YA HIGHWAY ROAD TRIP - THE DREAM WRITING RETREAT

Over at YA HIGHWAY, this week’s Road Trip is a little more literal than past iterations.

The question is, Where is your dream writing retreat?

I think I’ve touched on this a little in past posts.  I’m one of those writers who believe that places inspire the writing – I mean, that’s the crux of INKROCK – so trust me when I say I’ve thought long and hard about where I’d go.  Also, considering its ninety eight year old founder George Whitman just passed away, a little tribute to what he gave to us is the least I could do.

Without hesitation, if given the opportunity, I would spend a month or two in Paris.  Specifically, the Latin Quarter, where I’d work, and even bunk for a while, at Shakespeare & Company, the little English bookstore just across from Notre Dame.  I’d drink wine, maybe even smoke a cigarette, and write in only the way one can write in Paris.

It’s the history, you see?

Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Stein.  The list goes on.  In their day, they all frequented that store.  In many respects, they still do.  Ernest Hemingway even goes to some length about what a resource it was to him in A Movable Feast.

Shakespeare & Company is just one of those places, you know?  It is literature.  It is prose.  They embrace it and they pride themselves on supporting the art of the word. 

If you’re a broke writer in Paris, they’ll put you up for free, provided that you work a shift or two.  Heck, when you’re there, maybe we can share a bottle of red and talk about the world.

Spike Jonze's MOURIR APRÈS DE TOI

If you’ve been following this blog, you might have seen me mention Shakespeare & Co., the Parisian bookstore that has made my bucket list of places to experience.  It’s a famous little store in the Latin Quarter that has hosted greats like Hemmingway and Fitzgerald.  And if you’re a writer, and happen to be in Paris without any money, you might find yourself lucky enough to be put up for a few nights, right in the store itself, provided you can pay for it with a shift or two in the bookstore. 

So I came upon this little short film by Spike Jonze that gives you an idea of what magic might unfold on the shelves while you sleep between them.  This is a truly amazing, beautiful film, an absolute must see.

I give you, Spike Jonze’s MOURIR APRÈS DE TOI (To Die by Your Side). 

Bookstore Bucket List

Salon.com compiled a list for “The World's Most Inspiring Bookstores,” and put together a slideshow (linked here) showcasing their fourteen choices.  They are in no particular order or rank, but some of the more interesting finds, I thought, included an ancient cathedral in the Netherlands now converted into a bookstore, a nineteenth century theater in Argentina, and an entire book town within the city of Tokyo - one hundred and fifty stores, not including mega-stores, and the major publishing houses all crammed into one district of a few streets. Unsurprisingly making the list is a personal favorite of mine, and holding position at the top of my own bucket list, Shakespeare & Co., Paris, France.

Here are Salon’s top fourteen, but definitely swing by their site and experience the slideshow.

1.         Daunt Books – London, England.

2.         John King Books – Detroit, Michigan

3.         Selexy Dominicanen – Maastricht, Netherlands

4.         Borges & Cortazar – Buenos Aires, Argentina

5.         Montague Bookmill – Sawmill River, Massachusetts

6.         Lello Bookshop – Porto, Portugal

7.         Jimbocho Book Town – Tokyo, Japan

8.         Shakespeare & Co. – Paris, France

9.         Argosy Books – Manhattan, New York

10.       Eslite – Taipei, Taiwan

11.       Powell’s Books – Portland, Oregon

12.       Azbakia Book Market – Cairo, Egypt

13.       Medival walled book village – Uruena, Spain   

14.       City Lights Bookstore – San Francisco, California

Did they miss your favorite?  Let us know!