Cynthia Mc Leod
(Suriname, 1936) made her writer's debut with Hoe duur was de suiker? (How Costly Was the Sugar?, 1987), the novel that made her the most famous Surinamese writer overnight and was adapted for film in 2013. She was the first to describe the history, the slaving past and the colonization of her country from a Surinamese perspective. As an expert in the field, she lectures about the history of slavery at US and Canadian universities and organizes educational field and city trips. She has written historic novels, including De Vrije Negerin Elisabeth, gevangene van kleur (The Free Negress Elizabeth, Prisoner of Colour, 1992), as well as studies, children's books and children's musicals. Her No kwik in het bos (No Mercury in the Forest, 2017) is a YA novel about a ten-year-old girl and the dangers of mercury in the gold-mining process. McLeod is a daughter of Johan Ferrier, the first president of Suriname.
Past events
Unmasking Colonial Myths
Are we dealing with stubbornly clinging myths about colonial times, also in our literature?
Documentary: Misi met een missie - plus a talk with Cynthia McLeod and director Wilma Ligthart
In this documentary, director Wilma Ligthart accompanies the royally distinguished Surinamese writer Cynthia McLeod to places that play a role in her life and work. After the screening, film journalist Bert Jansma speaks with both women. The public will have the opportunity to ask questions as well.
The Film Choices of Cynthia McLeod
Cynthia McLeod picks excerpts from her favorite movies and tells film journalist Bert Jansma why they are so important to her. With scenes from Gone With the Wind (1939), the story of spirited Scarlett O'Hara and the American Civil War—and the occasion for the first Oscar won by a black actress (Hattie McDaniel as Mammy), and To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), in which lawyer Gregory Peck defends a young black man in the segregated Alabama of the 1930s.
This is Our Way — Public Discussion
This is our way, and that is their way... How do you deal with one another in an environment where so many cultures live side by side? What language do you speak? What do you do on one another's holidays? Tonight three writers—two of them from countries with long histories of multiculturalism—provide ideas for dos and don'ts. No laws, just manners. The public will discuss these ideas. Do we adopt them or not? WithVamba Sherif, Cynthia McLeod, Bas Heijne and moderator Ruben Maes.
Dictation Sranantongo
A public dictation for all those who speak Sranantongo. The best speller wins the translation dictionary Sranan-Dutch/Dutch-Sranan. Writer Cynthia McLeod and Rabin Baldewsingh, alderman in The Hague, will dictate the text. Winternachten provides pen and paper. Dutch and Sranantongo spoken.
The world goose board
Adriaan van Dis, Cynthia McLeod, Reggie Baay and Thomas Rosenboom play the World Goose Board, led by Paul van der Gaag. A risky journey round the world, full of stories. Dutch spoken.
