Led by Gary Lee Kraut, editor of The Paris Vignette, our group and individual workshops attract budding and experienced writers from around the world who wish to share and improve their writing. Though we often work through the art form of the vignette, some workshop participants use the vignette as the launching pad for other forms of fiction and non fiction: short stories, novels, memoir.
Particularly interested in short-form writing with a strong sense of place, Gary created the Paris Vignettes Writing Workshop in 2014 with the goal of helping Paris-based writers develop fiction and nonfiction that didn’t rely on clichés for effect—a pitfall for many newcomers to Paris. It turned out that most of the workshop participants already knew better. In fact, most were long-term residents of Paris who also enjoyed writing about wherever they hailed.
The Paris Vignettes Workshop quickly evolved into a venue for practicing and developing the craft of writing vignettes of all kinds, without necessarily taking place in or having a relationship with Paris.
Whether gathering in Paris or via Zoom, whether in individual or group meetings, the workshop has over the years welcomed writers hailing from Ireland, England, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Israel, as well as native French who enjoy writing in English. We have held public readings to present some of the best work to emerge from the workshop.
There are currently three Paris Vignette Writing Workshop opportunities:
1. A 2-hour weekly group workshop. (There is no group workshop at this time, but feel free to contact us about joining and we’ll let you know when it starts up again.) Writers needn’t live in Paris since the workshop is always held via Zoom, even when we also occasionally meet in person. This workshop is held year-round with occasional breaks, more or less following an academic schedule. Participants pay 25€ per attended session. There is no obligation to attend every week, however a certain regularity is expected. If you’re a regular attendee, we ask that you give at least 24-hour notice if you are unable to attend. Irregular attendees are expected to let us know several days in advance if they plan to attend. Maximum 7 participants.
2. Occasional series of 6 workshops. These are held solely on Zoom as these workshops are especially intended for writers in North America though open to all. We meet two weeks on, one week off, so six workshops over eight weeks. The next such series will begin in spring 2026 on Monday evenings Paris time. The focus will be memoir vignettes as participants write about “moments that matter.” The fee is 180€ for the full course. Maximum 6 participants. One goal of these workshops is to complete a publishable vignette for The Paris Vignette by the end of the series.
3. One-on-one sessions with Gary. You can contact Gary at any time to arrange a series of one-on-one session in person (if in Paris) or via Zoom, beginning with an initial series of 4 sessions. If the writer is particularly interested in writing vignettes, then, among other goals, we can work on developing a publishable vignette for The Paris Vignette. The cost is 35€ per 50-minute session, i.e. 140€ for the initial 4-session series. After those initial sessions, individual sessions can be held however regularly you wish.
The Paris Vignette Writers Collective holds an annual reading to present some of the best work to emerge from the workshops of the past 12 months, along with the work of guest writers.
Participation in 5 workshops in a given year confers membership to the Paris Vignette Writers Collective for the year following the fifth participation and thus the right to submit vignettes for publication on this site. Participation and membership do not, however, guarantee publication. However, as noted above, the goal is for workshop members is to produce a publishable vignette if they would like to do so.
If interested in joining a group workshops/strong> or in arranging one-on-one workshop sessions with Gary (via Zoom or in person), send information about yourself and your writing (or your writing projects or aspirations) to him at editor@theparisvignette.com.