At the heart of WICE's commitment to cultural enrichment and connection lies its vibrant literary program. This curated series of activities caters to the diverse literary tastes of our international membership. Join us in one or more of the following literary adventures . . . 

The Long View: Our Human Odyssey

Nonfiction books that are oriented towards helping us understand what we—as humans—are, how we arrived here in evolutionary terms (physical, cultural, etc.), and where our place in the world is.

Tea and Tattered Pages - Adventures in Poetry

A wide variety of activities centered around poetry, designed to bring the spirit of delight into everyday life and create a community around it.



Murder, They Read

Readings of mysteries and thrillers in English or English translation. Although discussions are in English, the books are not restricted to English-dominated locales, or personnel to English-speaking countries. We view murder mysteries as a globally cosmopolitan affair. Join this group to explore different places, times, and cultures, and to meet and spend time with a variety of sleuths through the medium of mysteries.

Living Room Players:

Readings of plays offers a unique rendezvous for theater lovers. Meeting monthly, members get a chance to immerse themselves in English-language plays by reading scripts out loud. With plays that typically feature 8-10 characters and last approximately 90 minutes, the group works to ensure a rich representation of playwrights while enjoying a lively acting experience.

Café Littéraire:

Savoring French Literature in English gives members the opportunity to read and discuss French works in English translation that have won the prestigious Prix Goncourt, awarded for "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year," or the equally prestigious Prix Femina.


At its core, WICE's literary program is a celebration of the written word, fostering connections and discussions and enriching the cultural fabric of its community.

UPCOMING EVENTS

    • 13 Jul 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
    • Les Editeurs, 4 Carrefour de l'Odeon 75006 (upstairs)
    • 1
    Register

    WICE’s “The New Yorker Short Story Group” is for anyone interested in reading short stories written by some of today’s very best emerging and established authors. Each discussion will focus on 2 short stories published in The New Yorker in the preceding month.  The selected stories for the July 13th discussion are:

    "Stories" by Annie Ernaux and "A Talent for Seeming" by Jonathan Franzen

    Digital subscribers can access the stories via The New Yorker website or app. (A digital subscription includes access to all New Yorker content, including audio versions of short stories read by the author. Digital subscriptions can be purchased for $5/month or $52/annually here). If you are not a subscriber, you may be able to find the stories in PDF version on-line or through your local library (including the American Library of Paris).

    Registration opens on Tuesday, 14 June.

    • 17 Jul 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
    • A private residence in the 15th, near La Motte-Piquet Grenelle (details after registration)
    • 0

    The registration limit for this event has been reached.

    Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind is a sweeping work of narrative non-fiction that attempts nothing less than a unified history of our species—from the emergence of Homo sapiens in prehistory to the technological and political systems of the modern world. Harari organizes this vast story around a series of transformative “revolutions”—cognitive, agricultural, and scientific—arguing that shared myths, institutions, and imagined orders have enabled large-scale human cooperation while also shaping inequality, empire, and progress.

    The narrative moves fluidly across disciplines, blending history, anthropology, and philosophy to examine how developments such as agriculture, money, religion, and capitalism have reconfigured human societies. Harari pays particular attention to the tension between collective advancement and individual well-being, questioning whether increased power has led to greater happiness or merely more complex forms of constraint. Along the way, he offers striking interpretations of topics ranging from the domestication of plants and animals to the rise of global capitalism and biotechnology.

    Written in a clear, accessible style, Sapiens is both ambitious and provocative, inviting readers to reconsider familiar assumptions about human progress.

    Sapiens is not without critics, and each group participant will be given a selection of critical book reviews from which to choose one to read and discuss at the meeting.

    This book is 443 pages long. 

    • 10 Aug 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
    • Les Editeurs, 4 Carrefour de l'Odeon 75006 (upstairs)
    • 9

    WICE’s “The New Yorker Short Story Group” is for anyone interested in reading short stories written by some of today’s very best emerging and established authors. Each discussion will focus on 2 short stories published in The New Yorker in the preceding month. The selected stories will be posted here on August 1, 2026.

    Visit The New Yorker Fiction & Poetry page to find a complete list of New Yorker short stories (listed in chronological order beginning with the most recently published). 

    Digital subscribers can access the stories via The New Yorker website or app. (A digital subscription includes access to all New Yorker content, including audio versions of short stories read by the author. Digital subscriptions can be purchased for $5/month or $52/annually here). If you are not a subscriber, you may be able to find the stories in PDF version on-line or through your local library (including the American Library of Paris).

    Registration opens on Tuesday, 14 July.

    • 04 Sep 2026
    • 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
    • Impact Café, lower level (salle 3), 67 rue Beaubourg, 75003
    • 11

    The September book selection and description will be posted on or about Friday, 14 August (or before).

    WICE’s Murder, They Read book group offers members the chance to explore the mystery form—from classic sleuths and gritty detectives to unconventional investigators and amateur gumshoes.

    A compelling mystery is selected for each month's reading and discussion, with an eye toward strong writing, memorable characters, and inventive plotting. From contemporary noir to historical mysteries, the group’s selections will span subgenres, eras, locales and cultures, offering something for longtime mystery lovers and curious newcomers alike.

