A couple months ago a good friend and fellow poet asked me if I would do a reading in his home with another writer friend of his named John Griswold. John is, among other things, a staff writer at the Common Reader: A Journal of the Essay, at Washington University in St. Louis. He has just published a book entitled The Age of Clear Profit which he read from on the night of our reading. (A very interesting read, by the way!)
I was excited and flattered and feeling just a little but out of my league by the invitation (alas, my side of the book table was empty…) but despite my nervousness, I recognized the beauty of what was happening. Inside this home in Urbana, a large room full of people sat in an eclectic mix of chairs in rows before a grand piano, fully present and excited to hear the work of two local(ish) writers! It was a wonderful experience.
Not surprisingly, John wrote a piece about the evening . He dubbed the event a Salon, an old tradition of people gathering in homes for the purpose of discussing literature or politics or art. Although it wasn’t that exactly, we were encouraged to bring finger foods and/or drinks and to linger afterwards to talk and I would venture to say that most of the conversations were about writing. In any case, I’m in complete agreement with him. Bring back the Salons! I think it’s a tradition that would serve all of us well as we come out from our Covid shells craving community and intellectual/creative stimulation.
