Adventures in Belgium: Brussels

After Ghent, I spent a few days in Brussels hanging out with YA novelist Leila Rasheed, whose debut Chips, Beans, and Limousines: The Fantastic Diary of Bathsheba Clarice de Trop! is quite clever, delightful, romptastic. Copious thanks to Leila for her generous hospitality!! We enjoyed a fab walking tour of Brussels, one of the most exciting meals of my life (Comocomo, where Basque cuisine is created fresh and travels on a conveyor belt), and text/dancing at the Iceland on the Edge Festival.

For the festival, we met again with Helen, Jelle, and Maja at the BOZAR, in the cavernous Henry Le Boeuf Hall (seats 2100, with a King's box) to watch several poets. First up was Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl, who read his series of dictator sound poems. Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason lip-synced his Montevideo poem via video broadcast. Kristín Svava's Icelandic/English poetry was accompanied by silent video of assorted dance-film clips. And Sjón ended the evening in a wrestling mask.

Following the poetry, we moved to a smaller subterranean space for music concerts. The audience felt largely confused in such a gallery space, unsure whether to view the music as an exhibit (passive in their watching) or to move, seethe, writhe to the cacophony. Leila, Maja, and I chose the latter, as the music of Stillupsteypa and Ghostigital infected us with flail.

Other highlights from my time in Brussels included much schlepping around the city with Eiki, and a visit to Sterling Books ("the English bookshop in the heart of Brussels"), where Helen works. You can see Wide slumber and Lemon Hound on the Sterling bookshelf, below!!