My writing residency in Belgium

Thanks to the bilateral cooperation between my country, Burkina Faso, and Wallonia-Brussels International, I received a one-month creative scholarship to a 16th century farm in Wallaye. I spent one month meeting artists, painters, writers and musicians, visiting exhibitions and monuments and talking to local people and immigrants; I also spent a lot of time writing.

I started a novel which was inspired by these meetings and Belgium's history in the Congo. I have a fairly tense style of writing and am anxious about corrections, but for the first time I found myself writing in a freer, more fanciful and sometimes even mischievous way. I think that this lightness that I found in Matongué has found its way into my personal life, as has this Belgian humour that downplays everything. This residency has given a note of irreverence to my current novel.

I encourage writers and artists to have this artistically rewarding experience. I would like to thank my country, Burkina Faso, for this opportunity to be creative in places of "otherness".