A salon is a gathering of stimulating people of quality under the roof of an inspiring hostess or host, partly to amuse one another and partly to refine their taste and increase their knowledge through conversation and readings, often consciously following Horace’s definition of the aims of poetry, “to please and educate” (aut delectare aut prodesse est).
The University of Arizona Salon Series, started by MFA students in 2006, does exactly that, building community by bringing faculty together with students to lecture on craft and professional development in an informal setting. (And though each event is both pleasing and educational, most of us don’t really know who Horace is, and sadly cannot speak Latin.)
Past Salons have focused on publishing, the creative process and sources of inspiration, flash fiction, the writer’s moral responsibility, and nonfiction freelancing.
