain around that same time. Middle daughter and her partner, plus his parents, have invited us to join them for the last 100 km of the Campo de Santiago. The men will be walking the pilgrimage route, and we women will provide support services, carrying the luggage from place to place en route. I am hoping to be fit enough by then to walk at least one leg. A Cincinnati friend moved to Portugal about 9 years ago, and I'm also hoping to get to see her at some point. But the biggest draw is to get to know the boyfriend better, and his California family for the first time.
Typical midwestern attitude the women provide food and schlepp the luggage while the men are free to have fun. I am sure your daughter is fit enough to walk the entire course.
DeleteHire someone to do the support services!
I love Portugal! It's the one place in that part of the world that still reeks (in a good way) or old fashioned charm. Tile roofs, decorative chimneys, kitchen gardens... not nearly as industrial feeling as Spain.
DeleteWhat a fantastic trip! I love how almost every place we go in southern France has medallions in the ground indicating they are part of the Camino. I would definitely love to do some of that, and circumnavigate Mont Blanc , and do more of the South West Coast Path in Cornwall, and . . .
DeleteHi Karen. I've read a number of books on the Camino walk and from what I've read some routes are very difficult. I think I'd rather load suitcases into a van and drive around!! Haha.
DeleteWow, what an opportunity! Our high school in Harrisburg PA years ago established an exchange with a private school in Paris and I was asked to be in the steering committee. As part of that venture I was fortunate enough to spend a week in Paris getting to know the French steering committee. Truly an amazing experience!
ReplyDeleteOh, Emily - sounds like the experience of a lifetime. Travel truly is edifying.
DeleteCongratulations, Hallie! You'll be fabulous. Never been to Paris.
ReplyDeleteThere's still time!!!
DeleteDoing a happy dance for you, Hallie. How spectacular! Lucky students... I spent some months in Paris in the fall of 1977 -- a genuine lifetime ago, but the memories of wandering the streets, popping into museums and galleries, coffee at a table in those ubiquitous cafés, crèpes from the guy making them on the spot on the street corner...all of it. Unforgettable and life-forming...
ReplyDeleteWhat a great description, Amanda - my memories of our first trip are similar... plus croissants the way croissants are supposed to taste.
DeleteWe have a French restaurant in our town which owned by a Parisian couple who actually have croissants flown in every Sunday. OMG they are the best.
DeleteIm sure you know about Shakespeare and Company. I've read stories about this quirky bookstore. I'm sorry I missed it last time I was in Paris. I think the best part about Paris is the baguettes!!
ReplyDeleteNovember, 1997 - we came over through the Chunnel, our first trip to Paris. It was rainy and atmospheric and we stopped in a cafe while waiting for Shakespeare & Co to open. My husband didn’t drink coffee at the time, so he ordered hot chocolate. He had no idea that this would involve assembling his drink from a pitcher of molten chocolate, one of hot milk, some sugar. He has been chasing that experience ever since. We will be there for a couple of days in March, so here’s hoping.
ReplyDeleteI was last in Paris in 2019 for work. A co-worker took me to her favorite restaurant, Chez Janou, where for dessert they would bring out a tureen of chocolate mousse and you could serve yourself as much as you wanted. Not sure if they are still doing that after COVID, but it was delicious.
Omg just stop!! Haha. You had me at molten chocolate.
DeleteHallie, would like to know more about the set up. Where do you stay? Do you speak French. If not I assume those signing up for the class are primarily English speakers. Will you have a chance to do some travels before or after the classes? Hopefully you'll do a trip report with lots of restaurants, cafés and of course gelato/ice cream shops.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Hallie! That is quite an honor. And Paris! I've never been, but maybe someday.
ReplyDelete