London Writers' Salon

Translator, performance artist, writer, and educator Haleh Liza Gafori on translating Rumi with fidelity and music, and what his poetry can teach us about liberation, attention, and love.
You’ll learn:
Habits Haleh uses to re-centre and get quiet enough to work. 
How she learned to trust sound and rhythm first, and let meaning arrive through the ear. 
The moment she realised she needed to make her own translations, and what triggered that decision. 
A simple test for “is this translation working?”, including why one wrong image can flip the whole poem. 
Principles Haleh uses to keep translations clear, musical, and emotionally true in English. 
What an editor can mean by “find your voice,” and how to develop a consistent voice as a translator. 
How to work with old texts honestly, including naming what doesn’t align with your ethics today. 
What Rumi can teach modern readers about attention, ego, and compassion in daily life. 
How love shows up in Rumi as a discipline, not a vibe, and why that matters in hard times. 
What Haleh is building next, and how teaching can deepen (not dilute) your creative practice. 
About Haleh Liza Gafori:
Haleh Liza Gafori is a New York City-born translator, performance artist, writer, and educator of Persian descent. A 2024 MacDowell fellow, she has translated the poetry of the Persian mystic and sage Rumi. Her book of translations, Gold: Poems by Rumi, was published by New York Review Books in 2022. Her second volume of translations, Water: Poems by Rumi, was released in 2025, also by NYRB Classics. Supported by an NYSCA grant, Gafori has created a musical and cross-media performance based on the book, and has presented her work through performances, lectures, and workshops at institutions such as Lincoln Center, Stanford University, the Academy of American Poets, and Sarah Lawrence College. Her book of translations Gold has been incorporated into curricula at universities across the country.

For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.
For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.
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Writer and editor Mason Currey on what artists’ routines can teach us about focus, discipline, procrastination, and building a sustainable creative life.
You'll learn:
What led Mason to writing, and the early pressures that shaped his relationship with the work.
Why he started Daily Routines as a side project, and what he was trying to solve with it.
The moment the blog went viral, and what changed when an audience arrived.
What it took to turn a quote-collecting blog into a book, including the research and structure behind it.
Why routines work best when they’re personal and flexible rather than prescriptive.
Ideas for protecting your best hours, including Nicholson Baker’s “double morning.”
The difference between physical routine and creative routine, and why both matter.
A realistic way to design an hour of writing, including what to do when “nothing happens.”
What Worm Zooms are, and why “small progress” can be a powerful creative philosophy.
The question underneath every routine: how artists make time for the work while paying the bills.

Resources and Links:
📑Interview Transcript
Nicholson Baker Books
Making Art and Making a Living by Mason Currey 
Daily Rituals by Mason Currey
Daily Rituals: Women at Work by Mason Currey
Worm Zooms
Death in Venice by Thomas Mann 
Mason’s Substack

About Mason Currey
Mason Currey is a writer and editor living in Los Angeles and the author of the Daily Rituals books. In addition to compiling the Daily Rituals books, Currey was a design-magazine editor for ten years, working as the managing editor of Metropolis, the executive editor of Print, a senior editor at Core77, and the programming chair for the 2015 Core77 Conference. His freelance writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, and Slate, and he has delivered talks on the creative process to high school and college students, writers’ groups, and the partners of the design consultancy IDEO. Currey is currently writing a new nonfiction book and sending out a fortnightly newsletter on routines, rituals, and wriggling through a creative life.

For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.
For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.
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FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON
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Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon
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Debut novelist and 2023 Reese’s Book Club LitUp fellow Allison King on blending history with magical realism, and what it takes to build a writing life while navigating the modern publishing landscape.

We discuss:
Allison’s early relationship with stories and the role her grandmother played in shaping it.
The path from fan fiction and short stories to publishing a debut novel.
The dual timeline and braided structure of The Phoenix Pencil Company, moving between WWII-era Shanghai and contemporary Cambridge.
Building a magic system at the heart of the novel, and why its consequences matter more than its mechanics.
Pragmatic outlining and structural tools (including reverse outlining) for managing timeline-heavy drafts.
Researching family history without turning the book into an autobiography.
Writing about Alzheimer’s with care, and what Allison learned in revision about emotional precision.

