
Passa Porta
Passa Porta is an international house of literature which organises literary evenings, encounters with authors, debates, festivals and special projects on contemporary Belgian and other literatures. One of its ongoing tasks is to introduce lesser-known literatures. Passa Porta is a unique work and meeting place and puts Brussels on the literary map. Every year Passa Porta invites numerous foreign writers and translators to come and work on a new manuscript in quiet surroundings. Guests stay either in the green calm of Vollezele (in Villa Hellebosch) or in the heart of Brussels (Passa Porta). Some residents take part in literary evenings attended by the public and working sessions with translators or fellow writers.
Authors are expected to commit themselves to writing a new manuscript, in which Passa Porta is mentioned in the publication.
In Brussels, the writer in residence stays in a flat at the Passa Porta house of literature. The flat has a floor area of 90 sq. m. and looks out over the picturesque Oude Graanmarkt (Old Grain Market). In Villa Hellebosch accommodation is offered to 2 authors, who each have a bedroom, a study, a bathroom and a terrace. The kitchen, dining room and reading room are shared. In addition, 1 or 2 rooms are available for authors and translators who are only spending a few days for a work session, and there is also a room for encounters with an audience of professionals.
Passa Porta includes a multilingual bookshop, a literary platform, offices, a venue for workshops and meetings.