"Poetry and science are two completely different worlds," says Flemish author Jan Lauwereyns. "Science is a search for truth and poetry is a quest for beauty." His Radio Books contribution is a long narrative poem inspired by the myth of Europa.

Writer, poet and scientist Jan Lauwereyns was born in Antwerp in 1969. He studied psychology at the Catholic University of Leuven. He finished his doctorate at Michigan State University in the United States and then travelled to Japan for post-graduate work.

He currently teaches neuro-psychology at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand and has published numerous articles in scientific journals such as Nature and Neuron.

Lauwereyns' critically acclaimed first collection of poetry ‘Nagelaten sonnetten' (Posthumous Sonnets) was published in 1999. It was nominated for the prestigious C. Buddingh Prize and called ‘the most interesting poetry debut in recent years.' He followed it with Blanke verzen (Blank Verses) in 2001 and Buigzaamheden (Flexibilities) in 2002 for which he received the Hugues C. Pernath Award.

Traces of Lauwereyns' scientific work can be found in his poems. They can also be read as lyrical essays, as in a cycle of poems in which he tries to uncover the anatomy of the poetic soul. "I see myself as a doctor," explains Lauwereyns.
 
"In my doctor's bag are two compartments for instruments and with them I examine my patients - the big questions of body and soul. In one compartment is neuroscience, in the other is poetry."

Monkey Business
His debut novel ‘Monkey Business' was published in 2003. The story is set in a laboratory in Japan where a Western researcher is carrying out neurophysiological experiments on monkeys. Though based on his own experience, the story is told from the perspective of one of the monkeys.

Some colleagues angrily accused Lauwereyns of sympathizing with the Belgian animal activist organization GAIA. "I did not intend the book as a political pamphlet," he states.

"It is a novel, it is fiction, it is primarily an emotional approach to the problem. But I also hoped it would to some extent be taken seriously, simply because I'm a scientist."

Europa and Europe
For Radio Books, Lauwereyns returns to his poetic literary roots. ‘Song of the Lake' is a long narrative poem inspired by the ancient myth of Europa, the noblewoman abducted by the Greek god Zeus. There is no conventional story line. Lauwereyns suggests the images and associations will guide the listener into his poetic realm.

We sing it
We interpret the words
We sing them
Or do we translate it
Let us hear it again...

The land of the sinking sun
The story of the sun splitting open
Europa
She was called
Europe was her name...

‘Song of the Lake' by Jan Lauwereyns was translated by Michael O'Loughlin. His work is included in the acclaimed collection Turning Tides: Modern Dutch & Flemish Verse in English Versions by Irish Poets.

The series Radio Books is an initiative of the Flemish-Dutch Huis de Buren in Brussels, in association with the Flemish radio broadcaster Klara and Radio Netherlands Worldwide.