Jasper Albinus
(The Netherlands, 1997) appears on stage as poet and spoken word-artist. In 2017 he joined the Poetry Circle, a platform for performing writers and writing performers, and took part in the Slow Writing Lab of the Dutch Foundation for Literature in 2018. In his work he makes issues of identity, history and politics hit home. He may appear at literary festivals or in theatres, and sometimes adds a poetic note to a debate. He performed at the Oerol, Brainwash and Writers Unlimited festivals, among others.
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Het Zwarte Schaap (The Black Sheep): Spoken word you won't hear anywhere else
Say it: Stories you won't hear anywhere else. Say it: The Black Sheep! Writers Unlimited and Het Zwarte Schaap gave space to poetic, rhythmic and musical acts by writers, poets and spoken-word performers that need to be heard aloud from the stage.
Het Zwarte Schaap is The Hague's young spoken-word and spoken-literature platform: a safe meeting space and community for writers and their stories. This evening, Het Zwarte Schaap presented a special Writers Unlimited festival lineup featuring Ronelda S. Kamfer, Jasper Albinus, Khadija Ibourk El Idrissi and Eva van Manen, with Sophia Blyden as host.
Jasper Albinus appears on stage as poet and spoken word-artist. In 2017 he joined the Poetry Circle, a platform for performing writers and writing performers, and took part in the Slow Writing Lab of the Dutch Foundation for Literature in 2018. In his work he makes issues of identity, history and politics hit home. He may appear at literary festivals or in theatres, and sometimes adds a poetic note to a debate. He performed at the Oerol, Brainwash and Writers Unlimited festivals, among others.
Sophia Blyden researches themes such as loneliness, power relationships and her Caribbean roots in her prose and poetry. She has presented her poetry at various Dutch venues. Her debut novel will be come out with Querido Publishers in late 2024.
Khadija Ibourk El Idrissi is a poet who writes in Dutch and other langagues. Her debut poem De ontmoeting (The Encounter) is pentalingual. She was on of the Young City Poets of The Hague in 2022, and has presented her poems at Dutch events and festivals. She participated in the 22/23 Poetry Circle and will continue her poetry career from there to find her way.
Ronelda S. Kamfer is one of today's most important South African authors. Her poetry collection Noudat Slapende Honde (Now, Sleeping Dogs, 2008) paints in incisive picture of living in poverty. Santenkraam (2012) contains stories in verse about a fishing village that must make way for a military terrain. Mammie (2017) is a loving and raw ode to her mother. Her first novel, Kompoun (2021), will be pulished in Dutch, translated by Alfred Schaffer, who also translated her poetry.
Eva van Manen is an artist, songwriter, poet and music producer who moves between disciplines and worlds. Her album Politiek & Liefde (Politics & Love, 2018) bridges styles such as rap, electronica and guitar pop, and investigates where politics and love overlap. In her poetry volume Hoe zijn we hier gekomen? (How Did We Get Here?, 2021) she seeks out the roots of the question of how we came to be in this country, this body and this political climate. In 2023 her solo EP Le Hérou will be released, featuring forest songs recorded in the Ardennes.
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Schrijversfeest (Writers' Fest)
With: Aad Meinderts, Alistair Payne, Gideon Samson, Jasper Albinus, Joke Hermsen, Marente de Moor, Noraly Beyer, Oleg Lysenko, Paul Demets, Robert van Asten, Stefan Hertmans, Thomas de Veen, Tijn Wybenga, Tjitske Jansen
The Schrijversfeest (Writers' Fest) is a festive program with readings and musical performances accompanying the awarding of the four literary prizes of the City of The Hague by Robert van Asten, alderman for Culture. As laudatio givers you will see and hear writer and philosopher Joke Hermsen, poet Tjitske Jansen and NRC literary editor Thomas de Veen. Musical odes will be performed by classical accordeonist Oleg Lysenko, piano player and composer Tijn Wybenga and trumpet player Alistair Payne. The opening poem will be read by poet Jasper Albinus; host will be Noraly Beyer.
A regular feature is the finale of the educational project Spot on Young Poets: the finalists, secondary school students from The Hague, read poems they wrote during school workshops. Among them Mirle Wittekoek, who won the Young Campert Prize last year. The audience determines which of the finalists wins this award for a young Hague poet this time.
Writer, poet and essayist Stefan Hertmans wins the Constantijn Huygens Prize for his entire body of work. Hertmans achieved his big breakthrough in 2013 with the novel Oorlog en terpentijn (War and Terpentine). The book is a delicate and intense ode to his grandfather, who grew up in poverty, fought at the front in World War I, and lost the love of his life too soon. He worked through his grief by painting.
Hertmans has been a highly respected Dutch literary writer for much longer. According to the jury, since his 1981 debut with the experimental prose book Ruimte (Space), he has built up a body of work that covers almost every genre. His collected poetry runs to about 1,000 pages, published as Muziek voor de overtocht (Music for the Crossing). His prose comprises novels, stories, as travel book and essays. He has also written theatre texts and published notable monographs about philosophy and visual art.
Paul Demets (1966) wins the Jan Campert Prize for his volume of poetry De Klaverknoop (The Shamrock Knot), a smashing collection in which each image is loaded and meaningful without making the poetry impenetrable. Demets' big achievement is knowing how to tie up the language without constricing the reader. These poems keep on sizzling in your mind.
Marente de Moor (1972) wins the F. Bordewijk Prize for her novel Foon. The tragic attempts of man to control, comprehend and direct nature lie at the heart of her work. It expresses a great love of science and a deeply felt understanding of the futiliy of human endeavour. She resolutely leads her reades to the edge of the woods, well knowing that sooner or later, something will happen to call forth the bears. Foon is a masterfully written novel of ideas about humans who are less and less able to stand the mysteries of existence, written by one of the most idiosyncratic authors writing in the Dutch language.
Gideon Samson (1985) wins the biannual Nienke van Hichtum Prize for his book Zeb. The book's freakish incidents are served up as simple logic in an otherwise completely realistic environment. The disruption mostly affects the mind of the reader - an effect that is happy, funny and playful but also covers up an ominous feeling of alienation. Zeb. adds a unique and absurdist work to the Dutch youth literature canon.
This program is a collaboration with the Jan Campert Foundation / Literature Museum. In Dutch.
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Letters from Overseas
In 1795, the once-enslaved but later freed Wilhelmina Kelderman sent a heartbreaking letter from Paramaribo to her former master. The letter never arrived, as it was on a ship hijacked by the English, ended up in an archive, and was only opened two centuries later.
Writers Unlimited festival asked nine authors to write a letter to someone in a (former) colony, inspired by Wilhelmina's entreaty, and to present it at this event. They will recite them in their mother tongue or preferred language of writing; English or Dutch translations will be simultaneously projected.
Participants are Antjie Krog (South Africa), Alfred Birney, Reggie Baay, Ellen Deckwitz, Rosabelle Illes (Aruba), Jolyn Phillips (South Africa), Jasper Albinus, poet Angelina Enny (Indonesia) and poet, musician and theatre maker Robin Block.
Tip: Antjie Krog, Reggie Baay, Ellen Deckwitz and Jolyn Phillips will also read from their contributions to the 25th anniversary Winternachten festival anthology during the Opening Night - A Free Mind on Wednesday, 15 January at Theater aan het Spui.
