‘Book presentation: Wat wij alleen horen - Saskia De Coster’

Kenji Minogue concert cancelled - new date: 29-10

‘The Great Flemish novel is not dead.’- Herman Koch

Melanie is a single mother, who is determined not to let people walk all over her any longer; Claus is keen to help his mum and calls on his friends from the animal kingdom; Heinz is slowly losing his grip on things and is clinging onto life through his wife Abigail and his cassette tapes; Martin is a thirty-year old security guard who is finding it hard to go through life as a single; Erin is mesmerised by the new lady next door.

These are the five main characters that live at the old Atlas building where people are engrossed in gossiping, amorous attachments, peeping at each other and telling each other off. When one day the residents find out that the Atlas building they all call home is about to be knocked down, the walls seem thinner than ever. Some prefer to bury their heads in the sand, determined to let the storm blow over. Others gird themselves for battle. Will the residents manage to pull together in the face of their impending fate? Or are they facing a fight they simply cannot win in a world where nothing stays the same?

Wat alleen wij horen paints the deeply human ups-and-downs in the modern-day big city. Saskia De Coster subtly interlaces the trials and tribulations of her characters with the stylistic bravura and wit that has become her stock in trade.

At this book presentation, radio broadcaster Ruth Joos talks to Saskia De Coster about the splendid sequel to Wij en ik  with which Saskia De Coster previously made her mark as a prime twenty-first century chronicler of human impuissance.

Beforehand: launch of Rinus Van de Velde wall drawing

The book presentation also marks the official launch of KultuurKaffee’s BANG! festival curated by Saskia De Coster. For the next six weeks, the pop-up bar at Bozar will be acting as the beating heart of her Imaginative City festival. Especially for the occasion, Belgian artist Rinus Van de Velde (1982) has created an impressive charcoal drawing on one of the bar walls. The wall drawing will be there for all to see throughout the six-week festival duration.

Followed by: the opening concert by trash pop sensation Kenji Minogue.

About Saskia De Coster:

Saskia De Coster (1976) is a noted Flemish columnist and TV panel show guest and an artist, who manages to connect with other genres, but above all else is the author of what is already a magnificent body of literary work that is unique in its kind. Several of her novels featured on the longlist of the Dutch BNG Bank and AKO Literature Prizes. Her latest novel, Wij en ik, won the Opzij Literature Award, is set to be published in English and in German and has already sold over 40,000 copies.

BANG! Imaginative City Festival curated by Saskia De Coster

This event is part of the imaginative city festival BANG! Curated by Saskia De Coster. Due to the construction work currently being undertaken, KultuurKaffee has opted for a nomadic existence and, together with a guest curator, assembles twice a year a multidisciplinary programme of events at various locations dotted around the city of Brussels. Autumn 2015 sees author Saskia De Coster welcoming her festival guests at Bozar.