    Discussions—held in English—delve into themes, character development, setting, and of course, the crime itself. The goal is not just to guess the culprit, but, through the eyes of the sleuth, to benefit from a literary immersion into another time, place, and/or culture;  to appreciate how the author constructs the mystery and what the story reveals about the world it portrays. And of course  to enjoy time spent with others who love the mystery genre.

    Selections are chosen with these criteria in mind:

    • Available in English (paper or ebook)

    • Standalone/can be read on it’s own, or first in a series

    • Rich in atmosphere, character, or setting

    • Offers an unexpected perspective

    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered five days before the event, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration opens on Tuesday, 04 August.


    • 08 Sep 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
    • Impact Café, lower level (salle 3), 67 rue Beaubourg, 75003
    • 11

    The September book selection and description will be posted on or about Wednesday, 12 August (or before).

    Step into the elegant, puzzle-filled world of Classic Noir Mysteries, a period from the 1920s through the early 1950s when detective fiction flourished and many of the genre’s most enduring conventions took shape. These novels are built around intricate, fair-play puzzles meant to be solved by the reader as much as by the detective. They often unfold in contained settings—country houses, quiet villages, snowbound estates—where a small cast of suspects creates both intimacy and tension. Despite the murders at their center, these stories maintain an atmosphere of charm, wit, and civility, and they introduce some of literature’s most iconic sleuths, including Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.

    Our Classic Noir Mysteries book club invites readers to explore this rich era over the course of five monthly meetings, each dedicated to one influential work. Together, we’ll examine clever plots, surprising twists, and the social worlds that shaped these beloved stories. Whether you’re new to classic detective fiction or already a fan, this group offers a warm and lively space to enjoy and discuss these timeless whodunits.

    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered by five days before the group meets, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration opens on Saturday, 8 August.

    • 11 Sep 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
    • A member's appt. in the 15th (details after registration)
    • 11

    "The Long View: Our Human Odyssey" is a nonfiction book group that will consider books that are oriented towards helping us understand what we—as humans—are, how we arrived here in evolutionary terms (physical, cultural, etc.), and our place in the world.

    To date we have read and discussed:

    • "A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories in Our Genes,"" by Adam Rutherford.
    • Salt: A World History" — Mark Kurlansky
    • "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" — Yuval Noah Harari

    Some of the other titles  we are considering for future sessions are:

    • "Guns, Germs, and Steel" — Jared Diamond
    • "The Dawn of Everything" — David Graeber and David Wengrow
    • "The Righteous Mind" — Jonathan Haidt 
    • "Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human" — Richard Wrangham 

    Because these books tend to be longer than the books that are read and discussed in our monthly fiction book groups, we meet approximately every 8 - 10 weeks.



    • 14 Sep 2026
    • 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
    • Les Editeurs, 4 Carrefour de l'Odeon 75006
    • 9

    WICE’s “New Yorker Short Story Group” is for anyone interested in reading short stories and novellas written by some of today’s very best emerging and established authors. Each monthly discussion will focus on 2 stories recently published in the New Yorker. Selections will be announced at the beginning of the month of the next scheduled meeting.


    Registration opens on Friday, 14 August.

    Stories for September will be announced on or about 1 September.



    • 17 Sep 2026
    • 2:00 PM - 4:30 PM
    • A member's apartment in the Marais
    • 8

    The September play selection and description will be posted on or about Friday, 28 August (or before).

    The general concept of The Living Room Players is that people receive the script by email about a week before the reading, and then roles are assigned at the meeting. Attendees sit around a living room and simply read their parts with as much theatrical flourish as they care to give (but there are no expectations of real acting).

    The readings take place at a member's apartment in the Marais. The address, door code, and phone number are sent in the 7-day and 1-day  reminder emails.

    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered seven days before the event, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration for the September reading opens on Monday, 17 August.


    • 18 Sep 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
    • A member's apartment in the 11th. Details will be sent after registration.
    • 10

    The Great Swindle is a sweeping, picaresque epic that examines the "murky virtues of remembrance" in the hollow aftermath of World War I. The story begins in the final, desperate days of the war, when the ruthless Lieutenant Henri d’Aulnay-Pradelle orchestrates a senseless skirmish, an act of treachery that binds together the fates of two subordinates: Albert Maillard, a timid former bank clerk, and Édouard Péricourt, a brilliant artist from a wealthy family. While saving Albert’s life, Édouard is hideously disfigured—becoming a gueule cassée (broken face)—and subsequently fakes his own death to avoid returning to his estranged father.

    Moving from the trenches to the "glittering but dark" streets of 1920s Paris, the narrative follows the two veterans as they struggle with poverty, morphine addiction, and a society that seems to "revere its dead more than its survivors". In a cynical act of revenge against the country that abandoned them, they devise an audacious scam: selling fraudulent monuments to honor the very war heroes the nation is so eager to memorialize. Meanwhile, the villainous Pradelle launches a ghoulish swindle of his own, profiting from the exhumation and reburial of fallen soldiers in cut-rate coffins.

