The End (for now). Fifteen years makes a good full stop.
Dearest Salonista,
You, better than anybody, know all about the importance of endings - good stories need good endings. We’ve all sighed through a book that went on for fifty pages too long. Or wished for just one more chapter. Endings are not easy. In life, we rarely get to choose them. But I feel that now - after fifteen amazing years and over a hundred fabulous events with hundreds of incredible writers and a pioneering podcast and a spin-off TV show - is the right time to say: The End.
And, most importantly, thank you.
Books are just sleeping ink and paper – they need readers to bring them to life. That’s what you’ve done for Salon. You’ve been the life and soul of every party, since our very first night, in a glorified cupboard at Shoreditch House in 2008. We’ve popped up all around the world from Sydney to São Paulo, from Motherwell to Moscow, with iconic partners including British Airways, the British Council and the Women’s Prize. We’ve appeared on stages large and small and, once, memorably, in a field.
You’ve always been there listening and thinking. You are the very best readers. And some of you aren’t bad at writing either.
Hosting Salon for fifteen years has been the purest joy. It’s made me laugh and cry and often a messy combination of both. It has enriched my reading immeasurably and given me a writing life I could never have imagined. But my own books stubbornly refuse to write themselves. I’ve got a play on the way and a novel to finish then a memoir to start - I’m delighted to be joining Canongate Books, who will be publishing both of these! My next novel is a big gay Scottish love story, as you ask. At this point in my life, I need to do what every single of one our guest writers has done and make time for my own writing. I hope you get the time you need and deserve for your own creativity, whatever form it takes.
I’ll be answering your questions and sharing gorgeous memories on the Salon Insta and Facebook at 7pm GMT on Friday 15th September. I look forward to seeing you.
Salon didn’t start with a plan. I just wanted to share my love of books - I always will. Charmed by the Salons of Paris, presided over by mavens like Madame Geoffrin, I longed to rekindle their spirit. To offer the thrill of unveiling new art, of finding kindred spirits and sharing thoughts across a crowded room.
Back in 2008 it was just me. Now, Salon is a team of eight talented people - they are behind all the great stuff you enjoy. I’m so grateful to them all, past and present. And to Vanessa Xuereb at Soho House for giving us our first chance. Salon invigorated book events based on that old - but still revolutionary - idea of intimacy, of a community gathered around a story in a room, if only for one night. We could keep going but I don’t want to keep growing – I never set out to run a business: I prefer stories to spreadsheets (shocking, I know). And it’s time to make space for other voices, other rooms.
I believe that everybody has a story and that stories are for everybody. Whether it’s memoir or fiction or poetry or something in between. Whether it’s a boldface blockbuster or a slender volume in translation, I prize voice over celebrity, style over fashion and storytelling over all else. I know a Salon book when I pick it up. You do too.
I wasn’t sure anybody would come to the very first Salon.
But folk arrived, perching on every piece of furniture then spilling on to the floor. That night, Katy Guest made a tragically good case for Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Jenny Colgan wanted nothing to do with the term ‘chick lit’. So, I put on another night. The nice people on the door had to turn folk away as Susie Boyt donned ruby slippers for her memoir My Judy Garland Life. And Sam Leith made us all fall in love with John Berger. After that we got a bigger room.
In that (long gone) room with the big green couches at Shoreditch House, David Nicholls previewed One Day and I matched my jumper to the colour of his proof copy (an indeterminate green-grey, nicer than it sounds). It’s where Colm Tóibín told us all to ‘just write yer f*cking book’, Diana Athill scandalised in the poshest tones imaginable and Taiye Selasi held us in her hands. John Waters evacuated us all when the fire alarm went off during Maggie O’Farrell and Polly Samson made us see that Perfect Lives are anything but. It was there I did my first shaky reading from Maggie & Me.
Then, Salon bounded up the Spice Girls stairs to The Ladies’ Smoking Room at the St Pancras Hotel. There, Armistead Maupin made us all cry for Mrs Madrigal, David Mitchell spooked us with The Bone Clocks and Alan Johnson revealed his ambitions lay with pop not politics. Years of stories whooshed by then suddenly we were on top of the Mondrian Hotel. There, overlooking the Thames, Aminatta Forna showed us how to load a gun, Cathy Rentzenbrink broke us with The Last Act of Love and our beloved Diana Athill made her final public appearance.
From 2016 to 2019 we combined two of our favourites: wine and books, hosting A Book and A Bottle. Supported by Corney & Barrow, we did live tastings with writers including Ian Rankin and Jessie Burton matching their books with fine wines. I can still taste The Miniaturist.
