Ernest van der Kwast

(Bombay, 1981) is a literary jack-of-all-trades. Van der Kwast discovered his writing talent in the first year of gymnasium (grammar school) when he started writing plays. In his final exam year he made his debut with a short story in the literary magazine Passionate, becoming its editor-in-chief three months later. In 2001 he and Jorg Schellekens started the multicultural and interdisciplinary literary stage Nur Literatur, dubbed by Tommy Wieringa 'the best literary festival in the Netherlands'. As Yusef el Halal he and various fellow writers published the collection of short stories Man zoekt vrouw om hem gelukkig te maken (Man seeks woman to make him happy) in 2003, called 'the funniest debut' of 2004 by Het Parool. In February 2005 his own debut followed, under his own name, Soms zijn dingen mooier als er mensen klappen, (Sometimes things are more beautiful when people start clapping) described by NRC Handelsblad as 'heartrendingly beautiful'. In 2010 the romanticised story of his Indian mother appeared, Mama Tandoori that was nominated for the NS Publieksprijs 2010. Under the pseudonym Stieger Sloot he published the absurdist novel Stand-in in 2007.
(nov 2010)Archive available for: Ernest van der Kwast
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VPRO OVT Live
With: Asis Aynan, Ernest van der Kwast, Marlon Titre, Mathijs Deen, Nazmiye Oral, Nelleke Noordervliet, Paul van der Gaag, Wim Tigges
As usual the VPRO history programme OVT broadcasts from cafe Dudok as part of Writers Unlimited - Winternachten Festival The Hague. This time the programme will go in search of great expectations and Utopias from the past. Live music by Marlon Titre. Hosts: Paul van der Gaag and Mathijs Deen. In Dutch.
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Wintercafe 3: VPRO De Avonden
The search of VPRO's De Avonden for Utopia continues, with readings by Ernest van der Kwast and Hector Abad. Philosophers Menno van der Veen and Hans Achterhuis will talk about the possibility of novel Utopias. Isn't there a great danger in any form of Utopian thinking? Or have we learned from earlier failed Utopias and are we therefore positively able to freely think up a new and better world Musick: Amarins & Le Gatte Negre Collective. Hosts: Jeroen van Kan and Lotje IJzermans. In Dutch and English.
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Literature: The Great Whitewasher
The writers Nazmiye Oral, Ernest van der Kwast and Ger Beukenkamp all write about family; Oral especially in her columns, Van der Kwast in his novel Mama Tandoori and Beukenkamp in scripts like De Kroon (The Crown) and Den Uyl en de affaire Lockheed. (Den Uyl and the Lockheed Affair). Oral's latest novel revolves around forgiveness, among other things. Scriptwriter and playwright Ger Beukenkamp likes to play political and constitutional dramas down to recognizable dilemmas of faithfulness, loyalty and love between spouses and their children. Asis Aynan will ask the writers about the whitewashing of (family) histories with literature and other forms of narration. Can writing be a form of forgiveness? In Dutch.