    Lemaitre, a master of suspense, employs a dry, ironic tone to craft a "darkly comic requiem" that feels like a 19th-century novel updated with modern clinical precision. A strong discussion angle for the group is Lemaitre’s exploration of the "great swindle" of the title—whether it refers to the characters’ specific scams or the broader, abominable treatment of the ordinary soldier by a state more interested in the aesthetics of grief than the reality of its victims.

    Winner of the 2013 Prix Goncourt.


    The book group meets at the organizer's apartment. The directions, door code, telephone number, etc., are sent in the 7-day and 1-day reminder emails, following registration.


    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered by five days prior to the meeting, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration for the September meeting opens on Saturday, 29 August.

    • 25 Sep 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
    • Upstairs at Le Nelson's, 16 Rue Coquillière, 75001
    • 8


    Flashlight is a sprawling and ambitious historical saga that mines the "tides of 20th-century history" to explore the enduring ripples of family trauma. The narrative is set in motion during a summer in a coastal Japanese town, where ten-year-old Louisa and her father, Serk—a Korean émigré and academic—take a walk out on a breakwater. When Louisa wakes hours later, washed up on the beach, her father has vanished, an event that shatters her small family and leaves a void that reverberates across decades and continents.

    The novel skillfully criss-crosses between the post-war Korean immigrant community in Japan, the rigid North Korean regime, and the quiet suburbs of America. As the mystery of Serk’s disappearance slowly unravels, the story expands to include Anne, Louisa’s secretive and increasingly isolated mother, and Tobias, the son Anne was forced to give up for adoption years earlier, who eventually drifts back into their lives. Choi balances these "intimate dramas" with "geopolitically bold" themes, moving from a poignant family mystery into a riveting exploration of identity, race, and national belonging.

    Elegantly written and emotionally profound, Flashlight is described by critics as both a "capacious" historical reconstruction and a high-concept meditation on the "unreliable edges" of memory. A strong discussion angle for the group is Choi’s use of "narrative layers" and how the characters are shaped more by what they cannot see or remember than by the objective truths of their past.

    Shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize and longlisted for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction.

    Registration for the September meeting opens on Friday, 28 August.


    • 02 Oct 2026
    • 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
    • Impact Café, lower level (salle 3), 67 rue Beaubourg, 75003
    • 11

    The October book selection and description will be posted on or about Saturday, 05 September (or before).

    WICE’s Murder, They Read book group offers members the chance to explore the mystery form—from classic sleuths and gritty detectives to unconventional investigators and amateur gumshoes.

    A compelling mystery is selected for each month's reading and discussion, with an eye toward strong writing, memorable characters, and inventive plotting. From contemporary noir to historical mysteries, the group’s selections will span subgenres, eras, locales and cultures, offering something for longtime mystery lovers and curious newcomers alike.

    Discussions—held in English—delve into themes, character development, setting, and of course, the crime itself. The goal is not just to guess the culprit, but, through the eyes of the sleuth, to benefit from a literary immersion into another time, place, and/or culture;  to appreciate how the author constructs the mystery and what the story reveals about the world it portrays. And of course  to enjoy time spent with others who love the mystery genre.

    Selections are chosen with these criteria in mind:

    • Available in English (paper or ebook)

    • Standalone/can be read on it’s own, or first in a series

    • Rich in atmosphere, character, or setting

    • Offers an unexpected perspective

    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered five days before the event, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration opens on Saturday, 05 September.


    • 12 Oct 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
    • Impact Café, lower level (salle 3), 67 rue Beaubourg, 75003
    • 11

    The October book selection and description will be posted on or about Wednesday, 9 September (or before).

    Step into the elegant, puzzle-filled world of Classic Noir Mysteries, a period from the 1920s through the early 1950s when detective fiction flourished and many of the genre’s most enduring conventions took shape. These novels are built around intricate, fair-play puzzles meant to be solved by the reader as much as by the detective. They often unfold in contained settings—country houses, quiet villages, snowbound estates—where a small cast of suspects creates both intimacy and tension. Despite the murders at their center, these stories maintain an atmosphere of charm, wit, and civility, and they introduce some of literature’s most iconic sleuths, including Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.

    Our Classic Noir Mysteries book club invites readers to explore this rich era over the course of five monthly meetings, each dedicated to one influential work. Together, we’ll examine clever plots, surprising twists, and the social worlds that shaped these beloved stories. Whether you’re new to classic detective fiction or already a fan, this group offers a warm and lively space to enjoy and discuss these timeless whodunits.

    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered by five days before the group meets, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration opens on Wednesday, 9 September.

    • 12 Oct 2026
    • 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
    • Les Editeurs, 4 Carrefour de l'Odeon 75006
    • 9

    WICE’s “New Yorker Short Story Group” is for anyone interested in reading short stories and novellas written by some of today’s very best emerging and established authors. Each monthly discussion will focus on 2 stories recently published in the New Yorker. Selections will be announced at the beginning of the month of the next scheduled meeting.


    Stories for Monday, 12 October will be announced on or about 1 October.

