LETTER FROM PARIS: THE OTHER WRITERS' GROUP

SUICIDES, CEMETERIES AND SEXY SENIOR CITIZENS

The bookshops of Paris

Sarah Dallas, Cities editor of Economist.com, samples a workshop for aspiring writers at Shakespeare and Co., a socialist utopia masquerading as a Left-Bank bookshop (or possibly the other way round) ...

From our arts blog, MOREOVER

SHAKESPEARE & Company, the famously ramshackle Anglo-American bookshop on the Parisian Left Bank, is more than just a place to pick up a paperback. It is a bohemian hub once frequented by Henry Miller, Allen Ginsberg and AnaÃ¯s Nin, the Paris equivalent of San Francisco's City Lights bookstore. Besides rare editions, second-hand books and the latest literary phenomena, the store holds regular workshops for aspiring writers.

One such group is "The Other Writers' Group", which gathers every Saturday in the bookshop's library. To reach this room, you must walk to the back of the shop, past a coin-filled wishing well, turn right at the old piano and clamber up the creaky wooden staircase to the first floor, where bookshelves threaten to topple at every turn. At the top of the staircase, someone has created a tiny writer's den, a closet-sized cubby-hole that is open to anyone who cares to write in it. The tiny library is just opposite.

On a recent Saturday, the writers' group huddled in this oak-beamed, musty room, with books crammed into every crevice. David, a young British writer with spiky black hair, was in charge, and about eight people had brought a piece of writing to share. A dishevelled Italian girl with a rucksack read out her story first, looking decidedly jet-lagged. She had just flown in from Tokyo, and planned to spend the night at Shakespeare & Co, perhaps on the very mattress she was sitting on.

There are beds and sleeping bags tucked away all over the shop: in between bookcases; hidden behind curtains, doubling up as sofas. The shop's owner, 91-year-old George Whitman, provides a bed for the night in return for a few hours' help in the shop. He sees Shakespeare & Co as "a socialist utopia masquerading as a bookstore". About 50,000 people have slept here since it opened in 1951.

The Italian girl's story turned out to be a morose reflection on suicide. When she finished, everyone looked thoughtful, and an unspoken question hung in the air (was it autobiographical?). Suddenly there was a sound from the corner of the room, where an elderly man had been sitting quietly on his own, hunched over a history book, apparently oblivious to all around him. "When does this library close?" he called out to no one in particular. "It's open until midnight, but you can join our group if you like, and critique," offered someone. "Oh, you wouldn't wanna hear my critique," grumbled the man, and returned to his book.

Next up: a plump blonde American woman in her late fifties, whose fast-paced romp transfixed the room. Her plot involved sex-crazed senior citizens, the French porn industry and a famous cemetery. It bubbled with confidence, and no one was surprised when she revealed herself to be a published author. Half-way through, a nervy young man in his 20s appeared and perched on a chair near the door. He was an unpublished poet, and with just a few lines--delivered in a deep Southern drawl--he recounted the death of his grandfather. It was terse, spare and brilliant.

After the reading, there was a short writing exercise, and then everyone ambled over to a nearby café to swap notes and discuss the next "Spoken word", an open-mic poetry session in Paris's trendy 11th arrondissement.

The Other Writers Group is just one of the weekly writing classes held at Shakespeare & Co. 27 rue de la Bucherie, Paris 75005. Tel: 33 (0)1 43.25.40.93. Open: daily, noon-midnight.