The Writers’ Parliament

The Writers’ Parliament is the only platform where writers from both the North and South of Belgium engage in public dialogue. The theme of this sixth edition is beauty. Two French-speaking and two Flemish writers respond to the statement by the American author Philip Roth: “Literature isn't a moral beauty contest.” They reflect on the intersection of ethics and aesthetics, where these aspects meet or conflict. What drives them — or doesn’t — to write beautiful books, stories or sentences? And how do they reconcile that beauty with their other responsibilities and with the suffering in the world? Is beauty a form of resistance and moral compass, or rather a source of comfort and escape? Each writer speaks in their own language, with simultaneous translation provided for mutual understanding. 

Nicky Aerts (Klara) and Pascal Claude (La Première) will guide the conversation.