    Registration opens on Wednesday, 9 September.


    • 15 Oct 2026
    • 2:00 PM - 4:30 PM
    • A member's apartment in the Marais
    • 8

    The October play selection and description will be posted on or about Friday, 18 September (or before).

    The general concept of The Living Room Players is that people receive the script by email about a week before the reading, and then roles are assigned at the meeting. Attendees sit around a living room and simply read their parts with as much theatrical flourish as they care to give (but there are no expectations of real acting).

    The readings take place at a member's apartment in the Marais. The address, door code, and phone number are sent in the 7-day and 1-day  reminder emails.

    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered seven days before the event, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration for the October reading opens on Friday, 18 September.


    • 16 Oct 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
    • A member's apartment in the 11th. Details will be sent after registration.
    • 10

    The October book selection and description will be posted on or about Saturday, 19 September (or before).

    The Café Littéraire book group reads and discusses—in English—books that were written in French and are available in translation. Books are chosen from across the French-speaking world, and have ranged from Flaubert's classic Madame Bovary to Amélie Nothomb's Fear and Trembling (Stupeur et tremblements) to Laurent Binet's HHhH



    The book group meets at the organizer's apartment. The directions, door code, telephone number, etc., are sent in the 7-day and 1-day reminder emails, following registration.


    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered by five days prior to the meeting, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration for the October meeting opens on Saturday, 19 September.

    • 23 Oct 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
    • Upstairs at Le Nelson's, 16 Rue Coquillière, 75001
    • 11

    The October book selection and description will be posted on or about Saturday, 26 September (or before).

    The Booker Book group reads and discusses—in English—books that have either received, or been on the short list for, the Booker Prize.


    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered five days prior to the meeting, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration for the October meeting opens on Saturday, 26 September.


    • 06 Nov 2026
    • 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
    • Impact Café, lower level (salle 3), 67 rue Beaubourg, 75003
    • 11

    The November book selection and description will be posted on or about Saturday, 03 October (or before).

    WICE’s Murder, They Read book group offers members the chance to explore the mystery form—from classic sleuths and gritty detectives to unconventional investigators and amateur gumshoes.

    A compelling mystery is selected for each month's reading and discussion, with an eye toward strong writing, memorable characters, and inventive plotting. From contemporary noir to historical mysteries, the group’s selections will span subgenres, eras, locales and cultures, offering something for longtime mystery lovers and curious newcomers alike.

    Discussions—held in English—delve into themes, character development, setting, and of course, the crime itself. The goal is not just to guess the culprit, but, through the eyes of the sleuth, to benefit from a literary immersion into another time, place, and/or culture;  to appreciate how the author constructs the mystery and what the story reveals about the world it portrays. And of course  to enjoy time spent with others who love the mystery genre.

    Selections are chosen with these criteria in mind:

    • Available in English (paper or ebook)

    • Standalone/can be read on it’s own, or first in a series

    • Rich in atmosphere, character, or setting

    • Offers an unexpected perspective

    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered five days before the event, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration opens on Saturday, 03 October.


    • 09 Nov 2026
    • 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
    • Les Editeurs, 4 Carrefour de l'Odeon 75006
    • 9

    WICE’s “New Yorker Short Story Group” is for anyone interested in reading short stories and novellas written by some of today’s very best emerging and established authors. Each monthly discussion will focus on 2 stories recently published in the New Yorker. Selections will be announced at the beginning of the month of the next scheduled meeting.


    Stories for Monday, 9 November will be announced on or about 1 November.

    Registration opens on Tuesday, 13 October.


    • 10 Nov 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
    • Impact Café, lower level (salle 3), 67 rue Beaubourg, 75003
    • 11

    The November book selection and description will be posted on or about Wednesday, 13 October (or before).

    Step into the elegant, puzzle-filled world of Classic Noir Mysteries, a period from the 1920s through the early 1950s when detective fiction flourished and many of the genre’s most enduring conventions took shape. These novels are built around intricate, fair-play puzzles meant to be solved by the reader as much as by the detective. They often unfold in contained settings—country houses, quiet villages, snowbound estates—where a small cast of suspects creates both intimacy and tension. Despite the murders at their center, these stories maintain an atmosphere of charm, wit, and civility, and they introduce some of literature’s most iconic sleuths, including Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.

    Our Classic Noir Mysteries book club invites readers to explore this rich era over the course of five monthly meetings, each dedicated to one influential work. Together, we’ll examine clever plots, surprising twists, and the social worlds that shaped these beloved stories. Whether you’re new to classic detective fiction or already a fan, this group offers a warm and lively space to enjoy and discuss these timeless whodunits.

    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered by five days before the group meets, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration opens on Wednesday, 13 October.

    • 13 Nov 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
    • A member's appt. in the 15th (details after registration)
    • 11

    "The Long View: Our Human Odyssey" is a nonfiction book group that will consider books that are oriented towards helping us understand what we—as humans—are, how we arrived here in evolutionary terms (physical, cultural, etc.), and our place in the world.