Resources and Links:
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
Redwall by Brian Jacques
The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King 
Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia 
LitUp Fellowship
Once Upon a Time in Dollywood by Ashley Jordan 
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
A Tale For the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki 

About Allison King
Allison King is an Asian American writer and software engineer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In technology, her work has ranged from semiconductors to platforms for community conversations to data privacy. Her short stories have appeared in Fantasy Magazine, Diabolical Plots, and LeVar Burton Reads, among others. She is also a 2023 Reese's Book Club LitUp fellow. The Phoenix Pencil Company is her first novel.

For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.
For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.
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FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON
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Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon
Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon
If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

Neuroaesthetics researcher Susan Magsamen and Google design leader Ivy Ross on creativity as a biological necessity, intuition, and the aesthetic mindset for a good life.   

You'll learn:
Habits that Susan and Ivy turn to when they need to re-centre.
What Susan and Ivy are trying to change in the world with their day jobs. 
The beginning of Susan and Ivy working together.
Clear evidence that proved to Susan and Ivy that their work was needed.
Advice for using your intuition to be more creative.
How a writer might find their voice.
Questions to ask yourself if you’re writing a similar book to Your Brain on Art.
Principles that Susan and Ivy use to help them live a good life. 
The link between nature and neuroaesthetics.
The transforming power of journaling.

Resources and Links:
📄Interview Transcript
Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us
Website
Neuroarts Resource Center

About Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
Susan Magsamen is the founder and director of the International Arts + Mind Lab, Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she is a faculty member, and she co-directs the NeuroArts Blueprint. Ivy Ross is Vice President of Design for hardware product area at Google, leading an award-winning team, and is also an arts grant recipient and recognised creative leader.

For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.
For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.
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FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON
Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon
Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon
Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon
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Poets Mary Jean Chan, David Whyte, and Anthony Anaxagorou read their work and unpack emotional truth, craft choices, and poems built from lived detail.  
You'll learn:
How early “bad” poems can still be soothing and give you a way through angst. 
Why simplicity of voice can beat complexity when a poem needs clarity. 
How form and layout can carry a poem’s physicality, including a modern sonnet’s constraints. 
How to face writer’s block by writing directly about the ways you can’t write. 
Why repetition works in live readings, helping the audience “hear” what just landed. 
How to mine notebooks for strong lines, then iterate through multiple drafts and edits. 
A simple morning practice for capturing overheard language until you find where the poem starts.  
Resources and Links:
Mary Jean Chan: maryjeanchan.com
David Whyte: davidwhyte.com  
Anthony Anaxagorou: anthonyanaxagorou.com
Our full episode with Mary Jean Chan, #170: https://podcast.londonwriterssalon.com/episodes/170-mary-jean-chan-emotional-truth-in-contemporary-poetry-imagery-juxtaposition-and-finding-the-right-form
Our full episode with David Whyte, #32: https://londonwriterssalon.simplecast.com/episodes/032-david-whyte-poetic-imagination-the-way-of-the-poet-PdTckwKE
Our full episode with Anthony Anaxagorou, #12: https://podcast.londonwriterssalon.com/episodes/012-anthony-anaxagorou-push-past-self-doubt-and-think-like-a-poet-fHa8ehM1

About the poets:
Mary Jean Chan is the author of Flèche and Bright Fear (Faber), and their work has won and been shortlisted for major prizes. 
David Whyte is a poet and writer whose books include Consolations and The Bell and the Blackbird, alongside ongoing poetry and speaking work. 
Anthony Anaxagorou is a poet and publisher, founder of Out-Spoken, and author of After the Formalities and Heritage Aesthetics.

For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.
For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.
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FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON
Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon
Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon
Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon
If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!