Peter Vermeersch

Peter Vermeersch is a professor of politics at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium, and a writer of narrative non-fiction. His work focuses on minority politics, memory politics, and pro-democracy movements in Central and Eastern Europe. His most recent book, Polsslag (De Bezige Bij, 2025), tells the story of a group of Belarusian musicians caught in the violent repression of dissent. Through their experience, Vermeersch explores how artists confront autocracy, how cultural memory is contested and reclaimed, and how music can carry the embers of democratic hope.