Basque poet Luis Garde at Transpoesie

The Transpoesie poetry festival, held every year in Brussels, begins on September 26, marking the European Day of Languages. The festival celebrates the culture and languages of Europe through poetry. Activities will take place on four consecutive Thursdays, ending on October 17.

The Transpoesie poetry festival, held every year in Brussels, begins on September 26, marking the European Day of Languages. The festival celebrates the culture and languages of Europe through poetry. Activities will take place on four consecutive Thursdays, ending on October 17.

Basque poet Luis Garde will take part in poetry reading on the first Thursday, September 26, at the Muntpunt cultural centre in Brussels, alongside poets from different European origins. While each author read a poem in their own language, their words will be simultaneously translated across the screen in English, French and Dutch. These are the poets who will join Garde at the event: Elmar Kuiper (Friesland), Edna Azulay (the Netherlands), Jan Škrob (the Czech Republic) and Lív Maria Róadóttir Jæger (Faroe Islands).

The Transpoesie festival, organised by the EUNIC net (European Union National Institutes for Culture), is in its 9th consecutive year. The festival celebrates Europe’s cultural diversity and languages through contemporary poetry. Twenty-two countries and regions of Europe will be participating, with twenty poets attending the festival at four events: September 26 (European Day of Languages), and October 3, 10 and 17. In addition, several poems by the guest poets, including one by Garde, have been displayed on previous days on Belgian public transportation as an advertising banner, each one in their own language and translated into French and Flemish.

The Etxepare Basque Institute, as an associate member of the EUNIC net, is in charge of facilitating the presence of at least one Basque poet each year at Transpoesie, in collaboration with the Basque Delegation of the European Union.