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Amitav Ghosh

Amitav Ghosh - foto Ivo van der Bent
Amitav Ghosh - foto Ivo van der Bent

(India, 1956) is one of India's most renowned writers. Ghosh debuted in 1986 with the novel The Circle of Reason, in which he explores the extent to which Western rational ideas can be integrated into traditional Indian thought. His work centers on the (post-)colonial issues of Asia. In 2023, the Dutch translation of The Nutmeg's Curse (De vloek van de nootmuskaat, translated by Menno Grootveld)was published by Atlas Contact. He has received numerous awards worldwide, and his work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, and The New York Times. End of 2024, the Dutch translation of Smoke and ashes (Rook en as, translated by Menno Grootveld)will be published by Atlas Contact. In 2024, Ghosh will receive the Erasmus Prize for his body of work.

Archive available for: Amitav Ghosh

  • Amitav Ghosh, winnaar Erasmusprijs 2024, in gesprek met Margot Dijkgraaf

    Amitav Ghosh, winner Erasmusprijs 2024, in conversation with Margot Dijkgraaf

    With: Amitav Ghosh, Margot Dijkgraaf

    Celebrated Indian author Amitav Ghosh will receive the Erasmus Prize this year for his contribution to the theme 'the imagination of the unthinkable,' in which climate change—an unprecedented global crisis—takes shape through the written word.

    In his recent books The Nutmeg's Curse and Smoke and Ashes, Ghosh connects colonialism to the current climate crisis, with particular attention to the Dutch East India Company (VOC). According to Ghosh, colonialism and genocide have been the foundations upon which industrial modernity was built. A worldview in which the earth is seen as a resource goes beyond genocide and ecocide: it welcomes the prospect of 'omnicide'—the extermination of everything—humans, animals, and the planet itself.The conversation will take place in Hoorn, the birthplace of VOC General Jan Pieterszoon Coen, who committed genocide against the population of the Banda Islands to secure a monopoly on the lucrative nutmeg trade.Amitav Ghosh is unmatched in his ability to forge new connections that transcend centuries, continents, and ideologies, offering a fresh perspective on history.

    Ghosh will be in conversation with writer and literary critic Margot Dijkgraaf. Her autobiography In de voetsporen van mijn grootvader (In the Footsteps of My Grandfather) (2021) is a search for her literary roots. She has published books on French and European literature, as well as works on Hella S. Haasse and Cees Nooteboom. Previously, she released Met Parijse pen. Literaire omzwervingen (With a Parisian Pen: Literary Wanderings) (2020, with photographer Bart Koetsier), which leads readers through Paris, tracing the footsteps of famous writers.After the event, attendees will have the opportunity to purchase and have their books signed.

    Echoes from the past, visions of the future: Amitav Ghosh in conversation with Margot Dijkgraaf
    Sunday, November 24, 2024, Hoorn – Noorderkerk
    3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Doors open at 2:30 p.m.

    Free entry, registration required via the link.

    Foundation Praemium Erasmianum in collaboration with the Westfries Museum, the Municipality of Hoorn, and Writers Unlimited.

  • Winternachten 2009 – Winternachten vrijdagavond

    True Fiction - conversation with Amitav Ghosh

    Amitav Ghosh is one of the best known writers from India. With his latest novel Sea of Poppies, the Dutch translation was launched at Winternachten, he pocketed a nomination for the Booker Prize. The first part of a trilogy, it tells the story of Asia's colonial past and is set on the eve of the first Opium war. In a full Main Hall, Bas Heijne talked to Ghosh about his literary work.