Kristien Hemmerechts
(Belgium, 1955) writes widely on wide-ranging topics, from poetry about her late husband Herman de Coninck in Taal zonder mij (Language without Me, 1998) to the struggle of an anorexia patient in her book Ann (2008). The human condition is always central to her extensive oeuvre. Her work also pays a noticeable amount of attention to the female sexual experience. In her novel De waar gebeurde geschiedenis van Victor en Clara Rooze (The True History of Victor and Clara Rooze), Hemmerechts plays with fact and fiction: a writer with writer's block tackles a story of incest to give free reign to her thoughts about writing and literature. Haar Bloed (Her Blood) appeared in 2012, for which she spent time in a hematology ward. In 2014 she caused an uproar with De vrouw die de honden eten gaf (The Woman Who Fed the Dogs), a novel inspired by the Dutroux case. Her latest novel Alles verandert (Everything Changes) closely follows the plot of J.M. Coetzee's In Ongenade (Disgrace), but with a female protagonist. How much does the gender of literary characters determine our view of their actions?
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Archive available for: Kristien Hemmerechts
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VPRO's O.V.T. Live
With: Adriaan van Dis, Eva Vriend, Florejan Verschueren, Helmut Lotti, Inge Schilperoord, Jos Palm, Kristien Hemmerechts, Nelleke Noordervliet, Paul van der Gaag, Rodaan Al Galidi
One of Radio 1's most popular programmes is VPRO's O.V.T. Every Sunday morning, the focus is on the contemporary significance of historic events. It's become a tradition for the producers to move to The Hague during the festival, this time broadcasting live from the cozy lobby of Theater aan het Spui. Count on appearances by festival guests Adriaan van Dis and Rodaan Al Galidi. Flemish singer Helmut Lotti will perform, and of course Nelleke Noordervliet will deliver her spoken column. The hosts are Paul van der Gaag and Jos Palm. The public is welcome and admission is free - but be sure to reserve your spot via www.writersunlimited.nl
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The Text of My Life: Kristien Hemmerechts
In Filmhuis Studio A the festival's guest writers present their favourite literary texts and explain why a particular poem, novel excerpt, or song lyric influenced their life and work. Which memory, what feeling does this text call up for them? A continuous interview programme, in which the audience also talks with the writers. Hosted by Arjan Peters. In Dutch
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The writer as accomplice
Writers like to give bad guys their say. In her debut novel Muidhond, shortlisted for the ECI Literature Prize, forensic psychologist Inge Schilperoord knows how to generate sympathy for Jonathan, a convicted pedophile. In Alles verandert (Everything Changes), which plays a virtuostic game with John Coetzee's novel Disgrace, Kristien Hemmerechts gives voice to Iris, who has inappopriate sexual contact with a student but shifts from offender to victim. Are Schilperoord and Hemmerechts accomplices to the unconscionable deeds of their characters?
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Debate: Is Man Behind all the World's Evil?
A debate in which Kristien Hemmerechts and Abdelkader Benali (who takes the place of Jamal Ouariachi, who is ill) use their humour and incisiveness to defend opposite views on the question, "Is man behind all the world's evil? (and behind him, woman?)" In other words: Is testosterone the source of all evil? The participants wield their best arguments from real life and literature! At the end, referee Maud Vanhauwaert and the audience choose the winner.
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What's the price of a human life?
With: Geert Linnebank, Job Kievit, Katinka Baehr, Kristien Hemmerechts, Maarten Postma, Thomas Nys
Mogen patiënten met een zeldzame ziekte peperdure medicijnen krijgen, als er drastisch bezuinigd moet worden in de zorg? Wanneer is een behandeling te duur? En hoe weeg je belangen van een patiënt af tegen die van een hele samenleving als het gaat om leven en dood? Maar hoe bepaal je op basis van geld wie wel en wie niet de zorg krijgt die hij nodig heeft? Een gesprek onder leiding van Katinka Baehr. Bekijk de videoregistratie op deze pagina.
Steeds meer specialisten en wetenschappers pleiten voor een afkappunt: een maximum bedrag per patiënt per gewonnen levensjaar van bijvoorbeeld 80.000 euro. Is de behandeling duurder, dan wordt die alleen uitgevoerd als de patiënt dat zelf betaalt.
Een afkappunt betekent in de praktijk dat mensen met zeldzame ziekten, en met weinig vooruitzicht op genezing, niet meer de zorg of medicijnen krijgen die ze nodig hebben. Veel mensen vinden zo'n vast bedrag dan ook onmenselijk. Je kunt toch geen prijs aan een mensenleven plakken? Bovendien, vrezen de critici van het afkappunt, zorgen protocollen en regels alleen maar voor nog meer kosten in de zorg.
In een nieuwe aflevering van de debattenreeks Science Unlimited stelden we de pijnlijke vraag 'Hoeveel mag een mensenleven kosten?' aan chirurg Job Kievit, filosoof en bedrijfseconoom Thomas Nijs, schrijver Kristien Hemmerechts en hoogleraar farmaco-economie Maarten Postma.
