UGent Leest
UGent Leest is an initiative by the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy to get students, staff and alumni to read more. The project was made possible by the legacy of a former teacher, librarian and alumna of the faculty.
Welcome to UGent Leest! The first two initiatives on the calendar: a monthly ‘Silent Book Club' and five reading groups. In a later phase, the project will also focus on training programmes on reading promotion through the Humanities Academie, the faculty's lifelong learning platform.
UGent Leest collaborates with Iedereen Leest, an organisation that wants to build a strong and broad reading culture in Flanders and Brussels with campagnes such as the Voorleesweek. The Iedereen Leest Academie offers training courses on reading promotion for professionals and volunteers.
Keep an eye on this page for more news about UGent Leest.
Reading groups 2025 - 2026
Five avid readers/writers affiliated with the university each chose a book that they will read together and discuss with a group of UGent'ers (colleagues, students, alumni). The reading groups all take place at the faculty library (Rozier 44, Gent).
Registration opens 9 February 2026 at 9h. Each reading group can be joined by 12 UGent'ers. You can register for one reading group.
Herwig Reynaert (Vice Rector Ghent University): 'Het glinstert' (Marieke De Maré and Lara Taveirne)
In Het glinstert (It Glitters), Marieke De Maré and Lara Taveirne bring together stories, big and small, about people in a city on the edge of a mighty sea. Some have come from far away to live there, others have never been anywhere else. Behind silent facades, they tell each other many things. There is laughter, whispering, and sometimes singing. Sometimes, when silence descends on the city and darkness falls, someone calls out: 'Where is everyone?' Het glinstert is about light and dark. About being and not being. And about hope.
Together we discuss: Two quotes: "Als jij op mijn verhaal klimt, mag ik dan ook een keer op dat van jou klimmen?" (If you climb on my story, can I climb on yours sometime?) and "Blijf de mensen op straat om een blad papier vragen." (Keep asking people on the street for a piece of paper.)
Themes: Current political events, poverty, local authorities as citizen-oriented administrations, etc./p>
Date: 10 March, 19:00 - 21:00
Chrokri Ben Chikha (director, performer, artistic director of Action Zoo Humain and lecturer at KASK/School of Arts/HoGent): 'De Joodse Messias' (Arnon Grunberg)
Xavier Radek, who lives in Basel, is a young man with a mission: he wants to learn more about the suffering of the Jews. That is why he decides to comfort the “enemies of happiness”. Although his parents dismiss Xavier's behaviour as adolescent rebellion, he befriends Awromele, the son of a rabbi, who advises him to take Yiddish lessons and be circumcised. After a problematic circumcision, Xavier becomes completely convinced of his messianic aspirations: he takes up painting and leaves with Awromele for the Venice of the North, where he enrols at the Rietveld Academy. Awromele finds work as a shelf stacker at Albert Heijn. Then they move on, across the European desert to the promised land...
Together we discuss: We explore the social and political context of the novel, the role of irony and provocation, the ethical tensions in the book and its topical relevance. The way in which Grunberg uses humour, discomfort and moral ambiguity is also discussed at length.
Chokri Ben Chikha draws on his experience as a director, performer, artistic researcher and author on representation, identity and power. From his artistic practice, in which he often explores confrontational historical and contemporary themes, he reflects on Grunberg's novel and on the question of how literature can function as a mirror, provocation and critical instrument in times of nationalism and Trumpism.
Date: 25 March, 17:00 - 19:00
Els Snick (lecturer German - department of Translation, Interpreting and Communication): ‘Radetzkymars’ (Joseph Roth)
In this classic of European literary history, we follow three generations of the Trotta family as the Austro-Hungarian Empire slowly but inevitably crumbles – a melancholic, astute portrait of duty, loyalty and loss in a world that is losing its footing. All under a subtle layer of humour. .
Together we discuss: The book is set in the border region between the former Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires, now Ukraine. But that is not the only reason why this book is so relevant today. Radetzky March is (in a very topical way) about the disintegration of Europe, about homeland, flight and alienation, about fathers and sons, about obedience to authoritarian authority and moral blindness, about alcoholism, psychiatry and many other things.
Date: 26 March, 19:00 - 21:00
Islam Dayeh (lecturer in Arabic and Islamic Studies): 'Returning to Haifa ' (Ghassan Kanafani)
Returning to Haifa (Arabic. Āʾid ilā Ḥayfā, 1969) is a classic of modern Palestinian literature. It follows Saʿīd and Safiyya, a Palestinian couple who, after nearly two decades of exile, return to their former home in Haifa once the borders briefly open after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Instead of finding the place they left, they discover that their infant son, left behind in 1948 amid the chaos of forced expulsion (the nakba), was adopted and raised as a Jewish Israeli. This compact, powerful novella explores memory, loss, identity, and the meaning of return in the context of Palestinian displacement and exile.
Together we discuss: What it means to return home in Palestinian literature; displacement and belonging; memory and loss; how literature responds to historical injustice.
Date: 22 April, 16:00 - 18:00
The reading group will be held in English. The English translation of the novella is available through rebecca.debeerst@ugent.be
Zoë Ghyselinck (guest lecturer German and Comparative literature): 'Filoktetes' by Sofokles (translated by Johan Boonen)
Philoctetes, a celebrated Greek hero, is bitten by a snake during the journey to Troy. His wound begins to smell terribly and his moaning drives his fellow soldiers to despair. The Greek army command therefore leaves him behind on the deserted island of Lemnos. Ten years later, as the war in Troy rages on, the oracle predicts that the Greeks will never win without Philoctetes. Odysseus and the young Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, are sent to bring him back. In Sophocles' tragedy, the wounded, embittered Philoctetes, his former betrayer Odysseus and the inexperienced Neoptolemus clash, leading to intense emotions and moral dilemmas.
Together we discuss: social isolation, representation of suffering, the clash between the common good and individual needs.
Date: 30 April, 16:00 - 18:00 AND 7 May, 16:00 - 18:00
- Register (Registration means attendance on both dates)
Silent Book Club 2025 - 2026
We offer a cosy place where you can read in silence for an hour with a drink within reach. No technology is allowed so that participants can read their favorite books in silence. Bring your own book or borrow one from the collection. If you want, you can talk about your book with other participants afterwards.
Dates
From 19:00 at the faculty library.
Reading club De Leesluidjes
A new reading club at Ghent University!
What can you expect?
Every month, De Leesluidjes meets on Tuesday evening in the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy library (Rozier 44) to exchange ideas about a predetermined book. Fiction is the starting point, but other genres are certainly welcome.
Who is it for?
Anyone with a connection to Ghent University is welcome, regardless of faculty, age or reading preferences.
Meetngs 2025-26 (semester 2):
- 10 February 2026: 'Als de dieren' (Lieselot Mariën). Register
- 3 March 2026: 'Julian' (Fleur Pierets). Register
- 31 March 2026: 'Er stromen rivieren in de lucht' (Elif Shafak). Register
- 5 May 2026: 'Walden' (Henri David Thoreau). Register