    To date we have read and discussed:

    • "A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories in Our Genes,"" by Adam Rutherford.
    • Salt: A World History" — Mark Kurlansky
    • "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" — Yuval Noah Harari

    Some of the other titles  we are considering for future sessions are:

    • "Guns, Germs, and Steel" — Jared Diamond
    • "The Dawn of Everything" — David Graeber and David Wengrow
    • "The Righteous Mind" — Jonathan Haidt 
    • "Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human" — Richard Wrangham 

    Because these books tend to be longer than the books that are read and discussed in our monthly fiction book groups, we meet approximately every 8 - 10 weeks.



    • 19 Nov 2026
    • 2:00 PM - 4:30 PM
    • A member's apartment in the Marais
    • 8

    The November play selection and description will be posted on or about Friday, 16 October (or before).

    The general concept of The Living Room Players is that people receive the script by email about a week before the reading, and then roles are assigned at the meeting. Attendees sit around a living room and simply read their parts with as much theatrical flourish as they care to give (but there are no expectations of real acting).

    The readings take place at a member's apartment in the Marais. The address, door code, and phone number are sent in the 7-day and 1-day  reminder emails.

    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered seven days before the event, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration for the November reading opens on Friday, 16 October.


    • 20 Nov 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
    • A member's apartment in the 11th. Details will be sent after registration.
    • 10

    The November book selection and description will be posted on or about Saturday, 17 October (or before).

    The Café Littéraire book group reads and discusses—in English—books that were written in French and are available in translation. Books are chosen from across the French-speaking world, and have ranged from Flaubert's classic Madame Bovary to Amélie Nothomb's Fear and Trembling (Stupeur et tremblements) to Laurent Binet's HHhH



    The book group meets at the organizer's apartment. The directions, door code, telephone number, etc., are sent in the 7-day and 1-day reminder emails, following registration.


    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered by five days prior to the meeting, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration for the November meeting opens on Saturday, 17 October.

    • 27 Nov 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
    • Upstairs at Le Nelson's, 16 Rue Coquillière, 75001
    • 11

    The November book selection and description will be posted on or about Saturday, 24 October (or before).

    The Booker Book group reads and discusses—in English—books that have either received, or been on the short list for, the Booker Prize.


    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered five days prior to the meeting, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration for the November meeting opens on Saturday, 24 October.


    • 04 Dec 2026
    • 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
    • Impact Café, lower level (salle 3), 67 rue Beaubourg, 75003
    • 11

    The December book selection and description will be posted on or about Saturday, 07 November (or before).

    WICE’s Murder, They Read book group offers members the chance to explore the mystery form—from classic sleuths and gritty detectives to unconventional investigators and amateur gumshoes.

    A compelling mystery is selected for each month's reading and discussion, with an eye toward strong writing, memorable characters, and inventive plotting. From contemporary noir to historical mysteries, the group’s selections will span subgenres, eras, locales and cultures, offering something for longtime mystery lovers and curious newcomers alike.

    Discussions—held in English—delve into themes, character development, setting, and of course, the crime itself. The goal is not just to guess the culprit, but, through the eyes of the sleuth, to benefit from a literary immersion into another time, place, and/or culture;  to appreciate how the author constructs the mystery and what the story reveals about the world it portrays. And of course  to enjoy time spent with others who love the mystery genre.

    Selections are chosen with these criteria in mind:

    • Available in English (paper or ebook)

    • Standalone/can be read on it’s own, or first in a series

    • Rich in atmosphere, character, or setting

    • Offers an unexpected perspective

    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered five days before the event, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration opens on Saturday, 07 November.


    • 08 Dec 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
    • Impact Café, lower level (salle 3), 67 rue Beaubourg, 75003
    • 11

    The December book selection and description will be posted on or about Wednesday, 11 (or before).

    Step into the elegant, puzzle-filled world of Classic Noir Mysteries, a period from the 1920s through the early 1950s when detective fiction flourished and many of the genre’s most enduring conventions took shape. These novels are built around intricate, fair-play puzzles meant to be solved by the reader as much as by the detective. They often unfold in contained settings—country houses, quiet villages, snowbound estates—where a small cast of suspects creates both intimacy and tension. Despite the murders at their center, these stories maintain an atmosphere of charm, wit, and civility, and they introduce some of literature’s most iconic sleuths, including Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.

    Our Classic Noir Mysteries book club invites readers to explore this rich era over the course of five monthly meetings, each dedicated to one influential work. Together, we’ll examine clever plots, surprising twists, and the social worlds that shaped these beloved stories. Whether you’re new to classic detective fiction or already a fan, this group offers a warm and lively space to enjoy and discuss these timeless whodunits.

    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered by five days before the group meets, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration opens on Wednesday, 11 November.

    • 14 Dec 2026
    • 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
    • Les Editeurs, 4 Carrefour de l'Odeon 75006
    • 9

    WICE’s “New Yorker Short Story Group” is for anyone interested in reading short stories and novellas written by some of today’s very best emerging and established authors. Each monthly discussion will focus on 2 stories recently published in the New Yorker. Selections will be announced at the beginning of the month of the next scheduled meeting.


