Writing Fiction in a Second Language

Many multilingual people never try writing fiction because they think they aren't allowed to, since their vocabulary is too limited, their grammar isn't perfect and they’ve heard at some point in their lives that ‘real writers only write in their mother tongue’. None of this is true !

Many of the best novels of recent decades were written by people using a language they learned as adults. In this workshop we'll start from the words we all carry from childhood, the nicknames, family expressions and invented words that only make sense at home, and we'll use them as material for writing in the language we use now. Through short exercises, participants will see that writing in a second language can make their prose more precise and more personal, and that what they see as a limitation is often what makes their writing interesting.

If you speak more than one language and have always wanted to write fiction, whatever your level of experience, this is for you.

*This workshop is part of Brussels Ideas Festival hosted at Full Circle House from 20-22 November 2026.
*Full programme available on https://fullcircle.eu/ideasfestival/

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ABOUT The Host
eleonora Balsano is an Italian-born polyglot journalist and writer based in Brussels. She is currently working on a dystopian novel and is the host of Chosen Tongue, a podcast on translingual writers and their journeys. She is also the co-founder of the European Writers Salon, a travelling salon for writers across Europe to connect online and in person. Eleonora's short fiction in English has appeared in Portland Review, Fictive Dream, Reflex Fiction, Janus Literary, Jmww Journal, and elsewhere. In 2023, she was longlisted for the Wigleaf Top 50 and in 2021 she was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize. She is a reader for Longleaf Review and WestWord.