A Sunday morning in Oxford to read, write and discover what your French can become.
A small monthly workshop for adults from approximately B1 level to fluent and native French speakers.
You do not need a finished project or a brilliant idea. You arrive with a notebook, curiosity about words and the wish to spend real time writing. A literary text, image or object gives us a starting point; the writing becomes your own.
Not a grammar class. Not a performance.
The workshop is for people who want to make something with French: a scene, a fragment, a voice, an image, perhaps the beginning of a story.
Language questions can be discussed when they help a text become clearer or more precise, but nobody is comparing levels or counting mistakes. The shared work is literary rather than academic.
A clear path into the writing
We enter a theme
We begin with a short French-language text, an image, an object or a question. We notice what creates a voice, a place, a silence or a movement.
You receive an open prompt
It gives enough direction to begin without deciding the text for you. You may invent, remember, transform or move somewhere entirely unexpected.
You have time to write
Silence is part of the workshop. You can move beyond the first idea and allow a scene, fragment or voice to take shape.
We listen and continue
Reading aloud is optional. When a text is shared, we begin with its particular energy before a second prompt helps the writing deepen or change direction.
The room after someone has left
We read a short passage in which a room suggests a story without explaining it. We notice how light, objects and sounds allow the reader to feel an absence.
Your first invitation: Describe a room just after someone has left it. Do not name the person and do not explain why they have gone.
After the first draft, a second instruction introduces an object that contradicts what the reader thought they understood. You leave with a scene and a practical experience of suggestion, detail and point of view.
Different relationships with French can share the same table.
B1 learners
You can follow a discussion and write independently for a short period, even if your vocabulary and grammar are not perfect. The prompts give you a structure without turning the workshop into a test.
Bilingual or fluent speakers
You want a regular creative space in French, perhaps after years of using the language mainly for work, family or everyday life.
Francophone writers
You may be beginning, returning after a pause or already writing a larger project. The workshop offers a starting point, protected time and attentive readers.
Many forms are welcome.
- fiction, scenes and beginnings;
- memory transformed by invention;
- voice, dialogue and point of view;
- fragments, lists and short forms;
- places, objects and sensory detail;
- the distance between lived experience and literature.
Something written—and somewhere to continue.
- one substantial draft or several new fragments;
- precise feedback on what is already alive in the text;
- one or two possible directions for continuing;
- a literary extract or reading suggestion;
- protected time genuinely spent writing in French.
We begin with what the text is trying to do.
The aim is not to judge, diagnose or rewrite your work. Feedback may draw attention to voice, rhythm, scene, point of view, images, sensory detail or the balance between what is said and what remains open.
You are never required to read aloud. Listening is also a way of taking part.
You decide what enters the room.
Experience and memory may naturally enter a text, but this is not a therapeutic group and there is no expectation of disclosure. You can transform, disguise or invent—and you can leave personal material aside entirely.
The attention remains on writing and literature.
The first Oxford workshop is being prepared.
The format currently envisaged is a small monthly group on a Sunday morning, for approximately two hours. The workshop will take place in Oxford and will be conducted in French.
The first date, venue, group size and fee will be sent to the interest list before bookings open. You will then be free to decide whether that particular workshop suits you.
Joining the list is free and does not commit you to attending. It simply means that you will receive the practical details before the first workshop is announced more widely.
A literary space led by Olivia Quetier
Olivia is a French novelist, writing-workshop facilitator and teacher of French as a foreign language. She has many years of experience accompanying people who write from fiction, memory and lived material.
Her approach protects the singularity of each writer’s voice. The purpose is not to impose one model of literature, but to help each text become more fully itself.
Tell me what you would like to write.
The short form asks about your approximate level of French, whether you already write, the forms or themes that interest you and whether a Sunday morning in Oxford would usually suit you. You may answer in English or French.
Your answers will be used only to prepare the first workshop and contact you when the date, venue, duration, group size and fee are ready.
Before you join the list
Is this suitable if French is not my first language?
Yes, from approximately B1 level. You need enough French to follow the shared discussion and write independently for a short period, but perfect accuracy is not expected.
Will my French be corrected?
Language questions can be discussed when they help your meaning or your style. This is not a school-style correction class, and your text will not be reduced to a list of errors.
Do I have to read my text aloud?
No. Reading is always optional. You can participate fully by writing, listening and responding to the shared discussion.
Do I need to be working on a book?
No. You may be writing for the first time, returning after a long pause or already working on a larger project.
Is this a therapeutic-writing workshop?
No. Personal material is welcome if you choose to use it, but the workshop remains centred on creative writing, literary choices and the experience of the reader.