Veronika Mabardi grew up surrounded by books, with a Flemish mother and a half-Belgian, half-Egyptian father, two brothers and a sister, two of whom were born in Korea. She grew up in a mixed-race family that placed sharing and a humanistic approach at the centre of their lives. She spent the first three years of her life with her grandmother, in a huge garden, a cocoon for her childhood games and a haven of freedom.
The idea of changing her personality with each new project appealed to her, so Veronika Mabardi studied and made her début as an actress. She learned her craft in fledgeling theatre companies, at the Ateliers de l’Echange and the company Ricochets. She has written several plays, including Loin de Linden (Far from Linden), which will be staged at the Théâtre de Namur in winter 2024. But she also writes hybrid, ephemeral texts linked to encounters on stage, in exhibition halls, dance studios and concert halls.
Today, writing takes up all of her time: her own writing – for radio, books and theatre – and that of others, through workshops, mentoring, exchanges and literary encounters.
Her latest book, Sauvage est celui qui se sauve (Wild is the one who breaks free) (published by Esperluète), follows in the footsteps of her brother. This novel was awarded the 2022 Grand Prize of the Novel by the Royal Belgian Academy of French Language and Literature.
Veronika Mabardi is currently revisiting the life and writings of Marie Gevers, a Belgian novelist from the early 20th century, with the cooperation of the Archives and Museum of Literature in Brussels.
She feels that she and Marie Gevers are related in a certain way, and her literary family feels just as important to her as her family environment.
Discover the other episodes on the Les Belges Histoires' playlist
Les Belges Histoires
The production of « Les Belges Histoires, les talents de Wallonie-Bruxelles » is an initiative of Wallonie-Bruxelles International.
