On the occasion of the celebrations around the European Day of Languages, EUNIC in Brussels in cooperation with the STIB will be displaying poems in their original language and in translation by poets from all across Europe.
Inspired by the successful and longstanding edition of Poems on the Underground in London and Wiersze w Metrze in Warsaw, now in its fourth edition, as well as similar projects run in various cities all over the world, EUNIC in Brussels is bringing European poetry into the Brussels metro system for the first time. For the celebration of the European Day of Languages on September 26th and the promotion of cultural diversity in the European Union, a collection of poems by aspiring or established artists from all across Europe will be displayed in their original language for the duration of at least one month.
The selected poems will represent a wide variety of European styles and perspectives, reflecting the national character of each participating member institute of EUNIC. Since the project also aims to establish a connection with the Brussels local community, all poems will be translated into French and Dutch, allowing every passenger to enjoy the work of the artists and transform their daily routine commute into an inspiring journey.
For enthused travellers, who would like to discover more about the poets, their work, share their thoughts or even express their talent and present a few poetry lines of their own, an interactive website gathering the poems will be dedicated to the project.
For the launch of the campaign on the European Day of Languages on the 26th of September a number of events around poetry, multilingualism and cultural diversity will be organised by EUNIC in Brussels with the support of multiple partners including all EUNIC in Brussels member institutes, the STIB and the international house of literature Passa Porta.
26 September 2011, 17:30 to 19:00 Come and join the Flash Mob Dance in four of the metro stations, where the poems will be displayed. Starting at Gare du Midi/Zuidstation at 17:30, the Flash Mob Dancers will move to Porte de Namur/Naamsepoort, Merode and Roodebeek.
For an intensive training, come to the practice sessions every Sunday until the 26.09, starting on 4th September 15:30 to 17:30. Venue: Health City, Chaussée de Charleroi 146, 1060 Bruxelles. Anybody can join!
26 September 2011, 20:00 Launch of the campaign in presence of seven poets taking part in the project: Carl Norac (Belgium), Emily Ballou (UK), Clara Janés (Spain), Morten Sondergaard (Denmark), Claudiu Komartin (Romania), Radek Malý (Czech Republic) and Lieke Marsman (the Netherlands) will have a discussion moderated by Peter Vermeersch from the Brussels Poetry Collective, and provide the audience with poetry reading.
27 September 2011, 20:00 Ceremony Debut Award Het Liegend Konijn 2011. This bi-annual prize rewards a young Dutch poet. In 2011, the prize was assigned to Lieke Marsman for her poetry collection Wat ik mijself graag voorhoud. TRANSPOESIE poets have been invited to read the translation of the winning poem in their own language.
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