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Flemish Literature

August 2016

In this collection, originally featured in the August 2016 issue of Words Without Borders, we present Flemish fiction from Michael Bijnens, Lize Spit, and Griet Op de Beeck and a graphic novel by Michaël Olbrechts, introduced and with translations by Michele Hutchison. We thank the Flemish Literary Fund for its support.

“Her Entire Existence Was an Emergency”: Human Relationships in Flemish Literature

By Michele Hutchison

Flemish literature at its best is linguistically pyrotechnic, daring, and original.

From “Cinderella”

By Michael Bijnens

She needed the adrenaline to keep her upright.

Translated from Dutch by Brian Doyle

What You’ve Given Up Hoping for Counts Twice as Much, She’d Discovered

By Griet Op de Beeck

In general Kathleen didn’t look at the contents of toilet bowls, but in this case it didn’t take much to notice the colossus.

Translated from Dutch by Michele Hutchison

Multilingual

Plastic Wrap

If she can’t see it, if it isn’t in the room, it doesn’t exist.

Translated from Dutch by David Doherty

Forty-four Years Later

By Michaël Olbrechts

I’m going to take you to the interbellum period, to 1936.

Translated by Michele Hutchison