It all started with Gertrude Stein.
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'You are extraordinary within your limits,' she once exclaimed, 'but your limits are extraordinary!' Born in Paris, and always intrigued by the bohemian Parisian set, Celine took Stein's words and ran with them. Her love of French cabaret inspired what has become Celine's Salon, a 'literary cabaret' that features the best poetry, song writing, short stories and prose, and has been popping up on stages across London and internationally since 2016.
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The mission of Celine's Salon is to create a platform that nurtures new and established artists and offers the
audience an entertaining and enlightening experience. The audience at Celine's is loyal and warmly inviting. Nervous first-timers are encouraged to share their work and experienced performers get the chance to trial new material and experiment. Each event is unique.
Audience and performers together create a literary community that encourages creativity, championing the literary journey, from scrap of paper to published book. Performing to a live audience, with immediate feedback and support, inspires an artist to grow, enjoying freedom of expression in the bohemian sense and developing confidence in one's own voice.
The interplay of established writers and new writers allows genius in all its guises to flourish in a nurturing environment. Novices glean insights from published authors and accomplished professionals gain new inspiration. Literary foundlings are fostered and given a home. Networking abounds and, most importantly, the whole experience is fun.
Each salon has a chosen theme in which writers are encouraged to riff on a topic, opening up new avenues in their work. Whether it's The Seven Deadly Sins or The
Art of Laughter, the theme gives performers the chance to stretch their repertoire. No idea is out of bounds or
off limits. Something new is always possible.
Gathering at Celine's Salon means rubbing shoulders with experts in publishing or catching up with a charismatic raconteur. An early idea, that spark of inspiration scrawled on a beer mat, could one day become a best seller. Mentoring relationships formed at the salon have led to book and record deals, and many thousands of words of original content.
The friendships that have come out of the salon are invaluable. Everyone is welcome and treated equally, whether Booker Prize winner or hesitant, stammering newcomer. Snobbishness has no place and accessibility is a given. Celine's goal is to give everyone, whoever they are, a platform and a voice.
All are rewarded with the most entertaining of hosts. Singing The Lady of Soho, The Tidal Basin or Lord Butterfly, as she struts between tables and chairs to the delight of an entranced audience, Celine is true to the tradition of cabaret and music hall. Entertainment, grounded in raucous joie de vivre, is embodied by the host herself.
The heady combination of literature and performance in clamouring Soho, infused with a Parisian sensibility, is a one off.