New novel set in Antwerp is a tale of two cities
Musician-turned-novelist Ivo Victoria’s third book takes us to the point of no return, then asks “How did we get here?”
Based on true events
In the 1990s-set novel, three friends who have turned the south of Antwerp into their playground stumble on an abandoned building that was destroyed by fire; just one apartment was left unharmed. During the course of three nights, they break in and take thousands of jazz records, a stuffed balloon fish and several harrowing letters written by a lonely widow during the 1980s to a DJ at Radio Annick.
Years later, the narrator returns to the scene of the crime, haunted by the past and trying to put the pieces together.
“The story is based on actual events,” Victoria (pictured) explains. “There was a fire and letters, so the basics of the book offered a lot of possibilities. Then I started doing some research about radio, talked with people about the neighbourhood, consulted guides and consulted my own memories.”
Containing many autobiographical elements, Dieven van vuur can best be described as an urban novel, letting the city of Antwerp play a vital role. “I found the story of that abandoned building in the north of Antwerp very evocative,” Victoria adds, “and wanted to contrast it with a story that was based in the south of the city, which had a totally different atmosphere.” The result is southern whimsy vs northern hardship.
Creative hub
The south of Antwerp was blossoming, creatively speaking, in the 1990s. Antwerp was the European Capital of Culture in 1993, the Antwerp Six had made their breakthrough at London’s Fashion Week a few years previously, and the band dEUS had conquered not only Belgium but Europe.
Antwerp was the place to be to express yourself creatively
“A lot of writers, actors and musicians lived there, so it was the place to be to express yourself creatively and mingle with like-minded individuals,” Victoria says. “Across town in Borgerhout, things were taking a darker turn as Vlaams Blok was being established, giving Antwerp an interesting dynamic.”
Just like life, the novel was a process of becoming. It was in constant flux until Victoria gradually decided which way to go: something that can also be said about the characters and Antwerp itself, which are both continuingly evolving.
One of the city guides Victoria talked to told him that it took about 100 years before a borough came full circle. Take Zurenborg, in the south-east of the city, for instance. Victoria: “That started off as a rich area, which can be seen by the stately houses on the Cogels Osylei. It evolved into a middle-class neighbourhood, but ultimately people started moving away, and the area started to become dilapidated.
“Enter the young families who wanted to renovate the houses to their former glory, and now it’s a trendy neighbourhood again. The same happened to the south: When I lived there, it was mainly populated by musicians and artists who moved there for the low rent, but now it’s a very exclusive area.”
Fleeting memories
Dieven van vuur deals with those magical fleeting moments that some spend their lives chasing but which will never return. It’s a melancholy novel filled with longing that tries to answer a universal question: How did I end up here?
It started as a hobby, with no intention to publish, but one thing led to another
There are certain moments in a person’s life that attain iconic status when we look back at them, even though they might not have been that spectacular at the time. “It’s hard to remember the decisions that sculpted our lives,” Victoria says. “It’s easier to remember the mistakes.”
Just like the characters who are carried to unexpected destinations by life’s eternal flow, Victoria’s transition into writing was an unforeseen turn of events. “I used to be a musician,” he says, “and wasn’t particularly interested in books. But when I moved to Amsterdam, a whole new world opened up for me. I stopped making music and started writing in 2005. If I had stayed in Antwerp, the chances were slim that I would have written anything. It just started out as a hobby, with no intention to publish, but then one thing led to another.”
Dieven van vuur is a book about the origins of stories, how they are intertwined with locations and how fiction emerges from facts. Eloquent, playful and heartbreaking ,Victoria’s novel looks back with a whiff of nostalgia at those elusive moments that make us who we are, moments that we can’t seem to grasp; as fickle as a jazz jam session, they are lost forever.
Photo: Devon de Koning
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