Liberature in Brussels!

Audiences at this year’s Brusselspoetryfest on September 11-13 had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with “liberature,” an innovative approach to literature created by Polish writers Zenon Fajfer and Katarzyna Bazarnik. Festival attendees had the opportunity to meet with the creators of this concept and learn all about what exactly liberature is.

The term “liberature” was coined by Zenon Fajfer and Katarzyna Bazarnik in their 1999 book Oka-leczeniu. Liberature works convey literary meaning not only in the text, but also in the book’s physical presence: the cover, blank spaces or drawings that convey poetic meaning, the type-setting… Mr. Fejfer is a contemporary Polish poet, while Ms. Bazarnik is a lecturer in literary theory and specialist on James Joyce (whose ideas influenced the advent of liberature) at the Jagiellonian University. Together, they combine their respective theoretical and practical knowledge to create this iconoclastic new genre.

The Brusselpoetryfest featured the premiere of Mr. Fejfer’s new collection of poetry, Widok z głębokiej wieży (“The View from the Deep Tower”). Meanwhile, the festival audience had the chance to listen to a lecture by Ms. Bazarnik about liberature and see an exhibition of Mr. Fejfer’s liberature books. You can access the festival’s full programme here: http://poetryfest.brussels/.