In 2016, Salon crossed the river to the storied Savoy and that big, beautiful ballroom. Susan Calman, Maggie O’Farrell, Garth Greenwell and Joan Bakewell joined our very first night. Later, Yaa Gyasi opened the door of no return with the UK premiere of Homegoing, Rose McGowan confronted a truth uglier than any lie, and Tracey Thorn took us to suburbia where dreams are made. Here we were joined by our insightful in-house bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud, who prescribes fiction to help with life’s problems – her book, The Novel Cure, is essential. It’s also where I debuted my novel You Will Be Safe Here - Kirsty Wark interviewing me just after she launched The House by the Loch. That ballroom glittered, our guests sparkled and you did too.
At the Savoy hotel, Salon caught the eye of IWC Media who tweaked our format for TV. The Big Scottish Book Club is now in its fifth series on BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer.
And then the world was in lock-down. To keep us all connected, the Salon Team pioneered a whole new kind of event. Continuing our long tradition of world premieres, Douglas Stuart joined us online for the first reading from Shuggie Bain, Russell T Davies dried our eyes after It’s A Sin, helping raise funds for Terrence Higgins Trust, and Dolly Alderton was haunted by Ghosts. We supported Book Week Scotland with a special featuring Len Pennie, Courtney Stoddart and Alan Cumming.
To make the conversation even richer, I invited Guest Hosts to host Salons. The brilliant Sam Baker spoke with Kate Mosse about her memoir on being a carer, the superb Alex Clark interviewed Marian Keyes and Jojo Moyes and the fantastic Alexandra Heminsley did an exclusive with Paris Lees. Heminsley launched two memoirs with us and her first novel, The Queue, is out now – it’s a real treat.
Lockdown still isn’t over for many people. But, after restrictions ended in 2021, I finally fulfilled my dream of living with books when Salon took up residency at the venerable London Library. Miriam Margolyes and Mohsin Zaidi made our first event there a joyful riot. Most recently, Jenni Fagan joined us for the premiere of her heartbreaking memoir Ootlin, a night nobody who was there will ever forget.
I finally decided in Spring that Edinburgh would be our last hurrah. It wasn’t easy. And I wanted to tell you all right away. But, as ever, our gorgeous guests deserved to be centre stage: Monica Heisey, Hollie McNish and Michael Pedersen brought the house down. We talked about loneliness and love, Wilfred Owen and Ed Sheeran, Schitt’s Creek and Cat Princes. We considered the impact of AI on storytelling, wondered about the space between memoir and fiction and raged (as we so often do) about who gets to write. It was generous and funny and thoughtful. And packed with folk like you.
In a sleepless world, you have given us your time and attention - trusting us to introduce you to new writers, new books and sometimes even new friends. To mix established and emerging voices and to always get the drinks right. You helped turn an idea for a ‘book night’ into a community that cares deeply about stories and the people who make them.
So, again, thank you.
Fifteen years feels a nice full stop.
We’ll keep the Salon podcast live as a sort of archive, although it’s incomplete - I didn’t even have a microphone to start! Our podcast is another happy accident - we only started it for folk who couldn’t get in. Then, in 2016, I invited Naomi Alderman back with her new book The Power. She couldn’t make it but offered to send a reading. And so, Book of the Week was born.
Since then, we’ve featured hundreds of world firsts. It’s where Candice Carty-Williams launched People Person, Joanne Harris gave the first glimpse of Broken Light and Max Porter wowed with Shy. It’s been a boon for new voices: Eliza Clark debuted Boy Parts, Krystle Zara Appiah gave us Rootless and Carrie Marshall dazzled with Carrie Kills a Man. We’ve got listeners on every continent, thanks to British Airways flying our podcast around the world. I’ve always admired and adored LitHub and was thrilled when they partnered with us to take our podcast to the USA.
Our podcast requires a lot of reading and listening and editing and that’s down to the taste of our Head of Creative Partnerships Matt Casbourne and the acumen of our Editor Megan Bay Dorman. Thank you to them and all the persuasive publicists and marketing folk for sharing the books they love and, of course, all our guest writers.
We know indie bookshops do so much for readers and writers on the high streets they anchor and in the communities they celebrate. So, since 2018, we’ve profiled an outstanding indie every month, from Ireland to Australia and all around the UK. You’ll recognise Megan as the host of our Insta Lives – every month she takes us behind the shelves of a different shop. We’ll keep championing indies and the libraries and librarians we owe so much.
I’m incredibly grateful to each and every member of the Salon team past and present for their dedication and care - most especially Kirsty Milner and Rosie Chipping. Thank you: Amy Very for our world-class website, Bakul Patki for all the media-wrangling and Daisy Honeybunn for taking pictures I’ll treasure forever.
And, to each and every one of the hundreds of writers who have trusted me with their words - thank you, thank you.
I’ll still pop up on your radio and TV. If you want to keep up with me and tell me to get on with writing the books I promised, you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter or sign up for my personal newsletter here.
The End (for now).
With love and thanks. Happy reading.
Your Salonnière,
Damian Barr.