    Stories for Monday, 14 December will be announced on or about 1 December.

    Registration opens on Tuesday, 10 November.


    • 17 Dec 2026
    • 2:00 PM - 4:30 PM
    • A member's apartment in the Marais
    • 8

    The December play selection and description will be posted on or about Friday, 20 November (or before).

    The general concept of The Living Room Players is that people receive the script by email about a week before the reading, and then roles are assigned at the meeting. Attendees sit around a living room and simply read their parts with as much theatrical flourish as they care to give (but there are no expectations of real acting).

    The readings take place at a member's apartment in the Marais. The address, door code, and phone number are sent in the 7-day and 1-day  reminder emails.

    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered seven days before the event, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration for the December reading opens on Friday, 16 November.


    • 18 Dec 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
    • A member's apartment in the 11th. Details will be sent after registration.
    • 10

    The December book selection and description will be posted on or about Saturday, 21 November (or before).

    The Café Littéraire book group reads and discusses—in English—books that were written in French and are available in translation. Books are chosen from across the French-speaking world, and have ranged from Flaubert's classic Madame Bovary to Amélie Nothomb's Fear and Trembling (Stupeur et tremblements) to Laurent Binet's HHhH



    The book group meets at the organizer's apartment. The directions, door code, telephone number, etc., are sent in the 7-day and 1-day reminder emails, following registration.


    Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered by five days prior to the meeting, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.

    Registration for the November meeting opens on Saturday, 21 November.

