Lieve Joris
(Neerpelt, 1953), a Flemish prose writer, studied psychology in Leuven, Belgium, and journalism in the Netherlands. Her novel Een kamer in Cairo (A Room in Cairo) tells us about her stay in Cairo, and her awareness that she'll never be part of that strange world. In 1985 she made her first journey to the former Belgian colony the Congo. In Terug naar Kongo (Back to the Congo) (1987) she reflects upon her experiences and impressions there. Later she focused on the Middle East and wrote the book De poorten van Damascus (The Gates of Damascus) (1993). In her book Dans van de luipaard (Dance of the Leopard) (2001) she tells about her second stay in the Congo in 1997, a time of unrest and civil war. In her newest book Op de vleugels van de draak (On The Wings of The Dragon), Joris journeys between Africa and China. Lieve Joris is a committed observer and knows like no other how to portray a post-colonial Africa. Her work has been awarded repeatedly, both in Flanders and in France.
(WIN 2018)Archive available for: Lieve Joris
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Syria, What's Next?
With: David Van Reybrouck, Ghayath Almadhoun, Laila al-Zwaini, Lieve Joris, Nihad Siries
Watch the video-registration of this programme. What will the future of Syria look like once the war has come to an end? Moderator and writer David Van Reybrouck discussed this question with the Syrian novelist Nihad Siries and the Palestine/Syrian poet Ghayath Almadhoun. Both are in exile. They read from their work, and met Laila Zwaini, a researcher on shari'a, rule of law, tribes, and social change in the Arab and Muslim World. They were joined by the Belgium writer Lieve Joris, who wrote a book about Syria. Will Syria go the same way as Iraq, where the attempt to establish a democracy has failed completely? Will it, in all its religious and ethnic diversity, ever become a stable state? Could it ever become the home that the Syrian authors in exile dream of?
This evening is in English. A programme of B Unlimited, organised by Writers Unlimited in co-operation with The Hague Central Library, and with support of the Municipality of The Hague, PEN Netherlands and Theatre of Wrong Decisions. Curated by Tom Dommisse.
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Forbidden words
This summer the Syrian writer and film maker Khaled Khalifa again got to know the limits of the freedom of expression in his country. In praise of Hatred, his novel about the Syrian agression against the muslim brothers (25 years ago), was banned in Syria. In 2000 his novel The Gypsy Notebooks suffered the same fate. In this programme he talks to Lieve Joris, author of among other books The Gates of Damascus, about being a writer, censorship and freedom of expression and religion godsdienst in secular Syria and the Arab world. Interview by the London Reuters editor Geert Linnebank. In English.
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Journey to a dreamed Netherlands
'There was a time which, according to some, still continues. In that time the Netherlands was much bigger than now.' This is how Cees Nooteboom once began a fairytale about the Netherlands. In his opening speech about a journey to a dreamed Netherlands he continued his quest into those known and unknown areas in Winternachten. Lieve Joris talked to him. Maarten Asscher is host. Dutch spoken.