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Septembre ~ octobre
Chalk and cheese

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A little serendipity for tonight’s programme. ✨

Cahsai and I bumped into each other a few days ago, and this conversation simply had to happen.

Cahsai is an 82-year-old Eritrean who arrived in Brussels in 1966. Tonight, I’ll sit down with him for a brief conversation to open our Habesha panel, honouring his presence, his memories, and the life he has lived in this city.

We first met over 15 years ago in a café in Flagey. It feels special to reconnect in this way, bringing a personal history into our AALFIE.

After our opening evening at La Bellone, which far exceeded our expectations (more on that later), we’re looking forward to another special night at AALFIE. At Den Teirling, Ixelles.

Join us for an evening of dance, songs, unleashed imagination, unexpected possibilities, provocation, and tender recollections of love and memory.

Explore the full programme here. We look forward to seeing you tonight at AALFIE. ❤️

🎟️ TICKETS - LINK IN BIO
📍 Den Teirling, Brussels

🗓 Friday 16 October · 20:25

Tickets are available now:🎫 LINK IN BIO

AALFIE VII: Literature & Art as an Antidote to Tribalism is kindly supported by @opensocietyfoundations and @ixelles_elsene

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*An introvert with an extroverted imagination.*

If you’re an introvert with an extroverted imagination (not sure that’s an actual term, but I’m sure you get the drift), I feel you.

If it were up to me, I’d be in solitude with my books, wandering the streets of Brussels, and reading poetry in different cafés over an unreasonable number of coffees.

I’m pretty sure I’ve said this in previous editions. But repetitiveness is art. And I stand by that.

Anyway, it’s next week. Yep, next week! These collages of ideas, thoughts, and feelings (see slides) will become windows into different conversations throughout the programme. We can’t wait to share them with you.

Explore the AALFIE programme, find a conversation that catches your imagination, and come join us.

Your imagination doesn’t have to stay in your head, even if the rest of you wants to. 🙃

🗓️ 15.-1710
📍La Bellone, Den Teirling
👉 Link in bio.

See you there💜

AALFIE 2026 — Edition VII supported by
@opensocietyfoundations @ixelles_elsene
In collaboration with @passaporta
Bib Sans Sou I, La Bellone, Den teirling, Maison du Livre, Shakespeare and Company, New Writing North · Davenport Books, City in Translation
Workshop, Wasafiri

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And now, we get to share the news. ✨

Our judges have made their selection, and we are delighted to announce that the inaugural Mebrat (መብራት) Fellow 2026 is Imen El Amouri.

Congratulations, Imen.

Mebrat (መብራት) means “light” in Tigrinya. There were many sparks. We could only choose one.

Thank you to our wonderful, anonymous judges for reading, listening and choosing with care.

And to everyone who entered, thank you for trusting us with your work. We hope this is only the beginning. The AALFIE family has its doors open for you🤍

If you’d like to hear Imen open our panel POETS ON A LANGUAGE FOR LONGING with a song in Tunisian Arabic, please join us on Saturday 17 October.

🎟️ BOOK · LINK IN BIO
📍 Brussels
🗓️ 15–17 October 2026

Full programme on the AALFIE website.

AALFIE VII: Literature & Art as an Antidote to Tribalism

With thanks to Open Society Foundations, Commune of Ixelles and Passa Porta for their support.

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This was supposed to go up two weeks ago🙈

But, well… AALFIE happened.

So yes, it’s now less than two weeks to go. We’re keeping the slide anyway.

A little look back at eight years of AALFIE - and a big thank you to the artists, writers, audiences, friends, volunteers, and above all, to the AALFIE team, past and present ❤️💜

See you soon

🎟️ BOOK · LINK IN BIO
📍 Den Teirling, Brussels
🗓️ 15–17 October 2026

Full programme and artist bios on the AALFIE website.

AALFIE VII: Literature & Art as an Antidote to Tribalism

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WHAT THE EROTIC MAKES POSSIBLE

What happens when language isn’t enough?

AAFLIE VII is packed with debates, keynotes, one-person plays, read-a-thons, dance and multilingual performances... But at its heart, the festival has always made space for the unruly and the tender:

play, flirtation, desire, sensuality, the body.

The things that spill beyond language.
The things we feel before we can name them.

WHAT THE EROTIC MAKES POSSIBLE brings together four extraordinary international talents: Linda Zhengova, Yara Nakahanda Monteiro, Kopano Tiyana Maroga & Lara Muslera for an intimate encounter between poetry, photography, prose - and the BODY.

Spanish. English.
And the body’s own language.

🗓 Saturday 17 October

Authors’ bios on our website.

🎟️ TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE. LINK IN BIO.

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DAY 3 — AALFIE VII

Poets & Poetry.

Saturday turns to poetry — to longing, love, exile and language, and to the fragments we carry across words, places & memories.

