SHORT in Brussels
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During the Short Story Week we will bring the cream of the genre to Belgium not once but twice. For an evening in Ghent and an evening in Brussels. The bookshop Limerick and the international house of literature Passa Porta have been committed to the short-story genre for years, and from now on they will work together on one initiative: SHORT.
Annelies Verbeke, an author whose oeuvre is rich both novels and short prose, is the driving force behind the new initiative and will also act as its curator. She will bring the crème de la crème of short-story authors to the stage.
Hassan Blasim is an Iraqi-born film director and writer, living in Finland. Since he wrote his first collection of shorts, The Madman of Freedom Square, his writing became highly awarded and got translated into more than 20 languages. He was described by The Guardian as “perhaps the greatest writer of Arabic fiction alive.”
Unfortunately, Hassan Blasim has been forced to cancel his visit due to an unforeseen illness. We wish him a speedy recovery! He will be present by virtue of his words, however, since Muhned Bnana will be there to read Blasim's story aloud.
Caroline Lamarche is a French-speaking Belgian writer. She has written novels, stories, poems and radio plays. Her work is published by Éditions Gallimard. Lamarche has won various literary prizes, including the 2019 Prix Goncourt de la nouvelle for her collection of short stories Nous sommes à la lisière.
Maria Vlaar is a Dutch journalist, reviewer and short-story writer. For her debut collection Diepe aarde , she won the 2019 J.M.A. Biesheuvel Prize, the only short-story prize in the Dutch-language area. The jury praised these melancholy stories and jet-black dystopias, arguing that the collection ‘honours the genre and breathes new life into it’.
Kristien Hemmerechts is a Dutch-speaking Belgian author of an exceptionally rich oeuvre. She debuted in 1987 with the novella Een zuiluil van zout and since then has published 15 novels – including Wit zand and De vrouw die de honden te eten gaf (published in English as The Woman Who Fed the Dogs) – as well as numerous essays, columns, travel stories, diaries and ego documents. Although often overlooked, a considerable part of her oeuvre consists of short stories. At the request of Passa Porta, Kristien Hemmerechts has written a new story for this edition of SHORT.
Sanneke van Hassel is a Dutch author of short stories, novels and non-fiction. She won the BNG Nieuwe literatuurprijs 2008 for her first two collections of short stories IJsregen and Witte veder. She then published two novels and three collections of short stories. With Annelies Verbeke she compiled Naar de stad, an anthology of short stories from all over the world. In 2013 Van Hassel won the Anna Blaman Prize for her oeuvre and dedication to the genre of short stories. Her latest collection of short stories, Nederzettingen, was highly praised.
with live drawings by Randall Casaer
and lovely music by Chantal Acda !
Over Annelies Verbeke, curator of SHORT:
Annelies Verbeke (b. 1976) made her debut in 2003 with the novel SLAAP! , with which she won the Flemish Debut Prize and the Gouden Ezelsoor. Since then she has published four more novels, written numerous plays and scenarios as well as countless short stories that have been collected in three books: Groener gras, Veronderstellingen and Hallelujah. Annelies Verbeke’s love of the short story has made her an advocate of the genre in the Dutch-speaking world.
ill. © coline cornélis
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