Astrid Haerens reads
Astrid Haerens (1989) grew up in Zwevegem and lives in Brussels. She earned a master’s degree in Creative Writing from the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp. In 2017, her debut novel Stadspanters was published by Polis. Her work has appeared in De Revisor, De Gids, Het Liegend Konijn, Poëziekrant, DW B, and Deus ex Machina. In March 2022, her poetry debut Oerhert (Atlas Contact), for which she won the 2023 Poetry Debut Prize. The collection was also nominated for the Herman de Coninck Prize and the C. Buddingh’ Prize. From 2022 to 2024, she served as Letterzetter (city poet) of Kortrijk, where she led a collective of word artists and curated the Memento Word Arts Festival. In addition to her writing, Haerens also creates interdisciplinary poetry performances and teaches at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp and the RITCS in Brussels. In April 2026, her new novel Erosion was published.

Photographer: Bram van Beek