See highlights from the 'Harper's Bazaar' winter 2025 literary salon
Guests were treated to an intimate evening with leading literary lights at Harper’s Bazaar’s first salon of 2025.
Hosted at the Cadogan, a Belmond Hotel, in the chic Oscar Wilde room, the night saw the Booker Prize-shortlisted author Daisy Johnson read from her acclaimed collection of perfectly formed ghost tales, The Hotel, before reflecting on her passion for the short-story form and why complex familial relationships are often woven into her writing.
Next to take to the stage was one of Bazaar’s 2024 Women of the Year, the actress Harriet Walter, who shared insights with Bazaar’s literary editor Erica Wagner about her quest to give a voice to Shakespeare’s women, as seen in her latest book, She Speaks!.
Attendees at the sold-out event also had the opportunity to meet the authors, buy copies of their work from the pop-up shop BookBar (and have them signed on-site), and talk to fellow book-lovers over canapés and wine.
The Cadogan, a Belmond Hotel, provided the plush setting for the night’s entertainment
The bar, next to the chic Oscar Wilde room, where guests mingled before the talks started
A delicious array of canapés were available for guests
Marinated tuna canapés
Each guest received a luxury Bazaar goodie bag with contents worth up to £100
Bazaar’s editor-in-chief Lydia Slater, who hosted and introduced the event, with Lennie Goodings, the chair of Virago Press
Bazaar's deputy editor, Frances Hedges (left), interviewed Daisy Johnson about her latest collection of short stories
As the youngest nominee for the Booker Prize in 2018, Johnson shared some words of wisdom for writing gripping short stories: “The plot is a real exploration for me, which I suppose is often why my characters are exploring something or figuring something out themselves. I often want readers to have a similar sense of uncertainty that I have when writing them. That feeling of incomprehension or murkiness is very human to me.”
Johnson was described as part of the “Harper's Bazaar family”; the author won our annual short-story competition in 2015
Harriet Walter was then interviewed by the literary editor and critic Erica Wagner about her new book She Speaks!
Walter discussed how her love for Shakespeare was a “slow burn”: “Bit by bit, I cultivated my particular relationship with Shakespeare, trying to make the connection between me and the characters. It became easier as I went on; I equate it with learning a foreign language.”
Walter then explained how she came to breathe fresh life into Shakespeare’s work.
“I was part of this group called the Shakespeare Schools Foundation. They launched a competition inviting all the students to write an alternative speech for a Shakespeare character. I thought that I’d kick it off with an example: Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother. She’s one of the classic characters that I would turn down because she doesn’t get enough of a go. I’ve watched her in Hamlet so many times, and thought – I want to know what you’re thinking, I want you to answer back, I want you to fight for yourself.”
The floor was then opened to questions from spectators
Guests could buy the works of the visiting authors thanks to a collaboration with BookBar
Daisy Johnson signed copies of her latest book, The Hotel
Walter was also available to sign books and to speak to guests
Guests had time to mingle and socialise after the talks concluded
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