On the 21st of March, World Poetry Day, the National Poet of Belgium, Els Moors, invites all people worldwide to gather their most beautiful odes and elegies on their cities (/ countries / states / …) and make them public. In times of gentrification, mass tourism and worldwide migration we are craving for lonely flâneurs and notorious wanderers who want to lay bare the mysterious heart of their cities. Are you still in love with the city you were born in? Were you pushed on by love, or obliged to leave your hearth and home? Adopt your city by writing an urban elegy and take part in the writing of the most exotic Lonely Planet: The adopted cities.

Let’s make a tribute to poetry and to our world together!

“Poète National – er Dichter des Vaderlans” is the Belgian interpretation of a “Poet Laureate”. It is a literary initiative that wants to build bridges between the different language communities in our country, and it is organized by several literary institutions within the country: Poëziecentrum, VONK & Zonen, Maison de la Poésie de Namur, Maison de la Poésie d’Amay, fiEstival maelstrÖm, Midis de la Poésie, Poème 2, Jeugd & Poëzie and Passa Porta. With the support of the National Lotery and her players, and with the support of the agreement of cultural collaboration between the Flemish and the French community in Belgium.