Past events

27 Jun 2026 LU271 Left Bank Lit: "The Autobiography of Alice B. Tolkas," by Gertrude Stein
26 Jun 2026 LU261 Booker Books: "Flashlight," by Susan Choi
19 Jun 2026 LU191 Café Littéraire: "Adele," by Leïla Slimani
18 Jun 2026 LU181 Living Room Players: "Uncle Vanya," by Anton Chekhov
13 Jun 2026 LU131 Tea and Tattered Pages: Adventures in Poetry
09 Jun 2026 LU091 Classic Mysteries: "The Moving Toy Shop," by Edmund Crispin
08 Jun 2026 LU081 The New Yorker: Short Stories
05 Jun 2026 LU051 Murder, They Read: "Harlem Shuffle," by Colson Whitehead
26 May 2026 LU181 Living Room Players: Play TBD
22 May 2026 LY221 Booker Books: "Creation Lake," by Rachel Kushner
21 May 2026 LY211 Living Room Players: "An Ideal Husband," by Oscar Wilde
16 May 2026 LY161 Tea and Tattered Pages: Adventures in Poetry
16 May 2026 LY162 Left Bank Literature Walk
12 May 2026 LY121 Classic Mysteries: "The Murder at the Vicarage," by Agatha Christie
11 May 2026 LY111 The New Yorker: Short Stories
01 May 2026 LY011 Murder, They Read: "The Blessing Way," by Tony Hillerman
28 Apr 2026 LA281 The Long View: "Salt: A World History," by Mark Kurlansky
25 Apr 2026 LA251 Left Bank Lit: "Paris Was Yesterday," by Janet (Genêt) Flanner
24 Apr 2026 LA241 Booker Books: "The Rest of Our Lives," by Ben Markovitz
23 Apr 2026 LA231 Living Room Players: "A Streetcar Named Desire," by Tennessee Williams
17 Apr 2026 LA171 Café Littéraire: "Lives Other Than My Own," by Emmanuel Carrère
14 Apr 2026 LA141 Classic Mysteries: "The Red House Mystery," by A.A. Milne
13 Apr 2026 LA131 The New Yorker: Short Stories
11 Apr 2026 LA111 Tea and Tattered Pages: Adventures in Poetry
03 Apr 2026 LA031 Murder, They Read: "Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead," by Olga Tokarczuk
28 Mar 2026 LM281 Left Bank Lit: Being Geniuses Together, by Robert McAlmon and Kay Boyle
27 Mar 2026 LM271 Booker Books: Book "The Land in Winter," by Andrew Miller
20 Mar 2026 LM201 Café Littéraire: "The Negotiator," by Francis Walder
19 Mar 2026 LM191 Living Room Players: "Home I'm Darling," by Laura Wade
14 Mar 2026 LM141 Tea and Tattered Pages: Adventures in Poetry
10 Mar 2026 LM101 Classic Mysteries: "The Daughter of Time", by Josephine Tey
09 Mar 2026 LM091 The New Yorker: Short Stories
06 Mar 2026 LM061 Murder, They Read: "The Book of Wizzy," by Ann Chamberlin
05 Mar 2026 LM051 The Long View: "A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived," by Adam Rutherford
28 Feb 2026 LF281 Left Bank Lit: "Nightwood," by Djuna Barnes
27 Feb 2026 LF271 Booker Books: "Audition," by Katie Kitamura
20 Feb 2026 LF201 Café Littéraire: The Life Before Us, by Romain Gary
19 Feb 2026 LF191 Living Room Players: "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," by Tom Stoppard
14 Feb 2026 LF141 Tea and Tattered Pages: Adventures in Poetry
10 Feb 2026 LF101 Classic Mysteries: "Gaudy Night", Dorothy L. Sayers
06 Feb 2026 LF061 Murder, They Read: "Norwegian by Night," by Derek Miller
24 Jan 2026 LJ241 Left Bank Lit: "A Moveable Feast," by Ernest Hemingway
23 Jan 2026 LJ231 Booker Books: "Atonement," by Ian McKewan
16 Jan 2026 LJ161 Café Littéraire: "Missing Person," (Rue des Boutiques Obscures) by Patrick Modiano
15 Jan 2026 BJ151 Exploring French History through Novels
15 Jan 2026 LJ151 Living Room Players: "Twelfth Night," by William Shakespeare
13 Jan 2026 LJ131 Classic Mysteries: "Hercule Poirot’s Christmas", by Agatha Christie
10 Jan 2026 LJ101 Tea and Tattered Pages: Adventures in Poetry
09 Jan 2026 LJ091 Murder, They Read: "The Silver Pigs," by Lindsey Davis
12 Dec 2025 LD121 Storyscapes: The Passion - Jeanette Winterson
05 Dec 2025 LD051 Murder, They Read: "A Cold Day for Murder," by Dana Stabenow
28 Nov 2025 LN281 Café Littéraire: “Fresh Water for Flowers” (“Changer l’eau des fleurs”), Valerie Perrin
26 Nov 2025 LN261 Living Room Players: Blithe Spirit, by Noël Coward
20 Nov 2025 BN201 Exploring French History through Novels
08 Nov 2025 LN081 Tea and Tattered Pages: Adventures in Poetry
07 Nov 2025 LN071 Murder, They Read: "The Cold, Cold Ground," by Adrian McKinty
24 Oct 2025 LO241 Café Littéraire: Total Chaos ("Total Khëops"), by Jean-Claude Izzo
23 Oct 2025 LO231 Living Room Players: The School for Wives, by Molière
11 Oct 2025 LO111 Tea and Tattered Pages: Adventures in Poetry
03 Oct 2025 LO031 Murder, They Read: "The Chalk Circle Man," by Fred Vargas
26 Sep 2025 LS261 Café Littéraire: Madame Bovary, by Gustav Flaubert
25 Sep 2025 BS251 Exploring French History through Novels
05 Sep 2025 LS051 Murder, They Read: "The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra", by Vaseem Khan
27 Jun 2025 LU271 Café Littéraire: Ballerina (La Danseuse), by Patrick Modiano
21 Jun 2025 WU211 The Poetry Playground: A Beginner's Journey (Part II)
05 Jun 2025 BA031 Exploring French History through Novels
23 May 2025 LY231 Café Littéraire: "Chéri," by Colette
22 May 2025 LY221 Living Room Players: Major Barbara, by George Bernard Shaw
17 May 2025 WY171 The Poetry Playground: A Beginner's Journey
25 Apr 2025 LA251 Café Littéraire: "La Familia Grande," by Camile Kouchner
28 Mar 2025 LM281 Café Littéraire: Clara Reads Proust
27 Mar 2025 LM271 Living Room Players: A Midsummer Night's Dream
28 Feb 2025 LF281 Café Littéraire Book Group: Fear and Trembling, by Amélie Nothomb
