Edinburgh Literary Salon

A couple of months ago, a writing friend of mine persuaded me to go along to the Edinburgh Literary Salon. Although it’s been running for six whole years I’d never heard of it before, and probably if I had would have been too scared to go along on my own.

The salon is run by the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature and meets once a month in the Wash bar in Edinburgh. It’s a great chance for anyone involved in the world of writing and books to come along and meet other like-minded people… with the added incentive of free wine!

It was even voted in the top ten of best literary haunts in Edinburgh by The Guardian!

All sorts of people go, writers, publishers, librarians, graphic novelists, teachers, there’s even the odd celebrity that pops up such as Nicola Morgan or Ian Rankin.

I’ve been a few times now and, although it’s still quite scary talking to new people, it’s also really good fun. I’ve met some very nice people, had interesting conversations, discovered a lot of talented writers and have got better at the dreaded ‘networking' thing.

The rule of the salon is to speak to at least one new person each time. The hard part for me is the initial wandering up to a stranger and just joining in their conversation. I’ve discovered that the majority of people are just as apprehensive though, and once you get into a conversation it’s not as scary as you first thought. Now that I’ve been a few times I’m starting to get to know more people, so there’s the added safety of speaking to a new person then finding a group of people you know and catching up. In between (and during) salons people interact on Twitter, so I’ve discovered a literary community I didn’t know existed a few months ago.

It’s great to have something like the salon in the city where I live, so if you’re in Edinburgh and you’re interested, come along!