patrick ten brink
BIO
Patrick lives and works in Belgium for an environmental NGO and writes fiction before work and on days off.
He is married and has two children.
He grew up in Germany,Australia, Japan, and England where he studied Physics and Philosophy at Bristol University.
He lived in Paris and Mexico City, where he studied French and Mexican Literature.
His fiction has been published in the US, Canada, and Belgium.
His short story Amelia Borgiotti was published by Coffin Bell journal, and The Carp and the Magpie by Night Picnic Press; his flash fiction includes Ersatz in 101 Words and My Secret will come out summer 2023 in Beyond Words; his poem Koyasan Cemetery appeared in Maya’s Micros – The Closed Eye Open and Zen Garden, Kyoto in Dreamers Creative Writing 2018 Haiku Competition and the Dreamers Year 1 Anthology. He is a member of the Writers Workshop in Brussels and was a co-chair of the Brussels Writers Circle and editor of their anthology The Circle, A Brussels Anthology.
He is a freelance journalist for Travel Tomorrow focusing on art reviews. He is almost ready to seek representation for his seventeenth century ghost novel, The Death and Life of Amelia Borgiotti.
Short Stories
• Amelia Borgiotti (Coffin Bell)
• The Carp and the Magpie (Night Picnic Press, Vol 2, Issue 3 (translated into Russian)
Flash and micro-fiction
• My Secret (Beyond Words – summer 2023);
• Ersatz (101 Words);
Poetry
• Koyasan Cemetery in (Maya’s Micros Ed. 12 – The Closed Eye Open)
• Zen Garden, Kyoto (Dreamers Creative Writing 2018 Haiku Competition) and (Dreamers Year 1 Anthology)
Anthologies
The Circle, A Brussels Anthology, comprising works of 34 authors from 19 countries, published by Harvard Square Editions.
Creative Nonfiction - Art reviews, travel writing et al.
Author at Travel Tomorrow:
· The effortlessly expressive faces of Marlene Dumas
· Hilma af Klint: the mystical pioneer of abstract art
· The political messages of Venice Biennale’s National Pavilions;
· The strange beauty of Murano glass;
· The harsh honest truth of Anselm Kiefer in Venice;
· Brussels welcomes exhibition of Australian Aboriginal art;
· Remembering the battle of little big horn;
PROUSTING IT ...
What is your greatest fear? Hurting someone’s feelings (and missing a train or plane)
What is your current state of mind? Contemplative and in awe of modern classical music
What is your favourite occupation? Disappearing into my story as it writes itself
What historical figure do you most identify with? On an inspired calm day: Matsuo Basho (more of an aspiration to counter my frenzied life).
Which living person do you most admire? Neil Gaiman for his endless imagination
Who is your favourite fictional hero? Ged (Sparrowhawk), the wizard in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea
Who are you real-life heroes? Amanda Gorman and V.E.Schwab and Francis Hardinge and Haruki Murakami given their creative verve
What is your most treasured possession? My sketchbook
When and where were you happiest? When my daughters were born
What is your most obvious characteristic? Endless curiosity and interests
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Not being realistic about all I can sensibly achieve in a day
What is the trait you most deplore in others? Myopic egotistical selfishness
What is your greatest extravagance? A holiday on the black sand beaches littered with fractured icebergs in Iceland
What is your favourite journey? Walking along the infinitely interesting tidal mudflats in the Baie de Somme
What do you most dislike about your appearance? My double sympathetic pregnancy that has nothing wonderful to show for its existence.
What do you consider the most over-rated virtue? (Blind, self-inflated, self-orientated, entitled) self-confidence
On what occasion do you lie? To avoid hurting feelings
Which words or phrases do you most over-use? What did you say? (I’m slowing losing my hearing)
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? My constant hesitation about playing music
What do you consider your greatest achievement? Bringing up my daughters and making my wife laugh.
Where would you like to live? Paris or in the Baie de Somme in Picardie, France
What is the quality you most admire in a man? Honesty
What is the quality you most admire in a woman? Being truly and resolutely and uniquely themselves
What is it you most dislike? Jellied meat (instant nausea)
What do you value most in your friends? True honest generous friendship
How would you like to die? Just after I happily celebrated my last birthday with family and friends (but not while they are in the room!)
If you were to die and come back as a person or an animal, what do you think it would be? A musician
If you could choose an object to come back as, what would you choose? A piano at the hands of Hania Rani, Olafur Arnalds or Joep Beving
What is your motto, the words you live by or that mean a lot to you? I’d adopt Ray Bradbury’s “Love what you do and do what you love.’
Who has been the greatest influence on you? My elder brother (I wanted to be him until I realised that I was fine simply being me).