We are delighted to welcome three celebrated poets — poet laureate, prize-winning and innovative voices — Radna Fabias, Nat Raha and Lisette Ma Neza, for “Poets on a Language for Longing”, moderated by Canan Marasligil, with a contribution to the moderation by Mohannad Bennana.

The programme will also feature a performance intermezzo:

On Rihla & Poetry
Ahmed Saleh

A moment to pause, listen and turn towards poetry — and the journeys, memories and encounters that live within it.

🎟️ TICKETS — LINK IN BIO
📍 Brussels

🗓 Saturday 17 October

Full bios on the AALFIE website.

AALFIE VII: Literature & Art as an Antidote to Tribalism is kindly supported by @opensocietyfoundations and @ixelles_elsene

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What does it cost to make space for others?

This one is for the artists, writers, curators and cultural practitioners who do more than make their own work.

For those who build platforms, create spaces, bring people together, curate, organise and open doors for others - while finding ways to keep making, thinking and creating themselves.

Time. Energy. Care. Imagination. And so much work that happens behind the scenes.

Across two conversations, practitioners from Europe, Africa and beyond come together to explore the joys, tensions and realities of making space for others.

With Sylvia Arthur, Vamika Sinha, Irenosen Iseghobi-Okojie and Lubi Barre, and Adam Biles, Sagal Farah and Azieb Pool.

Performance Intermezzo by Angel Patricks, Julia Galaski, Leon Verraest and Marcel Marchetti.

Languages: English, with readings in French, West Flemish and English.

For everyone who has ever wondered: how do I make space for my own practice while holding space for others?

📍 Brussels
📅 15–17 October 2026
🎟️ Tickets via the link in bio

Supported by Ixelles Commune
The Open Society Foundations

In partnership with Shakespeare and Company, Davenport Books & Wassafiri Magazine

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Literature should be for everyone. ✨

Come hear the ideas and journeys of leading and trailblazing artists, and experience their work up close.

15–17 October | 60+ artists | 47 countries | 23+ languages

Free tickets for refugees, newcomers, unemployed people and students. Pay what you can if price is a barrier.

No questions asked. No proof needed. Everyone is welcome @ AALFIE.

🎟️TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE - LINK IN BIO

📅 15–17 OCTOBER 2026
📍 BRUSSELS

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🎤 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐀𝐝𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐰 leest voor uit eigen werk en gaat in gesprek met @leonsofieverraest

@master_vml_ugent opent het jaar met de Nederlands-Somalische schrijfster Alara Adilow, door de Volkskrant uitgeroepen tot ‘literatuurtalent van 2024’. Haar dichtbundel Mythen en stoplichten (2022) werd bekroond met de Herman de Coninckprijs en de C. Buddingh’-prijs en haalde de shortlist van de Grote Poëzie prijs.

In 2025 publiceerde Adilow haar debuutroman 𝐊𝐢𝐣𝐤 𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐭, een verhaal over twee vrouwen van Somalische afkomst, één trans en één cis, die elkaar vinden en verliezen in een Nederlandse stad.

Een organisatie van de Faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte van de Universiteit Gent i.s.m. de KANTL en @poeziecentrum .

📅 21 september 2026
🕘 19:00 tot 21:00 uur
📍Huis van Oombergen, Koningstraat 18, 9000 Gent
💡Toegang is gratis en reserveren is niet nodig, kom op tijd om zeker te zijn van een plaatsje.

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AALFIE VII · LINE-UP

Over 60 artists. Roots in more than 47 countries. Performances in more than 23 languages.

For three days, they come together in Brussels, hosted by the Asmara-Addis Literary Festival (In Exile).

Reimagining Europe.

Transcending political, erotic, literary and linguistic borders — with curiosity, tenderness and risk.

All artists & panels will be spotlighted individually in the coming days.

For now, save the dates:

📅 15–17 OCTOBER 2026
📍 BRUSSELS

🎟️ TICKETS ARE NOW AVAILABLE - 🎟️ LINK IN BIO

https://fienta.com/s/aalfie-vii

AALFIE VII
Literature & Art as an Antidote to Tribalism.

AALFIE 2026 — Edition VII supported by
@opensocietyfoundations @ixelles_elsene
In collaboration with @passaporta

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In true AALFIE style, we’re late with this. We know.

But we’re also incapable of putting on a festival without making room for emerging talent.

So here it is: the Mebrat (መብራት) Fellowship. One emerging artist, one piece, one night at AALFIE VII.

Emerging artists based in Belgium, of ANY age.

Got a spark? ✨ Or know someone who does? Send this to them. This could be your chance, or theirs, to share a stage with some of the most amazing trailblazers from the diaspora, the margins and beyond.

We may close the call early if 10 good submissions come in, because frankly, we already have enough on our plate.

Details in the slides.

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#emergingartist
#diasporaart
#mebratfelliwship
#fellowship
#writerscommunity

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