A zoo of thoughts: the Passa Porta Festival is back

The biennial Passa Porta Festival returns to Brussels with an eclectic mix of local and international writers and a host of literary activities. Outside of the sold-out opening night, which requires a ticket, visitors buy a pass and simply show up to whichever reading, workshop or talk they choose.

Friday’s opening night is with three writers – the Turkish Ece Temelkuran, the Franco-Iranian Négar Djavadi and the Colombian Juan Gabriel Vásquez – who take the stage to discuss literature and politics. American novelist Paul Auster was originally scheduled to open the festival, but had to cancel his visit to Brussels because of health issues.

The weekend includes activities for children, including writing and storytelling workshops. More mature audiences can sign up for a guided tour of Brussels’ literary scene, organised by the city guide Jan Dorpmans, in English, Dutch or French.

On Saturday evening, Beursschouwburg hosts Duality, an event that sees poets, writers and illustrators pair up to create new work. Taking part will be Danish author Dorthe Nors, best known for her short stories, some of which were published in The New Yorker. The 21-year-old Mexican writer Aura Xilonen, whose debut novel Gringo Champion won the Mauricio Achar award, is also on the agenda.

Vásquez, whose book The Sound of Things Falling won the International Dublin Literary Award in 2014, makes his second appearance at this year’s festival on Sunday. The Colombian author will be at Beursschouwburg to talk about his latest novel, Reputations.

Later, Dag Solstad, one of Norway’s most acclaimed authors, will talk about his life in Berlin and Oslo, as well as his interest in political history. Solstad, who turns 76 this year, won the Nordic Council Literature prize for his novel Roman 1987.

Also on Sunday, in We Can Be Heroes, four prolific female authors – Almudena Grandes, Lionel Shriver, Négar Djavadi and Sofi Aksanen – share the stage to read from their work and discuss what heroism means to them.

Saturday is an eventful day for poetry: In the early afternoon, Bruges poet Peter Verhelst tells Flemish illustrator Wide Vercnocke about his latest book, Zoo van het denken (Zoo of Thoughts), while Polish writer and poet Magdalena Tulli, best known for Dreams and Stones, discusses her new projects.

Later in the day, Flemish poet and actor Maud Vanhauwaert talks with the poet and essayist Geert van Istendael, as well as with Dutch poet Benno Barnard.

Bringing the festival to the close are two interviews with three prolific authors. Annie Ernaux of France tells Belgian journalist Ysaline Parisis about her predominantly autobiographical work, while popular Dutch authors Herman Koch and Connie Palmen talk to Ruth Joos about that which is forbidden. \ Mauricio Ruiz

24-26 March, across Brussels