Spring brings us longer days, budding greenery, and plenty of new Flemish voices that we love to introduce to you. There’s something here for everyone.
‘Wolf’ is a book you’ll want to read at one sitting.
De Volkskrant
Wolf travels as far north as his bank balance will allow, without telling anyone where he is. Wolf wanted to be a writer; his sister Lara became one. In the autobiographical ‘Wolf’ she looks back, ten years later, on their childhood in a family with five children, on the turbulent months after Wolf’s disappearance and the even more turbulent years after his death. A rock-solid book about grief and profound sorrow.
Hell Herders, creatures that are half-human and half-reptile, have enslaved humanity for many years and they hold sway in the Towers of Hell. Lexa has only ever lived in Level 5, the vast fifth floor of the towers, where existence is tough. When she finds herself, completely unexpectedly, in the very comfortable Level 1, nothing is what it seems. Revolution is brewing in the Hell Towers. But who is on the right side? And why does Lexa turn out to be so important?
A poetic, quirky play, inspired by the Orpheus myth
Theaterkrant
Lucie and her partner Andreas drive to the south of France together. On the way, Lucie looks back at the family holidays of their childhood. For a long time you think Lucie and Andreas are together in the car, until it suddenly transpires that Andreas is not in the passenger seat. ‘Faren’ is a tale of sorrow and mourning, and of how, despite the presence of such intense emotions, you must dare to look ahead.
Spit knows how to squeeze your throat again. A book without compromises.
NRC Handelsblad
In this deeply personal work, Spit reflects on her difficult relationship with her mother, who is terminally ill. Spit’s mother had long struggled with alcohol and found communication very difficult, often expressing a desire to disappear. Growing up this way, Spit internalized some of these patterns, resulting in a complex relationship with her own body. ‘Autobiography of My Body’ is a deeply moving, confrontational, yet ultimately loving exploration of a daughter’s attempt to understand both her mother and herself.
Julie is a 37-year-old performance artist with a broken relationship to deal with when her father offers her a sum of money. He advises her to have her eggs frozen and to invest in real estate. Julie is not planning simply to accept that role, however. In a radically honest and vulnerable quest, her attempt to liberate herself results in a collective family breakdown.
Everybody has an opinion about Roma, but few people really know them. Their history is very complex, powerful and tragic; their diversity is so vast that no single flag can encompass it. One cannot speak of ‘the Roma’ as a single entity, there is not one Roma community. There are many, and they differ greatly from one another.
In Chief Dragon’s Camp Savage Jonnie can be his wild self, and you quickly deduce that Jonnie is often branded ‘too wild’. The stylish and dynamic illustrations are a jumble of colourful collages, full of crazy characters in brightly contrasting colours and a challenging interplay of lines. The strength of this book lies in what happens between the lines and the brushstrokes: Jonnie’s search for who he is, in a context in which he can be himself.
Dystopolis is the last city on earth. Abdulla is a young and ambitious police intern who dreams of the impossible: vanquishing the Cannibal. Can he make the difference? Miel Vandepitte creates a dystopic world full of outlandish creatures and breathtaking cityscapes. ‘Dystopolis’ could be called pulp, but if so then it’s pulp of the graphically fantastic kind.
The coolest, funniest and craziest children’s book of 2024
Wonderland by Alice
During a bank robbery, Wille’s father tries to stop the criminal Miss Halitosis, but with her poisonous breath she melts him without a second thought. Wille is left orphaned, with only his books to comfort him. Fortunately he meets two new friends, and they work out a plan to thwart the seemingly unstoppable Miss Halitosis. In sparkling prose and with a great sense of absurdist humour, Van Gas tumbles Wille out of each adventure into the next.
Not a chapter goes by without Terrin opening the door to a philosophical issue. *****
Het Nieuwsblad
Professional photographer Simon travels to Italy with his daughter Romy to scatter the ashes of his deceased ex-wife Carla in the sea. That same day a mysterious sum of money is paid into his bank account. The money serves as compensation for the fact that he cannot return to his former life. He goes in search of a way out.
This play delves into the forgotten connections between the first atomic bomb and the colonial history of Belgium
etcetera
Stijn Devillé brings together four contrasting decors and eras surrounding the bombing of Hirsohima: New York 1933, London 1944, Hiroshima 1945 and Congo 2025. This play lays bare the political and social responsibility for the trade in raw materials. Devillé sheds light on the political backroom music, the moral arguments and the human suffering that nuclear weapons have left to us. This play is highly topical.
Instagrammable. What Art Tells Us about Social Media
The unexpected connection between ancient arts and social media. Highly recommended.
De Morgen
In ‘Instagrammable – What Art Tells Us About Social Media’, Koenraad Jonckheere delves into the surprising similarities between 2,500 years of European art history and our modern image culture on social media. He reveals how centuries-old ideas about observation, registration and imagination continue to influence how we deal with digital images even today.
A racy novel with a tight narrative arc, rhythmical language and witty observations.
