Wim Brands about Ghent
The Brass Band that Ate an Elephant
De fanfare die een olifant opat
‘Ghent is a city of clouds’, writes Dutch author and journalist Wim Brands in his citybook The Brass Band ...
Unique 30 minute audio stories. Writers on cities.
| Karl Schlögel | Ghent – a European Panorama. Henri van de Velde, Edmond Sacré, Henri Pirenne |
| Annelies Verbeke | Home Town |
| Niña Weijers | Eclipse |
| Ángeles Caso | A Ghent Love Song |
Utrecht
Onno Kosters about Utrecht
All and Nothing
Alles en niets
To sympathise with the pains of love, you must share in its feelings.Belle van Zuylen to James Boswell, 15 June...
| Davide Longo | Master Utrecht |
| Jeroen Olyslaegers | This is where you begin again |
| Brink Scholtz | The return |
| Astrid Lampe | My City A Building Site |
Haarlem
Kristien Hemmerechts about Haarlem
Haarlem raked over
Haarlem afgeharkt
The Spaarne is her favourite song by virtuoso Dutch duo De Groot and Nijgh, it is even one of her all-time favo...
| Cynan Jones | |
| Andrés Barba | Roque and the city |
Sheffield
Abdelkader Benali about Sheffield
Down and Dirty in Sheffield
Uitgeteld en plat in Sheffield
The citybook by Abdelkader Benali about Sheffield has been published in The Low Countries in april 2013. Abdelk...
| Rebecca Lenaerts | my humble home / aan huis geketend / fourgon fermé |
| Helen Mort | The God of Gaps |
| Studenten Sheffield | Beyond Sheffield Train Station |
| Àgnes Lehóczky | Parasite of Town |
Antwerp
Rodaan Al Galidi about Antwerp
Antwerp in november
Antwerpen in november
Ten poems Warning Warning Attention, attention: from now on hate and fear are forbidden in Antwerp. ...
| Michael Bijnens | I will follow you |
| Frederik Willem Daem | Signs of Life – A Topography of Purgatory |
| Rebekka de Wit | Until the Difference is Between Galaxies |
| Ghayath Almadhoun | The Capital |
Graz
Milena Michiko Flašar about Graz
Farewell
Leb Wohl
Graz is for me a city in which people vanish. By this I mean just what I say, literally and without qualificati...
| Simone Lenaerts | A Scrap of Time |
| Werner Schandor | Freedom of the Heart |
| Andrea Stift | I do not live here |
| Onno Kosters | Gravity and Counterweight |
Hasselt-Genk
Atte Jongstra about Hasselt-Genk
Bokrijk: Breathing Space
Bokrijk: ademgebied
Hasselt, Belgium. February the thirteenth, AD 2014. I had just taken up residence in Room 4 of hotel-restaurant...
| Małgorzata Rejmer | Wings are just a metaphor |
| Aleš Steger | Departing Trains |
| Christophe Van Gerrewey | Ten memories of Hasselt and Genk |
| Use Lahoz | The Man Who Hugged Trees |
Münster
Alida Bremer about Münster
In Search of Water
Auf der Suche nach dem Wasser
1. Was it chance or destiny, was it a lucky or an unlucky (north) star I followed that day in 1986 when I ...
| Carmien Michels | Not long now |
| Erik Lindner | Rowers on Lake Aa |
Lisbon
Dulce Maria Cardoso about Lisbon
They’re all love stories
Tudo são histórias de amor
My name is Jinja. Jinja with a J. I’m a mongrel, medium-sized, golden mane, floppy ears, eyes that could melt...
| Patrícia Portela | The April Gentleman |
| Sus Van Elzen | A Great Sense of Nostalgia |
| José Maria Vieira Mendes | The Street |
| Tim Etchells | BureauGrotesque - A Sad Tale of Scarton from Endland (sic) |
Leeuwarden
Hassan Blasim about Leeuwarden
John Lennon the Dog
الكلب جون لينون
Since I arrived two weeks ago the city has been flooded, rather like my mind, in which images and ideas rain d...
| LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs | THOUgHT spoRtS |
| Erik Vlaminck | Matchbox no. 9 |
| Arjan Hut | ‘I love the sound of a train in the distance’ |
Karlsruhe
Maarten van der Graaff about Karlsruhe
DOLOR: Official punk in Karlsruhe
DOLOR: Officiële punk in Karlsruhe
The English translation of Maarten van der Graaff's citybook 'DOLOR: Officiële punk in Karlsruhe' is translate...
| Monika Rinck | Karlsruhe Reversible Image, September 2016 |
| Els Moors | Eiapopeia. A heavenly lullaby |
Ypres
Kees 't Hart about Ypres
The machine gun
De mitrailleur
1. My sister is celebrating her sixtieth birthday. She and her husband have a successful accountancy business i...
| Maïssa Bey | Where Did the Birds Go? |
| Dermot Bolger | The Unremembered |
| Catherine Vuylsteke | Poste Restante (English version) |
| Ghayath Almadhoun | Schizophrenia |
Tbilisi
Lasha Bugadze about Tbilisi
A song for Tbilisi
სიმღერა თბილისზე
1983. March. Those who have coronary artery disease tend to feel worthless. Take the distinguished composer Lad...
| Shota Iatashvili | Where edges meet |
| Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili | A long letter to a sister far away |
| Frank Westerman | 922 people liked this |
| Stefan Hertmans | The Knifemaker of Tbilisi |
Charleroi
Thomas Gunzig about Charleroi
The Reservation
La réserve
In The Veil of Time, and with his leg in a cast, Bart Van Loo braves the winding streets of Chartres. He compos...
| Erik Lindner | Charleroi. 10 poems |
| Davide Longo | Interview No. 6 |
| Pascal Verbeken | Eurowash 2000, a packet boat in the city |
| Caroline Lamarche | Intangible Heritage. A stay in the Black Country |
Skopje
Abdelkader Benali about Skopje
Warrior on a Horse
Beeld van een gewapende strijder op een paard
1 Whoever visits Skopje in August has to take into account a dry heat that persists from early morning to late...
| Saskia de Coster | A Hundred and Forty Kilos of Love |
| Nikola Madzirov | Homes without Frames |
| Goce Smilevski | Conversation about the City's Metamorphosis |
| Irena Cvetkovic | A Date |
Bucharest
Jaap Faber about Bucharest
Be Sure to Take Your Own Bicycle Pump
Neem wel uw eigen fietspomp mee
How strong is the lonely cyclist in Bucharest? Bit by bit, Jaap Faber describes life in Romania in his citybook...
| Ester Naomi Perquin | Bucharest - A One-Person Travel Pack |
| Răzvan Radulescu | Me, in the Center |
| Adrian Schiop | Travesty |
| Anna Luyten | The Ways of the Ant |
Venice
Rebekka de Wit about Venice
As Venice is now
Zoals Venetië nu
I The day before I leave Venice, it’s high tide, which in practice means flooding, but Venice floods so re...
| Atte Jongstra | Death Comes Up From Below. Walks in Venice |
| Lydia Mischkulnig | Curiosity 'alla veneziana' |
| Cees Nooteboom | Venice 2012 |
| Luc Devoldere | Pearl without a Shell |
Yerevan
Johan de Boose about Yerevan
Let Me Carry Your Pain
Laat mij je pijn dragen
‘Parting is death’s little sister,’ said an elegant lady yesterday, alighting from Ero’s minibus, whil...
| Armen of Armenia | Radio Yerevan |
| Serge van Duijnhoven | Cemetery of the Alphabet |
| Arpi Voskanyan | Yerevan Dreams: A Reportage |
| Gevorg Gilants | All Roads Lead To |
Lublin
Arnon Grunberg about Lublin
A Reported Offence
Aangifte
The 9th of May 2012 the Belgian newspaper De Morgen published the original Dutch citybook Aangifte and an in...
| Andrzej Stasiuk | Lublin (en) |
| Witold Szablowski | All the Gateways of Lublin |
| Maud Vanhauwaert | Lublin’s Stations of the Cross |
| Mauro Pawlowski | Na zdrowie, good Belgian! |
Stellenbosch
Rentia Bartlett-Möhl about Stellenbosch
Ella’s outlined sky
Ella se belynde lug
‘Maria Callas se vurige stem / bring die hemel en die aarde / bymekaar waar ek is’ (1) , Ella Luyt wrote w...
