Charlotte Van den Broeck Launch Events
After first making her mark as a compelling performer, Belgian poet Charlotte Van den Broeck was acclaimed as one of Europe’s most innovative and original new voices in poetry. She has published three previous collections of poetry, Kameleon (2015), which was awarded the Herman de Coninck debut prize for poetry by a Flemish author; Nachtroer (2017), which was nominated for the VSB Poetry Prize 2018 and the Ida Gerhard Prize; and Aarduitwrijvingen (2021). The first two volumes are combined in Chameleon | Nachtroer, translated from the Dutch by David Colmer (Bloodaxe Books, 2020). David Colmer's translation of her third collection Aarduitwrijvingen was published by Bloodaxe in February 2025 under the title The Inside of a Stone.
While her earlier books often return to childhood and youth in urban and European landscapes, the key sequence of The Inside of a Stone concentrates on desert landscapes and womanhood – and the emotional resonance between the two – while reconceptualising their metaphorical relationship.
Charlotte Van den Broeck and her translator David Colmer were in residence at the National Centre for Writing, Norwich, for a fortnight in March 2025, which included a public reading at The Book Hive on 12 March. Charlotte took part in the opening night celebrations of StAnza International Poetry Festival in St Andrews on 14 March 2025. She also took part in a live recording of the Lantern Scottish Poetry Podcast on 15 March, which is now available to listen to online.
PODCAST INTERVIEW WITH CHARLOTTE VAN DEN BROECK
Lantern Scottish Poetry Podcast: Nuala Watt & Charlotte Van den Broeck, Episode 13, 1 April 2025
Charlotte Van den Broeck was in conversation with fellow guest Nuala Watt and with hosts Kathleen Jamie and Alistair Heather.
Charlotte read and introduced her poems ‘Hiss’ and ‘Remedies’ in David Colmer’s English translation from her third collection The Inside of a Stone, and then read ‘Nachtroer’ from her 2020 book Chameleon | Nachtroer in Dutch and then in English. She ended by reading the first two stanzas from her sequence ‘Ilsebill Dreams’ from The Inside of a Stone. A fascinating discussion about poetry, performance and translation.
Nuala Watt talked about but didn’t read her poem ‘Disabled Person’s Travel Card’ which is included in Rachael Boast’s new anthology Versus Versus: 100 Poems by Deaf, Disabled & Neurodivergent Poets.
Episode 13 of the podcast featuring Charlotte Van den Broeck is now available online.
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/podcast/lantern-scottish-poetry-hosted-by-kathleen-jamie/
PAST EVENTS
12 February 2025
Online launch reading by Ana Blandiana, Krisztina Tóth & Charlotte Van den Broeck with their translators
We were joined online by Ana Blandiana, Krisztina Tóth, Charlotte Van den Broeck and their translators Paul Scott Derrick, Viorica Patea, George Szirtes and David Colmer for our February 2025 launch event. All three poets and their translators celebrated the publication of their books by reading live and discussing their work with one another and the host, Bloodaxe editor Neil Astley.
This free Bloodaxe launch event was streamed on YouTube Live and is now available to watch below or here: https://www.youtube.com/live/SiYFLYPrR74.
[05 February 2025]
