Various locations
From literary fiction, comics, and poetry to crime novels, essays, and workshops: the literary programme offers, during EUROPALIA ESPAÑA, an extensive overview of Spanish literature.
Month after month, a varied programme from Spain engages in dialogue with the Belgian scene.
October will mark the official start of the programme with a mural and a workshop by author and illustrator Jesús Cisneros at Muntpunt, on migration and the talk between María Guerra and Mariola Cubells.
Other current themes will be addressed in several round tables such as Inhabiting the Body: Women, where authors Inés Martín Rodrigo and Gemma Ruiz Palá, together with the scientific researcher María Dolores Puga will discuss topics such as motherhood, gender, and aging.
At KVS (Brussels), Andrés Lima, Jeroen Olyslaegers, and Gerardo Salinas will speak about historical memory, while the Instituto Cervantes (Brussels) will host the cycle Narrating Horror with Gabriela Ybarra, Javier de Isusi, and Irene Villa, reflecting on the direct and indirect impact of terrorism.
November will be the month of poetry and noir fiction. In collaboration with Maison de la Poésie (Namur) and Poëziecentrum (Ghent), Tapas Poeticas will take place. Four Spanish poets will whisper poems in their native language: Ángela Segovia (Spanish), Miren Agur Meabe (Basque), Mireia Calafell (Catalan), and Alba Cid (Galician). At Viernulvier (Ghent), their poems will be combined with those of two Dutch-speaking poets, Maya Wuytack and Jonas Bruyneel, along with a culinary tasting.
Additionally, Poëziecentrum will publish a selection of poems by authors affected by the Spanish Civil War and a text by researcher Reyes Vila-Belda.
The Nuit Blanche du Noir festival (Mons) will focus on Spanish noir literature. Writers such as Elia Barceló, Olga Merino, Aro Sainz de la Maza, Ángel de la Calle, Ana Martínez Muñoz, and Berna González Harbour will take part. Writer Elena Medel will carry out a creative residency at Passa Porta, where she will give a workshop on how daily city life can serve as inspiration for writing. She will also participate in a round table with journalist and writer Beatriz Serrano. Likewise, we will have the participation of Manuel Vilas, Nuria Barrios, and Jesús Marchamalo in sessions related to literary translation and, finally, the Graffix festival will offer a space dedicated to comics and illustration, featuring artist Begoña García-Alén.
December will begin with the commemoration of the 600th anniversary of the arrival of the Roma people in Spain, in collaboration with Muntpunt and the Roma Feminist Library. The programme will include key figures linked to Spanish Roma culture such as Pilar Távora, Noelia Cortés, or López Bustamante.
The last month of the year will also include activities centered on comics, with Teresa Valero participating at the Comic Art Museum (Brussels), and, in collaboration with four municipal libraries, Haleh Chinikar and Bea Lema will develop a collective work based on the concept of “home”, using poetry, embroidery, and illustration.
Marta Echaves will take part in a panel on friendship and power at Beursschouwburg (Brussels), on the occasion of a performance by the young theatre collective Las Huecas on this subject.
In January, the programme will close with a discussion at Passa Porta on the bond between human beings and water, with writers Jesús Carrasco and Virginia Mendoza.
Additionally, a special edition of the POETAS festival of contemporary poetry will be held at Maison Poème in Brussels, curated by Pep Olona, who invites poets Angelo Nestore, Cristian Alcaraz, Elsa Moreno, and María Sevilla. The final event at Bozar will be an evening with Agustín Fernández Mallo, Miguel Ángel Hernández, and Laura Fernández, revolving around science, memory, art, and the marvellous — a conversation on the future and the limits of fiction, but also on fiction as a powerful tool to capture and critically examine our world.
In collaboration with Instituto Cervantes and AC/E Acción Cultural Española