“Writing is not hard labour,” says award-winning Flemish actor, director and writer Josse De Pauw. His story for Radio Books is a labour of love which begins in a Brussels apartment and ends in a Japanese bamboo grove.

Josse De Pauw - 'Forever, or The Love of Narcissus Flycatcher

Born is Asse in 1952, Josse De Pauw studied theatre at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels. After graduation he founded the mime troupe Radeis and the artist’s collective Schaamte. He has continued to act, direct and write for the theatre ever since. Among his many awards is the 2000 Océ Podium Prize for his entire oeuvre.

Film and Fragmentary Work

De Pauw has appeared in dozens of Flemish and international film productions, including ‘Idereen beroemed!’ (Everbody Famous!) which was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2000. He has also directed two films.

De Pauw has published stories, diary excerpts, notes and play scripts in the literary supplement of the Flemish newspaper De Standaard. He collected these writings in a 2000 book called ‘Werk’ (Work). “The fragmentary character of Werk is a perfect reflection of the way I live and the way writing fits into my life,” said De Pauw in an interview. The book was nominated for the prestigious Golden Owl Award.

State of Confusion

His Radio Books story is about a man called Narcissus Flycatcher, named for a bird native to Japan with the yellow colouring common to the narcissus flower. He awakes in his Brussels apartment one morning in a state of confusion.

“As he wildly and helplessly looked around him without seeing anything, the remains of a dream popped into his mind, which made the overpowering confusion even greater: he had dreamt of a bamboo forest. A bamboo forest gently stirring in the wind. He sprang for the door like a cornered animal, flung it open and stood naked and panting in the stairway. He raised his head to the light that entered through the glass skylight, as if he wanted to escape through it, to fly away, and at the same time he pressed his pale body convulsively against the wall as if he wanted to disappear into it.”

An Asian neighbour comes to his aid and a bond forms between them. Much to his surprise, he finds himself falling in love with her. When she leaves to visit her family in Japan, he makes an extraordinary decision.

‘Forever, or The Love of Narcissus Flycatcher’ by Josse De Pauw was translated and read by Michael Blass.

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.