Job Kievit is chirurg en hoofd van de sectie endocriene hoofd-en halschirurgie van het Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum. Daarnaast is hij hoogleraar en afdelingshoofd medische besliskunde. Zijn wetenschappelijke onderzoek richt zich op medische kwaliteit van zorg en op beslissingsprocessen in de geneeskunde. Kievit is onder meer lid van de Gezondheidsraad.
Kristien Hemmerechts is schrijfster. In haar werk zijn leven en dood, gezondheid en ziekte terugkerende thema's. Ze heeft een scherpe blik op ethische kwesties en is niet bang voor taboes. Zoals in haar boek 'De vrouw die de honden te eten gaf', over de vrouw van Marc Dutroux, of haar nieuwste roman 'Haar Bloed' waarvoor ze meeliep op de afdeling hematologie in het VU Medisch Centrum.
Maarten Postma is een expert op het gebied van de economische aspecten van geneesmiddelen. Hij is hoogleraar farmaco-economie bij de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen en heeft een nevenbenoeming bij het Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen. Hij adviseerde o.a. de WHO en De Gezondheidsraad.
Thomas Nijs studeerde wijsbegeerte en bedrijfseconomie en promoveerde aan de Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Hij doet onder meer onderzoek naar het begrip autonomie in de gezondheidszorg.
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Shameless
How shameless or how intimate do writers dare to be? Do they feel embarrassed by their own divulgences or do they enjoy their shamelessness? What is it like to read sexually charged passages that can excite the audience or give it vicarious shame? Kristien Hemmerechts, Ted van Lieshout and Yasmine Allas give themselves away. Host: Elsbeth Etty. In Dutch.
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Winternachten Lecture - Nuruddin Farah
With: Kristien Hemmerechts, Nuruddin Farah, Sams
'Nuruddin Farah poses questions which, once asked, don't give you a moment's rest, the American weekly Newsweek wrote about the Somali author. Nuruddin Farah (1945) delivered the annual Winternachten lecture, which was organised for the third time. He spoke about migration and exile, a topic which as a writer has occupied him for a long time. You can download the lecture as a pdf-file here.
Farah describes how the situation of young migrants round 1970 – who wanted nothing but assimilate fully – differs painfully of that of young migrants today. In his lecture he asks an urgent question about identity: what makes us into who we are? Is it the country we come from, the language we speak, the culture we were raised in or the passport we carry? Or is it a coincidental process that makes us into who we are? Farah painstakingly queries what the Somali identity means to someone like himself, who has lived in half a dozen countries.
Nuruddin Farah is seen by many as the most important African candidate for the Nobel prize for Literature. In 1998 he was recipient of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature. His work has been translated into seventeen languages. Seven of his books appeared in Dutch, among them Secrets and Maps. The translation of Links will be published in 2009. Farah lives in Cape Town.
Kristien Hemmerechts (Brussels, 1955) gave an introduction on Farahs work and talked to him after his lecture. Hemmerechts is a novelist, travel writer, essayist and script writer. Her novels include Ann, and Taal zonder mij (Language without me). As a writer she actively participates in the public debate in Flanders and the Netherlands.
Previous Winternachten lecturers include Elif Shafak (2008) and Pankaj Mishra (2007).Visitors of the Winternachten lecture received the publication in English and Dutch.
You can order the publication for € 5,- + postal charges by sending an email with your name and full adress, to info@writersunlimited.nl. We will send it to you with an invoice of € 5,- plus shipping costs.Stichting DOEN supported the Winternachten lecture 2009 as international writers here get a chance to share their views with their counterparts at the festival and with a varied audience. So new insights arise, contributing to the social debate in the Netherlands. DOEN supports the Winternachten lecture 2009 with a grant from the Nationale Postcode Loterij.
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It really happened
Contemporary readers yearn for true strories. In the bookstores there are piles of books with literary non-fiction and the jury of the AKO literature prize never nominated so much nonfiction. Why does the genre have such an appeal to readers and writers alike? And: how true is non-fiction really? How does the writer keep guard over the boundaris of pure fabrication? Gerrit Komrij, Kristien Hemmerechts, Naima el Bezaz and P.F. Thomése debated with practical instances from their own non-fiction. Komrij opened with the pamphlet Fake Buttocks, which was published in the weekly the Groene Amsterdammer the week after the festival. Host: Koen Kleijn.
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The Language of Love
Antjie Krog and Kristien Hemmerechts are both masters in writing odes to loved ones. 'Liefste, jy mág nie doodgaan nie' (Dearest one, you can not die), Antjie Krog wrote in her collection Kleur komt nooit alleen nie (Color never comes alone). This book was launched in the Dutch translation at Winternachten. To keep the loved one alive, he is embalmed in language. The Flemish writer Kristien Hemmrechts also used this in her poetography Taal zonder mij (Language without me). Dutch/Afrikaans spoken.
