Serving Stories with Edward Chisholm

A conversation with Edward Chisholm and Russell Williams at the American Library in Paris. Filmed on 12/12/2023 with a live audience both in person and on Zoom.

After graduating from university in London in 2010, Edward Chisholm moved to Paris, where he hoped to kick off his career as a writer. To make ends meet, he took up a stream of low-paying jobs, including one as a waiter at a high-end restaurant.

In his memoir A Waiter in Paris (2022), Chisholm vividly captures the precarity of life as a service worker in the City of Light. The book has been characterized as “a Dickensian tale” (Publisher’s Weekly) and as a contemporary retelling of George Orwell’s 1933 travelogue Down and Out in Paris and London (The Wall Street Journal and The Daily Mail). Chisholm’s thoughtful critiques of contemporary Parisian society simmer beneath the surface of his whirlwind story, which overflows with colorful characters and memorable scenes. This conversation was moderated by writer, editor, and academic, Russell Williams.

About the speakers:

Edward Chisholm was born in Dorset, England. After graduating from university, he moved to Paris, where he lived and worked for seven years. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times Magazine. His memoir, A Waiter in Paris, was published in 2022. Chisholm is also a screenwriter; he is currently working to develop a TV series.

Russell Williams teaches in the Comparative Literature and English department at the American University of Paris. He is also French editor at the Times Literary Supplement and is currently writing a book called French Weird.

Evenings with an Author is generously sponsored by GRoW @ Annenberg.