Poet in residence: Rojo Córdova
In March we received the Mexican poet-slammer Rojo Córdoba (b. 1986) for a residency at Passa Porta. He worked for a month in Brussels on the occasion of SLOW#04 in the KVS. Afterwards he sent us a long futuristic poem about Brussels.
Rojo wrote the following explanatory note: ‘A long time ago there was a Belgian princess called Charlotte, better known in Mexico as Carlota: the daughter of Leopold I who became Empress of Mexico. Owing to the tragic end of her empire, she is still a legend in my country. What if our dying planet were saved in the distant future by a holy cyborg version of Charlotte? My sci-fi poem is a homage to this beautiful figure who connects Belgium and Mexico.’
Download ‘Bruselas3000’ below and listen to the poet read out his text in Spanish.
About the poet
Rojo Córdoba (b. 1986, Mexico City) is a passionate advocate of interdisciplinary poetry. He does a lot of literary research but also excels at slam poetry, spoken word, hip hop and acting. By his own account, he is reviving oral methods that date from before Gutenberg. With his energetic and honest performances, he also wans to combat criminality. Rojo Córdoba organized the first spoken-word festival of Mexico City. His words have also resonated internationally: his work has been translated into English, German and Dutch, and the poet taken part in, among others, the Felix Poetry Festival (Antwerp) and SLOW#4 (KVS, Brussels).