Humo
As the wife of the successful author Georg Sanctorum, Sandra places her life entirely at his service. She is his manager, agent, editor and muse. One morning she finds a letter in which Georg puts an end to their twelve-year relationship. Sandra breaks down and decides to change her life radically. With iron discipline, she will force herself into debauchery. From now on she’ll smoke and drink every day, jump into bed with strangers and be lazy.
This book more than lives up to its ambitious title.
Mappalibri
Tom Schamp takes readers on a surprising journey through the alphabet, in colourful pages that guarantee hours of viewing pleasure, both to children and adults. Every letter is given a double-page spread, filled with small pictures, bits of text and word games. In contrast to most ABC books, the words pictured don’t necessarily start with the letter in question. Schamp is unbeatable at capturing the visual beauty of letters.
Unusual graphic approach. Perfect example of a promising debut
9e kunst
Johanna finds herself in the luxurious Hotel Paradiso, the hereafter in the form of a resort, complete with goodie bag, segway tour and information points. But it soon turns out that even after death, life isn’t that simple. The visually interesting style of ‘Hotel Paradiso’ marks Fin Ilsbroekx out as an up-and-coming talent.
In the extraordinarily beautiful play ‘Desire’, four people long to be seen. *****
NRC
Four queer men share their (unfulfilled) longings, thoughts, doubts and fears with each other and with the audience. It is tightly composed and divided into three parts, the central part also deals with the antithesis of desire: fear and sorrow. The language and phrasing of ‘Desire’ are simple but powerful, while the composition and repetition form a polyphony and evoke images that feel both intimate and universal.
An exhilarating, emotional novel whose relatable characters and exciting plot draw you in right from the start *****
London Literary Scouting
Sixty-year-old cardiologist Charles Dumont is on the point of boarding a flight to Naples. He has an appointment there with his past. Thirty years ago his first wife, Sylviane, mother of his daughter Claudia, disappeared without trace. In a rich and expressive style reminiscent of Italian cinema, Dangre focuses on a stormy relationship and examines the destructive (or liberating?) urge to break away from your own life.
Immensely exciting and heartrending. De Sterck writes in pithy, dazzlingly rich language.
Boekwijzer
Amber goes to live on her own in an old labourer’s cottage that fifty years earlier was the scene of the tragic disappearance of a seven-year-old girl. Sonja was never found. Amber becomes haunted by the case and old wounds are opened up. In a mixture of vivid Flemish colloquial speech and poetic sentences, De Sterck rolls out a well-balanced plot with an exceptionally tragic ending that tears at the heartstrings.
‘Handsome Jo’ is a nuanced novel about how to be yourself. It is not a ‘heavy’ novel, but you’ll find humour and levity everywhere in it.
Bazarow
Jo Stormvogel is a striking figure. He grows up in a large Catholic family in postwar Flanders. As a young man he attracts the attention of a monk, who abuses the boy’s trust with sexually transgressive behaviour. As an adult, Jo exlores his sexuality, throws himself into the vibrant nightlife of the 1970s and meets Felix, with whom he will share his life. With his powerful allure, the impulsive protagonist seems born lucky, but ultimately he proves no match for the adversity inflicted on him by time.
In her highly anticipated second prose work, award-winning author Charlotte Van den Broeck explores the lost Tasmanian tiger’s legacy. Drawing on the tragic ecological history of the Tasmanian tiger, she reflects on loss, on hope in times of climate crisis, and the destructive and restorative powers of stories.
A clever piece of young-adult theatre about the dangers of a social-engineering ideal taken too far
pzazz
In ‘A Quick Back-and-Forth’, Christine, Hekuran and Susanne warmly welcome the audience to the pre-launch of Worth It 2.0 – The Next Step, their biggest and most experimental project of all time. It's a satirical thought experiment for teenagers and adults about the route to success. The play carries techno-optimism and self-improvement to their most extreme and horrifying consequences.
The neighbourhood wants a party. Not just any old party – no, a party with children’s slides and fireworks, swimming and skating. But what to do about Hans? In this upbeat picture book, Bouke Billiet has the diverse cast of neighbours speak with one voice, creating a wonderful atmosphere of togetherness. Marjolein Pottie presents spreads packed with fun details and full of exuberant colours, set in a contemporary urban environment.
A book to buy sight unseen, by a great graphic novelist
9e kunst
In ‘The Chosen One’, the biblical story of Jacob runs in parallel with that of a contemporary story of a man who sacrifices others for his career. It presents a critical look at what success can mean, with no shortage of the dark humour that Spruyt has made so much his own. An exceptionally valuable extension to his oeuvre.
In the midst of the information overload we need to develop a new attitude that requires a critical point of view that we have to keep on training to learn to ignore the information that does not deserve attention. Ignaas Devisch shows how such a well-balanced ignorance can reclaim a well-informed position in the world. It is high time to stop informing ourselves - and democracy - to death.
The author approaches everything that is human with a loving, interested, serene objectivity. –
Gazet Van Antwerpen
In sixteen short stories, Roger Van de Velde shines a kaleidoscopic light on a time spent in prison, where, as a journalist he ended up after forging prescriptions for Palfium, a painkiller to which he was addicted. With a sense of the grotesque, he manages to describe his fellow inmates and comical situations that reveal all the many layers of a character.
