Listen to the Book of My Life podcast, where writers share the book that has inspired or moved them—the book that has shaped their artistic, moral, or intellectual compass. In short, the book they recommend to everyone. This podcast is a re-publication of the live program, part of the annual Writers Unlimited International Literature Festival The Hague.
In this episode, Pamela Sneed talks about Homegoing (2017) by Yaa Gyasi. Two half-sisters grow up in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and leads a life of luxury. Esi is captured, sold into slavery and put on a ship bound for America. Homegoing tells the story of their descendants over the three centuries that follow.
Yaa Gyasi explores the impact of slavery across multiple generations, moving freely through history: from tribal wars and slavery in Ghana to the American Civil War, from the coal mines of the southern United States to the mass migration to Manhattan in the twentieth century.
This podcast is a re-release of a live programme from the annual Writers Unlimited International Literature Festival in The Hague. Listen to the podcast here or on your favourite podcast platform.
10 November 2026
In this Dutch spoken episode, Lize Spit talks about Oersoep by Bregje Hofstede, a 2023 book described as autofiction. Hofstede offers readers a lyrical reading experience that sometimes feels more like a trip than a novel.
29 October 2026
With Jeanette Winterson, Paul Murray, Maaza Mengiste, Claudia Rankine, Iraida Martha Ooft and more!
27 October 2026
In this Dutch spoken episode, Hanna Bervoets chose Giovanni's Room, the 1956 novel by James Baldwin.
