The Brussels literary society, Het beschrijf, has been a builder of bridges since its inception in 1998 – between Flanders and French-speaking Belgium, Flemish and international literature, literature and society, and literature and the other arts. It created the Passa Porta Literary Festival with dozens of venues throughout the city, and in the course of each cultural season has continued to offer a platform to numerous authors and artists.

In every initiative it takes, it is the complex, hybrid and polyglot city of Brussels that plays the leading role. Brussels is a rewarding city in which you work with literary and cultural openness, precisely because of its many identities, languages and cultures. Brussels’ hybrid nature anticipates the future of Europe, and of the world, by defying the boundaries of language, culture and national identity with its multitude of cultural relations.
 
In 2004 Het beschrijf launched two new initiatives: the Passa Porta International Literature Centre in the heart of Brussels, and a prestigious programme of residencies for artists. Passa Porta includes a multilingual bookshop, a literary platform, offices for literary organisations, a venue for workshops, and a flat. Its mission in Brussels, the capital of Europe, is to open doors between different languages, literatures and cultures.

The flat in Passa Porta is a distinctive Art Deco apartment with a floor area of 90 sq. m. It looks out over the picturesque Old Grain Market, right in the heart of Brussels. The neighbourhood offers a lot of exciting shops and bistros. Besides this exciting location the residence scheme offers accommodation for writers at a marvellous country house in the uniquely peaceful landscape west of Brussels. Two tasteful studio flats – with separate bathroom and study - plus two communal rooms, a dining room, a kitchen and two guest rooms are available to authors. The large attic is suitable for literary gatherings. The idyllic image is accentuated by the woods and the romantic grounds around the house, with its animals, orchard and kitchen garden. In the evening delicious meals are served, made with wholesome ingredients from this Arcadian garden. This country house, the Villa Hellebosch, is situated several hundred metres from the language boundary between Flanders and Wallonia.

Het beschrijf welcomes an average of 15 authors per year who stay either in the Passa Porta flat or at Villa Hellebosch. They can choose between city and country. Their stay varies from four to eight weeks. The authors themselves can apply, but just as often Het beschrijf invites them, either as part of an exchange programme with other residence programmes or upon recommendations by publishers, translators, universities, embassies or cultural institutions. Villa Hellebosch is also open to translators for short stays in joint-residency with the author they are translating.

The three basic concepts of our literary residencies are hospitality, creation and exchange. Hospitality: authors are given the opportunity to work on a manuscript in perfect peace, far from their familiar surroundings, and to discover their new environment at their own tempo.
Creation: the author is given the time necessary to concentrate on writing a new work and can set his/her own balance between creative composition and inspiring encounters. The residencies at Passa Porta and Villa Hellebosch repeatedly appear to set authors in motion, to induce a flow of creativity, and they often return home with much more material than they had ever dared hope for. Sometimes their choice of Brussels or Flanders is quite deliberate, in connection with specific research (politics, culture, history, etc.).
Exchange: the regular presence of this intellectual potential from all over the world enriches the whole cultural life of Brussels and Flanders. Getting to know foreign writers who spend some time here and look at our country from a different angle is an inspiring and enjoyable experience. For this reason we also ask every author-in-residence to write a short piece on their experiences in and views on Belgium, Flanders and Brussels. These essays appear on the website www.residencesinflanders.be and are sometimes published in Belgian newspapers. Some authors-in-residence are given the opportunity to introduce themselves to the public in the course of a programme at Passa Porta, and there are also regular private gatherings where lively discussions take place between interested parties of the Brussels cultural community. The other side of the coin is equally important: authors-in-residence discover Flemish literature in translation, and are helpful in establishing contacts with literary organisations in their own country.

To stimulate exchanges between different countries, literatures and cultures, and also to give our own authors the opportunity to find their way to inspiring places in new surroundings, Het beschrijf has initiated several exchange programmes: while we host authors from Quebec, the Netherlands, Estonia, Croatia and Wales, Flemish authors will be staying in Montreal, Amsterdam, Käsmu, Dubrovnik and Aberystwyth. The intention is that the author’s visit should help us learn about each other’s literature and create a context for further cultural exchange.

The European literary scene has changed radically in recent years, and this includes a substantial increase in such initiatives as festivals, literature and residency centres, plus opportunities for cross-border cooperation. The creation of a dynamic and inspiring forum such as HALMA opens up excellent prospects for authors and literature from all these different countries and regions. Something truly exciting to look forward to.

Sigrid Bousset