The celebrated British writer, translator and academic Tim Parks made his international breakthrough with the novel Europa, which was nominated for the Booker Prize. The later novels Destiny and Judge Savage both made it onto the longlist. Having lived and worked in Verona for years, Parks wrote a personal, non-fiction account of his Italian experiences in Italian Neighbours, An Italian Education and A Season with Verona, which were very well received by press and public alike.

In his most recent works Tim Parks explores silence and meditation, sickness and health. His new novel The Server is a ‘companion piece' to the non-fiction Teach Us To Sit Still. The latter is an honest account of Parks' own struggle with a chronic illness which leads him, a sceptic, to mediation. In the novel a young female helper in a Vipassana meditation centre is torn between two opposing attitudes to life: the Eastern Zen school and Western individualism.

'A Writers' Europe' is a series of discussions with authors organized by Passa Porta and Flagey, in which leading European voices are presented to the public. Previous guests have included Timothy Garton Ash, David Grossman, Herta Müller and Javier Marías. Tim Parks was invited as part of the HUB-colloquium Stilte werkt. State of the Art.

Coproduction : Flagey, Passa Porta, Waerbeke vzw, HUB