Adventures in Belgium: Zaoem, Day One

Day one of Zaoem: Poëzie van Nu (an international polypoetry festival) featured the unveiling of a visual poetry exhibit, readings by Flemish and Dutch poets, and an open stage. Before the festival began, I enjoyed a tour of Poëziecentrum, the regional poetry facility with library, performance space, and bookshop. The tour's highlight included an historical exhibit of experimental Flemish poetry from the last 150 years.

Pre-festival dinner found introductions to many Zaoem participants, including Mark Insingel, Vrouwkje Tuinman, Stijn Vranken, Leevi Lehto, and eduard escoffet. Leevi, eduard, and I wandered Ghent before planting ourselves at the Flemish/Dutch reading. I was particularly entranced by the poets' use of pause as they read. All voices felt quiet, intimate and invitational, and they used silence in most delicious ways.

The visual poetry exhibit was a super introduction to several new works I'd not yet seen, and it was neat to see the works crisply displayed on computer screens, sliding one after another.