LiteraTour op de Buchmesse: een succes

Zaterdag 22 oktober. De 'LiteraTour jongeren' hebben hun eindbestemming bereikt en lieten hun werk horen op de grootste boekenbeurs ter wereld. Presentator Rick de Leeuw nam acht woordkunstenaars mee op sleeptouw in een show van zelfgeschreven spoken word, poëzie, muziek en literatuur. 

In juli 2016 fietsten Vlaamse, Duitse en Nederlandse jongeren binnen een week van Aken naar Frankfurt,  Onderweg haakten auteurs, rappers, slammers en andere musici aan en zorgden voor prikkelende inspiratie en spannende cross-overs. Ook Rick de Leeuw fietste mee. Tijdens de show blikte hij terug op de fietstocht:

We started this trip by going to the Drielandenpunt, that’s the spot where the borders of these three countries come together. It was a rather steep climb to get to this Drielandenpunt, and most of the guys were not really experienced as cyclists, to say the least. It was hard for most of them to reach the top. But they all made it. And we all cheered when the last one arrived.

Because that is what cycling does: you make an effort as an individual, but you achieve your goal as a group. In the days that followed we rode alongside the Rhine, this good old European lifeline. From Aachen up to here, to Frankfurt. Every day we rode a hundred kilometres or more. And we became ‘des compagnons de route’ in the most literally way of speech, fellow travellers. We became friends.

There were moments of triumph and moments of despair, only to realise that you need them both to make you feel alive. No pain no gain. And it was great to see them grow as cyclists. They now are trained machines, or at least they were after we reached Frankfurt a couple of months ago.

And it is great to read and hear now what they wrote then. In fact, the music you hear right now was recorded during the trip, by the German band Massentrend, great guys who rode with us as well. All the thoughts and impressions, the refelections on this wonderful trip, it’s impressive to see and hear how they found the right words to express themselves. Because they are writers, true artists as well as great sportsmen and women.

So today I feel proud I was with them. And I am curious what their future will bring, and I think their future is very curious too. So grab your bikes and ride, my friends, ride and write!

Grootste beurs
De Frankfurter Buchmesse is een beurs met grote cijfers. Ieder jaar, zijn er ongeveer 300.000 bezoekers, ruim 7000 exposanten, en meer dan 10.000 journalisten en bloggers. Hierdoor is de Buchmesse de grootste beurs voor internationale uitgevers.

LiteraTour wordt mede mogelijk gemaakt door:
De Brakke Grond, Stichting Tout Maastricht, School der Poëzie, MusikZentrum Hannover, Te Gek!Poetry Circle Nowhere, deBuren, Bleiberger Fabrik, de Provincie Limburg, Region Aachen, Euregio Maas-Rijn, Gemeente Maastricht, Land Niedersachsen, Fonds Soziokultur, Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie, de Taalunie, Nederlands Letterenfonds, Duits-Nederlands Jeugdwerk, Frankfurter Buchmesse Eregast 2016 | Vlaanderen & Nederland.