Video: Brussels International: “The City Next Door” by Rua Breathnach & guests
Brussels-based Irish writer Rua Breathnach invited 7 guests, all poets, actors or translators speaking and writing in different languages, for a unique reading from his recent poetry book The City Next Door during the online Passa Porta Festival 2021.
This extraordinary account of a long walk through contemporary Brussels was published by maelstrÖm reEvolution in 2020, containing translated sections in French, Dutch, Irish, Italian, Turkish, Lingala, Brussels dialect, German and Greek, alongside the original English text. Thanks to a collaboration with Darna vzw, a translation in Moroccan Arabic or Derija was added for the final section, read by Moroccan-Brussels poet Awatif Abdellah (photo).
Watch the video of this unique performance at Beursschouwburg and listen to the voices of Awatif Abdellah (Moroccan Arabic), Rua Breathnach (English and Irish), Tom Buron (French), Rémi Beelprez (Dutch), Moïse Ilunga Shambuyi (Lingala), Geert van Istendael (Brussels dialect), Francesco Italiano (Italian) and Francesca Spinelli (translator).