Friday: The party last night was superb. It had everything. Beautiful location, delicious food, lots of drink, interesting live music. Friendly guests. It was painful to leave. But I have had to get up this morning, pack and prepare to fly to Paris. Up before the alarm goes off. Shave, shower, shampoo, pack and dress. Go down for the last breakfast. Guillaume joins me briefly and reports suffering from a major hang-over. Amy and Michael McClure wander in and sit nearby. We exchange waves and smiles. They fly today to Naples.
Go back to the computer room and check email
Sit in the lobby and chat with Mollye, Hannah and Guillaume. Michael March appears and he is busy with the departure of writers to London, Paris, Copenhagen, Athens, Naples. Busy also with the accounts. He must report every penny that is spent to the various sponsors. I think this year’s festival has been a great success. By almost any criteria one selects to judge it. Stimulating writers discussing relevant subjects. Excellent encounters. A theatre full of individuals all who seem pleased and excited to be present. Delightful parties where even the audiences have been invited to stay and participate. I think Michael, Vlasta and his their team have every right to be pleased with their efforts. I certainly enjoyed every minute. The Hotel Josef has been an oasis in every sense of the word.
At some point a taxi is found for Natalli Gorbanevske, Susan Reynolds and yours truly. Quick goodbyes. We pile inside and speed towards the airport. Susan and I talk on the way about how she came to be a Librarian. She flies to London. Natalli and I fly to Paris. So does Stavros Petsopoulos.
At the airport, quick check-in and clear passport and security controls and head for the boarding area. There is a delay, but soon in the air and on the way to Paris. Encounter Stavros when we land and we agree to share a taxi into Montparnasse. Discover that Natalli also lives nearby, but she decides to go on her own. Stavros and I have a good long talk about the Prague Writers’ Festival, about a number of friends in Athens and elsewhere, about my Sunday salon, about publishing and the Frankfurt Book Fair. He says he will stay the weekend in Paris and try to come to dinner on Sunday. I am the first to be dropped off. Stavros will not let me contribute to the taxi fare. Thank him and tell him that he is a guest on Sunday night..
It has been one hell of a week. I am exhausted but still excited by it all. I will miss the Hotel Josef (especially the breakfast feasts). I will miss the daily contacts with stimulating minds. But I suspect that a number of the new friendships will continue and that everyone will journey to Paris in the coming weeks and months. One of the best reasons for living in Paris is the constant flow of interesting individuals who pass through and the many who stay here in my atelier as house guests.
Thank you, Vlasta. Thank you, Michael. Thank you, Guillaume, Hannah, Mollye, Helena. Thank you, PJ. Thank you, Hotel Josef. Thank you, Guardian. Thank you, Czech Airlines. Thank you, city of Prague.

read the blog on the Prague Writers' Festival Website