Robert Menasse versus Karel De Gucht

At the beginning of 2018 well-known Austrian writer Robert Menasse talked about Die Hauptstadt, a novel set in Brussels, partly written during a residency at Passa Porta. A story brimming with colourful characters and strange machinations, but also a satire of the European Commission’s back rooms and a critique of new forms of nationalism.

At KVS Robert Menasse read an excerpt from the novel and had a discussion with fellow-writer Geert van Istendael and former European Commissioner Karel De Gucht.The debate between the author and the politician was a fiery one! But who had the last word? Or better yet, who had the best one?

Passa Porta, Arbeiderspers, Goethe Institut Brüssel