On Sunday 16 October, poet Guim Valls from Catalonia and writer Anne-Goaitske Breteler from Fryslân presented the work they made together for the Explore the North festival in dbieb.

It was also the closing of Guim’s residence in Leeuwarden. He was in town for a month working on new material, including the work he made with Anne-Goaitske.

In May 2022, Anne-Goaitske was a guest in Barcelona at the international Poesia Festival. This exchange project is a collaboration between Explore the North, Barcelona City of Literature and Leeuwarden City of Literature.

They are two completely different writers: Guim is a poet whose keywords are urban, hip-hop and direct language. Anne-Goaitske makes prose and immerses herself in local history and sociology. Yet they also share a lot, such as their interest in mythology and legends and the fascination for their (minority) language – Catalan and Frisian.

Yet they found each other in a common theme for the work they presented at Explore the North: death. Both wrote four poems about the local traditions associated with death and funeral.

Photo’s: Denise Amber