27 Feb 2025 LF271 Living Room Players: The Mousetrap, by Agatha Christie
24 Jan 2025 LJ241 Café Littéraire Book Group - The Perfect Nanny ("Chanson Douce"), by Leila Slimani
20 Dec 2024 LD201 Café Littéraire: The Stranger, by Albert Camus
12 Dec 2024 LD121 Bookers: Women Talking, by Miriam Toews
22 Nov 2024 LN221 Café Littéraire: Bonjour Tristesse ("Hello Sadness"), by Françoise Sagan
21 Nov 2024 LN211 Bookers: A Bend in the River, by V.S. Naipaul
25 Oct 2024 LO251 Café Littéraire: Lady in White ("La Dame Blanche"), by Christian Bobbin
04 Oct 2024 LO041 Café Littéraire: HHhH, by Laurent Binet
05 Jul 2024 LL051 Café Littéraire: The Elegance of the Hedgehog (L'Élégance du hérisson), Muriel Barbary
13 Jun 2024 LJ1306 Bookers: The Bee Sting, by Paul Murray
17 May 2024 LY171 Café Littéraire: The Braid (La Tresse), by Laetitia Colombani
16 May 2024 LM1605 Bookers: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, by Olga Tokarczuk
26 Apr 2024 LA261 Café Littéraire: The Lover (L'Amant), by Marguerite Duras
24 Apr 2024 BA101 French Lit for Fun
11 Apr 2024 LA1104 Bookers: Celestial Bodies, by Jokha Alharthi
05 Apr 2024 LA051 Play Reading: "The Pretentious Young Ladies", by Molière
29 Mar 2024 LM291 Café Littéraire Spring and Autumn Book Selection
14 Mar 2024 LM1403 Bookers: The Bone People, by Keri Hulme
01 Mar 2024 LM011 Play Reading: 12 Angry Men, by Reginald Rose
23 Feb 2024 LM221 Café Littéraire - L'Ordre du Jour (The Order of the Day), by Éric Vuillard
10 Feb 2024 WF1001 Poetry!
08 Feb 2024 LF0802 Bookers: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, by Shehan Karunatilaka
02 Feb 2024 LF021 Play Reading: "The Importance of Being Earnest," by Oscar Wilde
26 Jan 2024 LJ261 Café Littéraire - Nos Richesses (Our Riches), by Kaouther Adimi
17 Jan 2024 BJ172 French Lit for Fun
11 Jan 2024 LJ1101 Bookers: Treacle Walker, by Alan Garner
05 Jan 2024 LJ051 Play Reading: "The Autumn Garden," by Lillian Hellman
15 Dec 2023 LD151 Café Littéraire: Personne (No One), by Gwenaëlle Aubry
14 Dec 2023 LD1412 Bookers: Treacle Walker, by Alan Garner
01 Dec 2023 LD011 Play Reading: Great Catherine, by George Bernard Shaw
24 Nov 2023 LN241 L'Anomalie (The Anomaly), by Hervé le Tellier
23 Nov 2023 LN2311 Bookers: Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan
27 Oct 2023 LO271 Mémoires d'une jeune fille rangée (Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter), by Simone de Beauvoir
26 Oct 2023 LO2610 Bookers: Great Granny Webster, by Caroline Blackwood
11 Oct 2023 BO112 French Lit for Fun
09 Jun 2023 WU0901 Grey Bees (Les Abeilles grises) by Andrey Kurkov
12 May 2023 WY1201 Nos richesses (Our Riches / A Bookshop in Algiers) by Kaouther Adimi
29 Apr 2023 WA2201 The Craft of Writing - Spring Edition
24 Apr 2023 BA241 French Lit for Fun
10 Mar 2023 WM1002 Literary Louvre Walk
01 Mar 2023 WM011 Haiku: How to Enjoy, Write, and Publish Them
10 Feb 2023 WF101 - The Siege (La Faim), by Helen Dunmore
13 Jan 2023 WJ131 - The Catcher in the Rye (L'Attrape-cœurs) by J.D. Salinger.
09 Dec 2022 WD091 Bilingual Book Group "Small Things Like These" (Ce genre de petites choses), by Claire Keegan
18 Nov 2022 WN181 Bilingual Book Group "The Hummingbird" (Le Colibri/Il Colibri), by Sandro Veronesi
18 Oct 2022 WO111 Flash Fiction
14 Oct 2022 WO141 Bilingual Book Group "What's Left of Me Is Yours" (Ce qu'il me reste de toi), by Sephanie Scott (Meet the Author)
09 Sep 2022 WS91 Bilingual Book Group "The Promise" (La Promesse), by Damon Galgut
27 Jun 2022 WU274 PWW Creative Nonfiction Master Class: Creative Nonfiction Projects with Jeffrey Greene
27 Jun 2022 WU272 PWW Short Story Master Class: Writing and Publishing the Short Story
27 Jun 2022 WU273 PWW Poetry Master Class: Poetry: What Can Language Do?
10 Jun 2022 WU101: Summer Light, and Then Comes The Night (Lumière d'été, puis vient la nuit / Sumarljós og svo kemur nóttin) by Jón Kalman Stefánsson
13 May 2022 WM111 Bilingual Book Group: Il treno dei Bambini (Le Train des enfants/The Children's Train) by Viola Ardone
08 Apr 2022 WA081 Bilingual Book Group: 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World (10 minutes et 38 secondes dans ce monde étrange) by Elif Shafak
11 Mar 2022 WM111 Bilingual Book Group: "Love After Love" - Ingrid Persaud (Meet the Author & Translator)
11 Feb 2022 WF111 Bilingual Book Group: Heart of Darkness (Au cœur des ténèbres) by Joseph Conrad
14 Jan 2022 WJ141 The Women of the Castle (Château de femmes) by Jessica Shattuck
10 Dec 2021 WD101 Here We Are (Le grand jeu) by Graham Swift
19 Nov 2021 WN051 Runaway (Fugitives) by Alice Munro (Group 2)
08 Oct 2021 W081 Bilingual Book Group : Frère d'âme (At Night All Blood is Black) by David Diop
04 May 2021 WY041:Writing Poetry - Craft and Inspiration
20 Jan 2021 WICE Talks: Pancakes in the City of Light with Author Craig Carlson
01 Jul 2016 PWL012 Literary Dinner
30 Jun 2016 PWU302 Expert Panel
30 Jun 2016 PWU301 Literary Agent Consultation
28 Jun 2016 PWU281 WICE Paris Writers’ Workshop Literary Walk
27 Jun 2014 PWU271 Literary Agent Consultation
24 Jun 2014 PWU241 The Art of Novel Writing
24 Jun 2014 PWU242 The Art of Non-Fiction Writing
24 Jun 2014 PWU243 The Essentials of Screenplay Writing
24 Jun 2014 PWU244 The Art of Writing Novella and Short Story
27 Sep 2011 WS271 Seeing Paris through Literature