At the end of 2024, AUP proudly announced its newest graduate program: Europe’s only two-year, interdisciplinary Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. Led by Co-Directors Amanda Dennis and Biswamit Dwibedy, the innovative program invites students to hone their skills in storytelling across genres, with courses in Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction, and a hybrid workshop, all taught in English.

While exploring the cross-genre, boundary-expanding curriculum designed to foster creative exploration and growth, MFA students will also be deeply immersed in Paris’ storied Anglophone literary scene, finding numerous opportunities to discover the work of renowned global writers or to present their own work to an enthusiastic audience. Here are just some of the opportunities on offer in Paris: 

Double Change

Founded in 2000, Double Change is where French and American poetry meet. Guided by both French and American editorial boards, the highly esteemed organization invites poets from both countries to read at the monthly bilingual Double Change Reading Series, held in an artist workshop, Atelier Michael Woolworth (2, rue de la Roquette, 75011). Such distinguished writers as Claudia Rankine, Ben Lerner, Bhanu Kapil, Alice Notley, Etel Adnan, Peter Gizzi, and Eileen Myles have read at the Double Change Reading Series.

Ivy Writers Paris 

Established in 2005, Ivy Writers Paris is a monthly bilingual experimental poetry reading series curated by American poet Jennifer K. Dick and held upstairs at Delaville Café (34-36, boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, 75010). For each event, Ivy Writers invites two or three international and well-respected authors to read their own work in their native tongue, with the majority of the poets reading in English or French. The evenings begin with a drink at the downstairs bar and conclude with an invitation to dinner for whomever would like to join, thus fostering conversation and community.

Paris Lit Up

Since 2012, Paris Lit Up has hosted a weekly Thursday open mic night at the historic Culture Rapide bar (103, rue Julien Lacroix, 75020), where French Slam Poetry was born in the 1980s and which still hosts the International Slam Festival each May. The evenings officially start at 8 p.m., when visitors of all languages and levels are invited to sign up to read their work for a maximum of five minutes. The performances begin around 8:45 p.m. and include a featured published writer who reads for 30 minutes. Since 2013, the organization has also published an annual literary journal, Paris Lit Up Magazine.

Spoken Word Paris

SpokenWord Paris hosts an eclectic open mic night each Monday (excluding August) in the basement of Au Chat Noir (76, rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011). Participants sign up with the hosts upstairs in the bar from 8 p.m. on, and the performances begin around 8:45 p.m. Over its many years in existence, the Monday open mic evenings have become so popular—and crowded!—that the readings occur in three rounds with two breaks in between. Amidst the five-minute performances of poets, songwriters, comedians and storytellers, a featured guest writer is invited to read for 15 minutes.

Shakespeare and Company

When globally renowned authors—like Emmanuel Carrère, Catherine Lacey, Lauren Elkin, Ottessa Moshfegh, and Nobel Prize-winning novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah—visit Paris on international book tours, they will often arrange a reading at beloved English-language bookshop Shakespeare and Company (37, rue de la Bûcherie, 75005). American George Whitman opened the shop in 1951 in a 17th-century former monastery, and later changed its name in honor of American bookseller Sylvia Beach, founder of the original Shakespeare and Company. In its first iteration, dating from 1919 at 12, rue de l’Odéon, Sylvia Beach’s famed shop is where the Lost Generation expat writers—such as James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound—gathered and supported each other. Staying true to its original spirit, the second iteration of “Shakespeare & Co.” was a hub for such expat writers as Anaïs Nin, Henry Miller, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, James Baldwin, Richard Wright and Julio Cortázar. Continuing its storied legacy, the bookstore hosts a lively series of readings and book signings by some of the best writers working today.

The American Library of Paris

The American Library in Paris, established in 1920, regularly hosts Evenings with an Author, in-person conversations with international scholars, intellectuals, authors and artists, such as Barbara Kingsolver, Rachel Kushner and Kwame Alexander. Held at the library (10, rue du Général Camou, 75007), in-person events are free to the public—and also recorded live on Zoom—but require that you sign up early to reserve a seat. Having survived World War II and the Great Depression, the library has a rich history of supporting the American and French literary landscapes; the first evenings with an author program hosted such celebrated French writers as André Gide and Colette, while Edith Wharton, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Thornton Wilder and Archibald MacLeish served as early trustees and patrons. Currently the largest English-language lending library in Europe, it still holds true to its motto, “Atrum post bellum, ex libris lux” (“After the darkness of war, the light of books”), bringing literary luminaries and events to Paris.

After 8 Books

An independent bookstore and publisher with a hip, young crowd, After 8 Books (7, rue Jarry, 75010) hosts readings, events, and book launches of experimental contemporary writers, poets, artists, and musicians. Visitors will find art books, zines, books by queer and trans authors, events like the Paris launch of NYC-based literary magazine Heavy Traffic, and readings hosted by independent presses like Ugly Duckling Presse. International and rooted in questions of art, culture and theory, After 8 Books has hosted such writers as Dennis Cooper, Constance Debré, Ariana Reines, Robert Gluck and Lyn Hejinian.

The Red Wheelbarrow

An Anglophone bookstore just across from the Luxembourg garden, The Red Wheelbarrow (9-11, rue de Medicis) now operates three storefronts, including a bilingual children’s bookstore called The Red Balloon. Owner Penelope Fletcher named her shop after the famous modernist poem by American poet William Carlos Williams, which was originally published in France in 1923. Having first operated in another location from 2001 to 2012, the bookshop re-opened in its current location in 2018. An official partner of AUP’s MFA in Creative Writing, The Red Wheelbarrow hosts readings by local and international authors alike, including Colm Tóibín, Rachel Cusk, Deborah Levy and AUP alumna Lindsey Tramuta.

Mnemosynes

Founded in 2024, making it the newest addition to Paris’ collection of Anglophone reading series, Mnemosynes is a quarterly event hosted by American poet Carrie Chappell. One or two Anglophone poets are invited to read from their work in the intimate space of natural wine shop and bookstore Rerenga Wines (3, rue de la Fidélité, 75010), followed by a conversation with the writer.

Eager to explore the abundant literary scene in Paris, while sharpening your writing skills? AUP’s MFA in Creative Writing is currently accepting applications for the inaugural class, which will begin the program in Fall 2025. For more information or to prepare your application, please visit the program page.