From Ghent and Antwerp to Bruges and Hasselt, many cities in Flanders have their own urban or city poet. Now, the Brussels Region could soon have its own collective of urban lyricists.
Antwerp was the very first city to name an urban poet. As part of the honorary job, the poet appointed by the city administration of a city is asked to write and, during special events, recite a number of poems within the city with the aim of uniting its residents through their writing.
On Friday, Groen party MP for Brussels Lotte Stoops announced that the first steps had been taken to create an urban poet in Brussels, based on a recent response from the minister in charge of the promotion of Brussels, Sven Gatz.
Gatz said that Brussels will have a collective of urban poets and that exploratory discussions have been held with civil society organisations, including the team in charge of preparing Brussels' bid to become the European Capital of Culture in 2030.
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In Stoops' view, a collective of urban poets could play an important role in putting Brussels on the map as a dynamic cultural city. They should embrace Brussels' typical multilingualism. She welcomed the plan to champion the poetic form with, for example, workshops, conferences and other projects.
With the help of experts from the cultural sector, local ministers are now looking to determine a concrete route to establishing the collective. Before the end of the legislature, it will study the methodology and procedure for appointing the urban poet(s) and how they should carry out the task.
