Our Team
Chris Newens
President, Open Mic & Workshop Host
Chris Newens is a British writer and journalist, and the author of Moveable Feasts: Paris in Twenty Meals. A long time Paris resident, he regularly hosts both PLU’s open mic night and the Right Bank Writers Group. Likes a drink and a chat. Contact him directly via chris.newens@gmail.com
Yannick Forster
Treasurer
During the day, Yannick does maths of the abstract kind. To make up for a lack of poetry and a lack of numbers in that, during the evening he does the numbers for Paris Lit Up.
Claire Durand-Gasselin
Vice President, Editor, Workshop Host
Claire Durand-Gasselin is a bilingual poet and visual artist and a translator. Her poetry explores memory, rituals, and resonance with places. Publications of her work include A Shape Produced by a Curve (Great Weather For Media), the Revue Miroir, the podcast Mange tes Mots and the website Synapse International. She was the cofounder and artistic director of Mad Gleam Press, and is now an editor and workshop host for Paris Lit Up.
Raija K. Heikkilä
Co-Secretary, Editor, Open Mic Host
Raija Heikkilä is an Estonian writer and spoken word poet based in Paris since 2022. Her work has been published in Looming, Värske Rõhk, Vikerkaar, Edasi, Sirp, Poetry Trapper Keeper, and Aksolotl. She is working towards a doctorate in archaeology, and compiling her first poetry book. She is an editor for the PLU Gazette and the PLU Magazine. Find her on Instagram @heraluule
Sebastian Cray
Co-Secretary, Editor
Sebastian Cray does not yet think he has earned the right to self-describe as a poet, but he’s working on it. Born in the UK and brought up in France, Sebastian, when not working his boring 9 to 5, has helped run the PLU blog, edited the PLU Magazine and the first edition of the PLU Gazette. He also runs the music blog Off the Bandwagon:
@off_the_bandwagon
offthebw.wordpress.com
Ursula Wynne
Open Mic Host
In July 1969, while Neil Armstrong was setting foot on the Moon; one giant leap for mankind, Ursula Wynne, Dublin born and bred, was setting foot in Paris; one giant leap for her. There, she has studied dress-designing, had two children, 20 years apart, worked as a tourist guide, taught English as a second language, studied English at le Centre Universitaire Experimental de Vincennes and dabbled in theatre, tango, astrology and writing short stories. She is now one of PLU’s most regular open mic hosts.
Quitterie Gounot
Editor, Open Mic Host
A poet and French-American scholar, Quitterie is a regular host of PLU’s open mic night and editor of the PLU Gazette.
Leah Soeiro
Editor, Workshop Host
Leah Soeiro is a photographer, writer and translator. She has a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Kent. She is editor-in-chief of the PLU magazine and a former president of the association. She also hosts the creative writing workshop. Her poems have been published in Sunbow zine, Feast and Tint Journal as well as other smaller publications. Her poetry-photography collection twentytwentytwentytwentyone was published with Querencia Press in the fall of 2023.
Emily Ruck Keene
Born in Oxford, UK, Emily moved to Paris in 2010. She has been volunteering for Paris Lit Up since 2012, just after it was first founded. She has previously acted as secretary, treasurer, and president. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English and French from the University of Warwick, England, and a Masters in Comparative Literature from the Sorbonne, Paris IV, France. She works as a translator and copywriter.
Ed Bell
Ed Bell, born in Lancashire, studied at Oxford, educated by Paris, he has acted as treasurer and president of PLU. Since 2014, he has also toured with the association to Italy, England and Holland. His first artistic collaboration in Paris was Blue Wit, translating the poems of Catullus over Bossa Nova rhythm guitar. He has accompanied live body paintings, poets, and singers on the piano.
Chris Czubay
Open Mic Host
Chris Czubay is a writer and translator from New York. He has a BA in Creative Writing and Russian Translation from CUNY Hunter College and an MA in International Relations from American University. He is one of the hosts of Paris Lit Up’s Open Mic and currently at work on a new project for the association: The PLU Paper.
Jonny Sly
Open Mic Host
Poet and performer, originally from the UK, Jonny Sly has previously helped edit PLU publications and is a regular host on the Open Mic stage.
Other Hosts and Members…
The team above is not exhaustive! In order to stage events every week of the year, PLU also relies on many other wonderful volunteers and members. Some of our most valuable ones are listed below.
Rory O’Sullivan (Open Mic Host)
René Ghosh (Open Mic Host)
Sue Berge (Workshop Host)
Johnny Bigoudis
And of course Paris Lit Up would never have existed without its founders Jason McGimsey and Kate Noakes.
Photo of Johnny Bigoudis by Leah Soeiro
FIND OUT MORE
Paris Lit Up organises a monthly meeting where everyone is welcome. This usually takes takes place in the hour before either the first open mic or first workshop of the month. If you’d like to participate, contact us via social media or info AT parislitup DOT COM.