28-30 березня 2025 року Андрій Любка візьме участь у найбільшому літературному фестивалі Бельгії – Passa Porta, який щороку відбувається в Брюсселі. У рамках фестивалю Любка проведе публічну дискусію з палестинським автором Карімом Каттаном та розповість про українську літературу часів повномасштабного вторгнення у спільній події з українським поетом та військовослужбовцем Дмитром Лазуткіним. Крім цього, відбудуться творчі зустрічі з українською діаспорою в містах Ґент і Антверпен. Куратором цього міні-туру є український перекладач та культуртреґер Роман Нестеренко.

Ділимося інформацією про події та логістичними деталями:

Sunday 30.03.2025 13:30 Location La Bellone LINK FOR THE EVENT

war and ghosts: karim kattan and andriy lyubka

Alongside their respective works, writers Karim Kattan and Andriy Lyubka use their pens and their positions to alert public opinion and bear witness, again and again, to the horrors inflicted on their peoples. At the Passa Porta Festival they will engage in a dialogue that is more essential than ever, at a time when two wars are generating unnameable violence and hundreds of thousands of deaths.

In an opinion piece published in Le Monde in February 2024, entitled ‘We have learned to live without paying attention to death’, Ukrainian poet, essayist and novelist Andriy Lyubka looked back on two (now three) years of war in Ukraine, where death has become part of everyday life. He described the outbreak of horror on that morning of 24 February 2022, when he was due to board a plane to present his novel in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Last October, in Pourquoi Gaza a-t-elle disparu derrière des sophismes, des approximations, des murmures désolés?, Palestinian novelist Karim Kattan (Le Palais des deux collines, L’Eden à l’aube) challenged literary and intellectual circles about their silence regarding the situation in Gaza, which he described as a ‘field of death’.

what role for poets?

What is the role of poets in the face of war and what responsibilities do they have? And what power do writing and literature have in the face of the horrors of the Russian invasion and the violence of the bombings in Gaza? Speaking to author Rym Khene, the writers will engage in a discussion on the position of writers in the face of war. An exchange that is more essential than ever.

about the authors

Karim Kattan is a Palestinian writer born in Jerusalem in 1989. He holds a PhD in comparative literature. He writes in English and French. In 2017 he debuted with the collection Préliminaires pour un verger futur (Éditions Elyzad), a finalist for the Prix Boccace de la Nouvelle. His first novel, Le Palais des deux collines, received the Prix des cinq continents de la francophonie in 2021. He regularly publishes texts for Le Monde, Libération and Mediapart, and, in English, The Paris Review, The Maine Review and The Funambulist. His writings have also been presented in numerous art venues, including the Venice Biennale and the Berlinale Forum (Berlin). Shortlisted for the Prix Renaudot 2024 and a finalist of the 2024 Prix de la littérature arabe, his latest book, L’Eden à l’aube, won the 2024 Prix international Rotary – Pen Club and the 2024 Prix littéraire du 2e roman de Laval.

Andriy Lyubka is a Ukrainian writer, essayist and translator. He is a member of PEN Ukraine. In 2023 he became a member of the Taras Shevchenko National Award Committee of Ukraine. He has published ten collections of poetry, essays, travelogues and fiction. His novel Karbid was translated into English as Carbide.

Sunday 30.03.2025 15 :00 Location La Bellone LINK FOR THE EVENT

Andriy Lyubka and Dmytro Lazutkin are two Ukrainian poets who use not only their poetry in their fight against Russia. At the invitation of Passa Porta and PEN Vlaanderen, they will talk about what it means to write in times of war. Writer Guido Snel will be in conversation with them, and translator Roman Nesterenko will read from their work.

volunteer

Andriy Lyubka is a young poet, writer and translator from Uzhhorod. After his debut in the mid-2000s, he became an established and beloved figure on the Ukrainian literary scene. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lyubka has devoted himself almost full-time to volunteer work for the Ukrainian army, using his fame to raise money so that, together with his team, they can buy and fix cars for the troops and bring them to the front. He also regularly publishes short sketches of these journeys and the stories he hears from the soldiers.

spokesperson

Dmytro Lazutkin is a journalist and writer. In 2022 he won Ukraine’s most important literary prize, in 2023 he joined the Ukrainian army, and today he is a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence. In his latest collection of poetry, which is much less lyrical than his previous work and contains very direct poems in free verse, he writes about his experiences at the front. In an article for The New York Times, he wrote about the value of poetry in processing emotions. 

the empty chair

PEN brings together authors from around the world who stand up for the physical and literary freedom of all writers, with special attention for authors from war zones. The Empty Chair is a PEN International concept; it symbolizes an author who cannot be present due to imprisonment. At the request of PEN Ukraine, we will leave a chair empty for Victoria Amelina, who died in 2023 while reporting at the front.

about the authors

Ukrainian writer Andriy Lyubka put down his pen at the outbreak of the war in order to contribute to his country in a different way. He publishes regularly about his experiences, including in De Standaard.

Dmytro Lazutkin is known in Ukraine as a poet and sports reporter. He has won several literary prizes for his poetry, which has been translated into English, German and Czech, among other languages. In 2024 he was appointed spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence.

П’ятниця 28.03.2025 19:00 Подія в Ґенті: ЛІНК

Субота 29.03.2025 20:00 Подія в Антверпені: ЛІНК