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Flirt Flamand is Flanders’ slogan as guest of honour at Foire du Livre in Brussels

Flanders will be the guest of honour at the Foire du Livre de Bruxelles in Tour & Taxis from 14 to 17 February 2019. With the slogan ‘Flirt Flamand’, Flemish literature will be seducing the Francophone reader, Flemish authors will be flirting with a Francophone audience and the Flemish book trade will be getting to know their Francophone colleagues better. And vice versa, as Flirt Flamand is seeking to build a bridge between Dutch and French speaking Belgian book lovers.

Flirt Flamand campaign

With a space measuring 250 m² in the middle of the exhibition centre, literature from Flanders will have pride of place at the Foire du Livre. Much of this space will be taken up by a theatre, which will host non-stop appearances from authors. All genres will be represented (poetry, prose, children’s and young adult literature, comics and non-fiction) in a dynamic and diverse programme (slam poetry, lively debates, workshops and seminars, in-depth interviews, joint presentations, etc.).

The Foire du Livre is a French-language book fair. As such, one of the key aims of this campaign is to make a Francophone readership more familiar with Flemish literature in French translation. Moreover, with a view to attracting a Dutch-language audience from Brussels and Flanders to the Foire du Livre, the Flemish pavilion will host a bilingual programme.

The eye-catching logo of the Flirt Flamand campaign, which was devised and developed by Antwerp-based communication agency Shtick, is a paper bouquet. On Saturday 27 October, at the opening of the Antwerp Book Fair, this bouquet began its journey around Dutch and French speaking literary Belgium. The Culture Minister of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation presented it to her Flemish counterpart, who in turn passed it on to another book lover. The bouquet’s journey will end on Thursday 14 February 2019 – Valentine’s Day, of course – at the Foire du Livre in Brussels.

The Flirt Flamand team with the Flemish ministre for Culture
Oct 31st, 2018