What Happens When ~100 Writers from France Support Each Other

(It Started with a Hill in Southwest France)

I stumbled across Susie Mawhinney’s “A hill and I” the way you discover most good things, completely by accident. Her Substack promised “field conversations and blurry photography from a hill in SW France, wrapped in self-sufficient chaos, memoir obscurities and armfuls of love.”

Oh my, I thought, this sounds way beyond the cliché, and it sounds intriguing.

Reading her intimate stories of rural French life, I found myself utterly absorbed. Here was someone sharing the real, unfiltered experience of living on a hill in Southwest France… not the glossy magazine version, but the beautiful, messy, authentic reality. The kind of writing that makes you feel like you’re sitting beside her, cup of coffee in hand, listening to stories about life in the French countryside.

And that’s when it hit me: if Susie’s voice was this captivating, how many other extraordinary writers from France were out there, sharing their stories to small audiences, completely unknown to the wider Francophile community?

Alors, I thought, we need to fix this.

The Collaboration Vision

You know what struck me?

Instead of these writers competing for the same readers, what if we lifted each other up? What if we created something that didn’t exist: une marée montante, a rising tide that raised all French voices?

The idea felt so simple that it was revolutionary. Rather than hoarding our audiences, we’d share them. Rather than keeping discoveries to ourselves, we’d become curators for each other. Rather than competing, we’d collaborate.

C’est ça ! This wasn’t just about building a directory. It was about building a community.

The Magic of Cross-Pollination

Here’s what I’ve discovered: when readers find one authentic French voice, they become hungry for more. Someone who loves Susie’s rural Southwest France stories might also adore the British journalist writing about Marseille culture, or the American pastry chef sharing Parisian insights, or the photographer capturing Provence lifestyle.

Incroyable!

The network effect started immediately, albeit slowly and on a small scale.

Writers began cross-promoting each other’s work. Readers went from following one French writer/ newsletter to discovering five, then ten. Connections formed between expat communities, native French writers, and international voices, all sharing the same love for authentic France.

That little collaboration queue graphic we use… You know the one showing people lined up to work together, well, it became real. Writers started reaching out, asking to be included. Readers suggested voices they’d discovered. The community began building itself, naturellement.

But not enough yet, we’ve only just begun!

*This little graphic represents us all queueing to #collaborate :)

Beyond the Echo Chamber

Before #FranceStack, most Francophiles were reading the same handful of well-known voices. Don’t get me wrong, those writers are popular for excellent reasons. But what about the wealth of lesser-known storytellers, most hiding in plain sight?

The 60-year-old shares sustainable living and cheese-making wisdom from rural France. The French poetry teacher who helps language learners fall in love with literature. The American who fled Paris for village life and writes about the transformation. The Australian photographer who documents hidden streets in Southern France and shares the stories of locals along the way.

These voices were scattered across Substack, invisible to readers who would absolutely adore them. They had no central meeting place, no way to find each other or help readers discover authentic perspectives beyond the clichés touristiques.

Quel dommage — what a shame, I thought.

The Salon Effect

What we’ve built feels less like a directory and more like a ‘salon’.

That quintessentially French tradition of gathering to exchange ideas, discover new perspectives, and form genuine connections over shared passions. Just imagine… it could be like this: You’re settling into your favourite chair with a cup of coffee, and I’m telling you about the most fascinating writers I’ve discovered. “Oh, you must read this one,” I’d say, “she writes about village life in Normandy with such warmth.” Or, “This writer captures the essence of Marseille culture like no one else.”

That’s the feeling I wanted to create: the intimacy of sharing.

Our writers don’t just coexist; they actively support each other. They guest post, share recommendations, interview each other, and collaborate on projects. They’ve created something beautiful: a generous community where success isn’t zero-sum.

And readers? They’re not just consuming content; they’re discovering new ways to gain a deeper understanding of France. They’re connecting with writers whose experiences mirror their own or introducing them to perspectives they’d never considered.

The Bigger Picture

This matters beyond just newsletters and Substacks, mon ami.

• We’re creating an authentic cultural exchange versus surface-level content.

• We’re supporting independent writers over big media conglomerates.

• We’re building bridges between different French communities, expats and natives, urbanites and rural dwellers, newcomers and long-term residents.

Every time someone discovers a new voice from France through #FranceStack,

• every time a writer gains a dedicated reader who truly connects with their perspective,

• every time authentic stories about French life reach someone who needed to hear them, that’s the #FranceStack collaboration working.

C’est magnifique, really.

Your Turn to Collaborate

The #FranceStack library now includes voices from every corner of France, every aspect of French life, every type of French experience. From Southwest hills to Parisian apartments, from medieval history to modern politics, from basic French lessons to sophisticated cultural analysis. Yet, every day I look for more.

But here’s the thing about collaboration: it works best when everyone participates.

Which new voice from France will you discover today?

• Browse the categories,

• follow someone new,

• share a writer you love.

• Connect with others and become part of the community that believes authentic French stories deserve to be shared, celebrated, and discovered.

Because when writers support each other, everyone wins, writers find their audiences, readers discover their new favourite voices, and France reveals itself in all its authentic, beautiful complexity.

Think of #FranceStack as our library, or even better, as our global salon, where connections are made and friendships flourish over our shared love of all things French.

Explore #FranceStack and join the collaboration: myfrenchlife.org/p/francestack

Which writer from France will surprise you today?

À bientôt,
Judy