It was a great pleasure and privilege to perform in Flanders House, London (part of the Belgian Embassy in the UK), alongside poets from Belgium and the UK, for the European Poetry Festival, curated by Steven J Fowler.

I’m not a poet, but my contribution (celebrating speech in a spirit of European exchange) was a performance remix of Thomas Shelton’s first English translation of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, the first modern European novel. This was presented as a live improvised collaboration with avant-garde musician Benedict Taylor. As part of last night’s mixed bill, we could only present the first seven minutes of the work – the whole thing might last considerably longer.

In fact Shelton’s translation (undertaken in 1607, as a favour for a friend who couldn’t read Spanish, and then published in London in 1612, and with the second part of the novel in 1620) was the first translation of ‘The Quixote’ into ANY language. It also turns out to have had a particular and very significant connection with Belgium… So it was a thrill to bring it home last night.

Steven J Fowler the curator of the European Poetry Festival filmed us from the front row – thank you to Steven, project supporters, the superb audience, and the Embassy team at Flanders House for all their hard work and hospitality.

The event opened with solo readings by Lies Gallez, Tijl Nuyts and Astrid Haerens, followed by new collaborations featuring: Lies Gallez and Mischa Foster Poole / Astrid Haerens and Mark Waldron / Tijl Nuyts and James Wilkes / Tony White and Benedict Taylor / Sinnead Singson and Regina Avendano / Bella Weerasinghe and Caitlin Nugent / Victor Rees and Iarla Prendergast Knight. And here’s the group shot! You can see more videos and photos of the whole event here…

EPF Flanders was generously supported by Flanders Literature and The Embassy of Belgium: Delegation of Flanders. Curated by SJ Fowler with thanks to Patrick Peeters.

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