| Clinton du Plessis | Tetraptych |
| Arjen Duinker | Parrots and Other Birds |
| Marlene van Niekerk | On dragon’s teeth, goody two-poops, connoisseurs and sausage: a Stellenbosch medley for voice and upright, with two intermezzos, backed by historical rustling |
| Saskia de Coster | Wildebeest (EN) |
Grahamstown
Toast Coetzer about Grahamstown
I am sitting in the sea
ek sit in die see
I am sitting in the sea it is dry children emptied it and then there was nothing I climb out of the car my eye...
| Ronelda Kamfer | Hoarding Thoughts |
| Brink Scholtz | The Outskirts |
| Ingrid Winterbach | Remains |
| Gerda Dendooven | A Perfect Plan - Stories from the Land of the Black Man |
Chartres
Goce Smilevski about Chartres
The Cathedral and the Circus
КАТЕДРАЛАТА И ЦИРКУСОТ
The Macedonian author Goce Smilevski dreamed of Chartres as a child, he tells us in his citybook The Cathedral ...
| Bart Van Loo | The Veil of Time |
| Jeroen van Rooij | Labyrinths |
| Marcin Wronski | Postcards from Chartres |
| Chris Van Camp | 32, Rue aux Juifs. A dialogue |
Semarang
Bouke Billiet about Semarang
Palm leaves and promises
Meisje van vroeger
Students at the University of Sheffield got their teeth into the citybook by Bouke Billiet on Semarang). Under ...
| Candra Dewi Dian Puspitasari | Golden Child |
| Tubagus P. Svarajati | Lee Hwa (EN) |
| Triyanto Triwikromo | Little Stories of Pre- to Post-Colonial Semarang. Poems |
| Gustaaf Peek | 9 letters to Maria M. |
Jakarta
Veronica B. Vonny about Jakarta
The Final Ending
Akhir yang Terakhir
REMAINS OF BATAVIA CASTLE, (1) 16 JUNE 2014, NIGHT Panting, blocked by a high broad brick wall, the young ma...
| Ruth San A Jong | What Am I Doing Here? |
| Sihar Ramses Simatupang | The One Left Behind in Batavia, 1920 |
| Annelies Verbeke | Angels in Jakarta |
| Akidah Gauzillah | Rendezvous |
Ostend
Bernard Dewulf about Ostend
Snippets from Ostend
Fragmenten uit Oostende
16 January 2010It’s a clear winter’s day over Ostend and the adjoining mirror. Only the horizon is ...
| Peter Holvoet-Hanssen | The mission in Ostend |
| Jeroen Olyslaegers | Another cheek |
| Christiaan Weijts | Damage |
| Milena Michiko Flašar | Nobody Nowhere |
Turnhout
Lasha Bugadze about Turnhout
Three in the city
სამნი ქალაქში
Lasha Bugadze also wrote a citybook about his hometown Tbilis: A song for Tbilisi. 1. …Talk about a sho...
| Peter Terrin | The Truth of the Matter |
| Chika Unigwe | Heart of Darkness |
| Walter van den Broeck | A Migrant in Turnhout |
| Maxim Februari | Underground Party Room |
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Authors
citybooks and Radio Books in Afrikaans
In the run-up to citybooks Stellenbosch, Rentia Barlett-Möhl translated twelve Dutch-language Radio Books and citybooks to Afrikaans and recorded the podcasts with the help of skilled readers. For an overview of the citybooks and Radio Books in Afrikaans by Hafid Bouazza, Adriaan van Dis, Arnon Grunberg, Joke van Leeuwen, Kees 't Hart, Menno Wigman, Tommy Wieringa, Ester Naomi Perquin, Peter Holvoet-Hanssen, Saskia de Coster, Stefan Hertmans and Bernard Dewulf click here.
citybooks: unique city portraits through words and pictures by international authors and artists.
citybooks: short stories about cities written by famous authors and up-and-coming literary talents. Perfect for on your e-reader, or for a lazy listening session on your mp3 player. Let the power of imagination carry you to Chartres, Graz, Venice or Skopje. Read about Lasha Bugadze' Song for Tbilisi, follow Arnon Grunberg to Lublin, or listen to Chika Unigwe's Heart of Darkness in Turnhout.
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