By MBrand
The festival, a brainchild of nomad cultural curator and former journalist Louise Baterna, founder and president of the Philippine Art and Culture Exchange (PACE), will take place this at the historic Galerie Bortier, a gallery of superb architecture once dedicated to ancient editions and second hand books and other publications.
Baterna, who is the festival director, emphasized that this is more than just a literary festival: “Our aim is to show the rich heritage of Asian literature and provide a platform for Asian contemporary voices in the heart of Europe.”
This literary festival reflects the growing vibrancy of Asian literary creation. It will feature award-winning writers, emerging authors, intellectuals, and creatives from Asia and the diaspora. The event’s theme, “Between Worlds: Reviving the Silk Route of Expression,” also aims to breath new life into ancient dialogues while fostering contemporary intercultural conversations.
“It is also cultural bridge-building exercise that honors historical connections between the east and west while fostering new creative partnerships,” Baterna added. “That is also the reason why we invited European authors because we believe that literature is “borderless”.
Among the Filipino writers and creatives invited to speak in this festival are poet A.D. Capili (Belgium), Professor Asuncion Fresnoza-Flot of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, award-winning Criselda Yabes (France) Dorie Reyes Polo, Claire Paladin and Maria Renker (Germany), Maya Butalid (the Netherlands), Myrani Miranda Pesquet and children’s book illustrator Darlee Urbiztondo (Belgium).
Many Filipino authors also participated in the virtual meet “Words Through Screens” which allowed them to introduce themselves and talk about their book. These video capsules will be shown during the festival on a big screen. Among selected and their respective books are Maxine Pulgar Ramos (“Boba Girl”), Jansen Bognot (Something is happening in Blake’s Mind”), Techni Calibuso (“Bloom Beyond Expectations”), Emaine Coronel (“Lola Fely’s Front Porch”), Gretchen Largoza (“Finish the Sentence”), Anjel Reyes (“Pocketful of Regrets”), MGV Reamico (“Befriending my Amygdala”), Jenny Albinio (“Diwata and the Dinagyang Festival”), Astrid Sadaya (“I sea Poetry”), Kahlil Carozo (“Rajah Versus Conquistador) and Danabelle Gutierrez (“The F Word”).
Invited to grace the opening cocktail is Deputy Chief of Mission and Consul General Pabs Mendoza of the Philippine Embassy in Brussels while three Filipino musical talents were also invited to perform during the opening cocktail. They are Belgium-based Denise Musni, Mark Arquilla and Clarice Manuel.
PACE, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating platforms for Filipino and Asian creatives in Belgium and beyond, partnered with the Asian Group of Literature, a social enterprise that promotes reading, translating, peer reviews and publishing through its large ecosystem which includes the Asian Prizes for literature and the Asian Review.
The Asian Literary Festival in Brussels is the first in a “caravan” of Asian Literary Festivals to be held around the world in Odisha (India), Gampaha (Sri Lanka), Nairobi (Kenya) and Abu Dhabi (UAE).
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