​© Gaby Jongenelen Photography for CELA EU

​Carmien Michels
Emerging writer from Belgium

'The good thing about writing is that it establishes a momentary connection that isn’t fake. You can briefly touch something deeper.'

Carmien Michels (1990) is a Belgian writer and performer that dances between pen and podium, between the urban and the classic. She explores verbal and non-verbal language in all its forms, in her educational and artistic practices and in her research. She holds a Master’s degree in Drama (Media, Writing and Performance Art) and a Postgraduate degree in drama teaching at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp. For her graduation project, she wrote her debut novel We zijn water (We are Water, 2013, De Bezige Bij), which was shortlisted in 2014 for both the Flemish Debut Prize and the Bronzen Uil debut prize. Her second novel Vraag het aan de bliksem (Lightning Never Lies, 2015) and her poetic debut We komen van ver (From Where We Came, 2017) were published by Polis Books. 

Carmien is making a splash in other genres too. In 2016 she won the Dutch Poetry Slam Championship, came in third at the World Championships of Poetry Slam and became the European Champion later that year. She graces scores of international stages, organizes events, presents, teaches, and collaborates with artists of all disciplines. In December 2016 she finalized a research project into language stimulation at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp. She is a guest lecturer at several school of arts, the official resident storyteller of M Museum Leuven, artistic director of ARType vzw, board member of both PEN Vlaanderen and the spoken word commission of Flanders Literature. In 2019 she will be touring with the music theatre performance Voyeurs in BXL, which will be launched at the Passa Porta Festival in Brussels in March 2019. In the meantime she writes new prose and poetry in faraway lands.

Carmien Michels is hard to pin down. She frequently seeks out artists from different disciplines, is involved in musical theatre, was European Slam Poetry champion and works as a lecturer. She thinks for a moment, placing her index finger on her upper lip and her thumb under her chin. ‘That variation has always appealed to me. Even when I was young. I’m not the kind of writer who dreamt of writing a book as a child. That non-conformism has always been a part of me. I still like to write about people who don’t really belong. People who don’t quite fit in. The good thing about writing is that it establishes a momentary connection that isn’t fake. You can briefly touch something deeper. That’s why I place writing above all other forms of social contact.’

Selected works and awards

Novels: We zijn water (De Bezige Bij, 2013) and Vraag het aan de bliksem (Uitgeverij Polis, 2015) 

Poetry: We komen van ver (Uitgeverij Polis, 2017)

Awards: NTR Radio Prize 11, several slam awards including: Champion Dutch and European Championship Poetry Slam 2016, third place in World Cup Poetry Slam 2016

CELA live dates

Wintertuinfestival, the Netherlands, 20-25 November 2018

Contact

​Connecting Emerging Literary Artists: noortje@wintertuin.nl

​http://carmienmichels.be/