The lit lovers

Journalists, professors and ordinary readers come together in Antwerp for two of the region’s best literary festivals

Quintessentially Flemish: Walter van den Broeck

The days are getting noticeably shorter. Soon the winds will be blowing and rain will be falling – perfect, then, for a cup of hot cocoa and a good book.

But where to start? Never was the phrase “so many books, so little time” as relevant as it is now. In order to help you make your autumn selection, may I suggest you find time in the coming weeks for not one but two literary festivals in Antwerp.

On 20 September, you’ll find the 10th edition of De Morgen newspaper’s Zuiderzinnen: Festival of the Word. This year the theme is “Moeder, waarom lezen wij?” (Mother, Why Do We Read?), referring to the classic 1932 Flemish novel Moeder, waarom leven wij? (Mother, Why Do We Live?).

Each year, a variety of authors, actors and even musicians head to the south of Antwerp to entertain, educate and surprise using the simplicity and power of words. This year’s theme has the participants going back to where it all started, to the books of their youth that made them want to keep reading.

Although the heart of the operation will be Antwerp’s trendy Zuid neighbourhood, countless locations will host interviews, debates and bittersweet performances by Flemish and Dutch authors such as Bart Moeyaert, Christoph Vekeman, Erwin Mortier, Joke van Leeuwen, Pia de Jong and one of this year’s Golden Owl winners, Robert Vuijsje.

Flemish folk singer Raymond van het Groenewoud kicks it all off with a concert in the city’s Royal Museum of Fine Arts. The museum, along with the Permeke library, will host a secondhand and antiquarian book fair. A programme especially designed for children in the Steiner School finds authors like Marc de Bel and Marc Tijsmans showing kids the fun and fantastical world of fiction.

The other festival, the other book

Two weeks later, Het andere boek (The Other Book) will head in an entirely different direction – abroad. The goal of this festival, still flourishing after 33 years, is to get up close and personal with both local and international writers. Readers get the chance to meet contemporary greats in intimate interviews, readings and debates.

Fiction, poetry and non-fiction are equally feted at this intellectually stimulating adventure. This year, the Balkans, Iran, the Great Lakes of Africa and even the suburbs of Edegem will show a way of life at once completely foreign and surprisingly familiar. Subject matter is eclectic, to say the least, ranging from Darwin to Islam with both the First and the Second World Wars somewhere in between.

This festival, which, at its heart, honours the authors behind the books also gives you the chance to poke around the latest releases at the many retail booths.

Some highlights of this year’s event: American investigative journalist Andrew Rice gives a talk on murder and memory; Lisa Appignanesi, director of the Freud Museum in London and author of Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors, leads a discussion on psychoanalysis; and the Kurdish award-winning poet Baban will be interviewed by Flemish poet and journalist Bart Stouten.

Closer to home, Flemish writer Tom Lanoye will present his latest novel Sprakeloos (Speechless); Leonard Nolens reads from his famous diaries and Walter van den Broeck debuts his new novel Terug naar Walden (Back to Walden).