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Nancy Jouwe

Nancy Jouwe
Nancy Jouwe

(The Netherlands, 1967) is a cultural historian and works as a freelance researcher, writer and curator with a focus on intersectionality, the (post)colonial past, slavery and related contemporary social and cultural practices. She is working on a PhD at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam and is a fellow at the Utrecht School of the Arts from 2022-2025. As author and co-editor, she has released several publications on the ZMV women's movement in the Netherlands, gender and colonialism, and the Dutch slavery past; the most recent collections are Gendered Empire (Verloren, 2020), Slavernij en de stad Utrecht (Walburg Pers, 2021), Slavernij Herbezien (LM Publishers, 2021), Caleidoscopische Visies (Mazirel, 2024) and Gids Slavernijverleden van de Kaap (LM Publishers, 2025).

(WU2025)

Archive available for: Nancy Jouwe

  • Writers Unlimited 2025 – Saturday Night Unlimited

    Remembrance under Fire

    At a time when war is raging in Europe, in the Middle East and on the African continent, the question arises: what is the role of remembrance today? For many Dutch people, the Second World War is central to the national culture of remembrance. But what does this emphasis on one war mean for our image of the Netherlands?

    Herdenken onder vuur (Remembering under Fire) explored how the emphasis on the Second World War in Dutch remembrance affects our national self-image and what role it plays in the recognition of other forms of violence, such as those in the former colonies and forms of oppression today.

    The National Commemoration on 15 August 1945, the day commemorating the end of the Japanese occupation in Indonesia, is used as a case study. How does this commemoration relate to the broader historiography of the Netherlands and which voices are given space here or not?

    With literary contributions by Sinan Çankaya, Maurits de Bruijn and Lara Nuberg, Herdenken onder vuur offered a reflection on the thesis of how commemoration is not only about the past, but also about the choices we make today. In conversation led by Nancy Jouwe, we explored how war, colonialism and identity continue to shape our national self-image and collective memory. Dutch spoken.

    Remembrance under Fire was curated for Writers Unlimited Festival 2025 by Lara Nuberg.

  • Winternachten 2020 – Friday Night Unlimited

    The Best Books You've Never Heard of

    What role do the doorkeepers of literature play - publishers, editors, booksellers, agents and scouts - when it comes to the colour filter? Who ultimately decides what is "good literature" and on what basis? We discuss the issue with Ellah Wakatama, Editor-at-Large of Scottish publishing firm Cannongate Books, Ebissé Rouw, editor at Dutch podcast platform Dipsaus Publicaties, and Mylo Freeman, writer and illustrator of children's books best known for her Princess Arabella picture-book series.