At the mentioned Flemish pub ‘Chez les Flamands', the ladies of Antwerp-based comics book store Mekanik sold both translated and original Dutch-language work by Flemish artists. In particular series such as ‘Bob et Bobette' were a hit, because they are not available in France. Other French translations like ‘La Guerre Eternelle' by Marvano, ‘Dickie' by Pieter De Poortere, ‘Plunk' by Luc Cromheecke and ‘Les Noceurs' by Brecht Evens did well too.
During the course of the festival, the French-language media were full of praise for ‘Les Noceurs', the French translation of Brecht Evens' ‘Ergens waar je niet wil zijn' (Somewhere you don't want to be) published by Actes Sud BD. Evens signed over 80 books at the Flemish booth, together with a group of colleagues. Five authors received a travel grant by the FLF: Kristof Spaey, Seb C., Pieter De Poortere, Charel Cambré and Jeroen Janssen. Randall.C, Judith Vanistendael and Nix were also present and attracted a lot of fans. Both the latter were nominated for the prestigious festival prizes, but they did not win.
The FLF is satisfied with the results that is has booked at the festival, where for the second year in a row it coordinated the presence of all Flemish participants. The efforts made in 2009 clearly paid off as the FLF was able to build on last year's success. A good number of Flemish titles will soon be translated abroad. Here's an overview:
- ‘Ergens waar je niet wil zijn' (Somewhere you don't want to be) by Brecht Evens: English (Drawn and Quarterly)
- ‘Nachtdieren' (Night owls) by Brecht Evens: English (Topshelf)
- ‘Slaapkoppen' (Sleepyheads) by Randall.C: English (Blank Slate)
- ‘Boerke' (Dickie) by Pieter De Poortere: Spanish and French (Glénat)
- ‘De wraak van Bakamé' (Bakamé's revenge) by Pieter Van Oudheusden and Jeroen Janssen: French (La Boîte à Bulles)
- ‘I love Paris' and ‘I hate Paris' by Maarten Vandewiele, Erika Raven and Peter Moerenhout: Italian (Comma22)
- ‘De maagd en de neger' (The virgin and the negro) by Judith Vanistendael: English (SelfMadeHero), Spanish (Norma) and German (Reprodukt); negotiations with publishers in Denmark, Sweden and Norway are in process.
On Friday evening, the ‘soirée flamande', a dinner party hosted by the FLF, Flanders Investment and Trade (FIT) and the Flemish Respresentation in France, was an interesting networking moment for Flemish authors, press, publishers and international contacts. It is more and more obvious that the Flemish comics scene has what it takes to break through internationally.
