The Brussels Writers' Workshop (BWW) was moved, listening Mimi Kunz’s poems from her art and poetry collection, Mother Tongue. Artist and poet, Mimi combines elegant, fluid, black sumi-e style brushstrokes with poems, many themselves forming shapes that speak to the paintings. The words dance on the page in their own snaking lines of letters, forming a painting itself. Communication between drawing and poem, movement and emotion are the core of this collection. Its beating heart is its rendering of the many moments of fleeting infinity between mother and baby. Mimi’s sharing of these moments generously reminds us of all the little fleeting eternities and urges us to enjoy each special moment. It is a book for all new parents. It is a book for all who wish to slow down and immerse themselves in someone else’s joy and be catalysed to go down memory lane.
Mimi Kunz holding a copy of her book Mother Tongue (Credit: Authorisation)
Who is Mimi Kunz?
Mimi Kunz is an artist and poet, as well as co-founder of the biannual Something Beautiful, a festival for Visual Arts and Poetry in Belgium (from 10 to 19 October 2025). She was educated at the Staatliche Akademie für Bildende Künste Karlsruhe, Germany, with formative artist residencies in Europe and Vietnam. Her poetry has been shortlisted for the Bridport and nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and her work has been supported by the Goethe Institut Hanoi and the European Union.
Mother Tongue: Poetry and Art on Motherhood
Published by The Kyoudai Press, Mimi’s collection of minimalist paintings and poems are anything but minimalist with emotions. Every poem captures a resonant moment of mother and child and the discovery of their joint universe. You cannot read these poems and hurl yourself back into the rat race, metro madness, or productivist paradigm. Slow. Centre. Feel. And enjoy the myriad of minimalist images. To give you a sample:
“Your hands
are question marks”
“You drink dodging a hiccup”
“Your heart beats twice as fast as mine
It sounds like a sign of life from outer space
as if there was a universe in my body.”
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The Group’s Reflection
The BWW participants were touched by the melody of the poems, the movement and dance between sentences and brushstrokes, and, of course, Mimi’s generosity, sharing fundamentally special moments of mother and child with an openness that unlocked memories in each of us, making them sing again. Her words also underlined the empathetic power of poetic resonance when moments are honestly sensed and truthfully captured. Moreover, her poems and paintings are a celebration of life. One feels a little more alive after reading Mimi’s poetry.