Gershwin Bonevacia
(The Netherlands, 1992) is a poet, writer and performer. In 2017 he self-published his poetry debut Ik heb een fiets gekocht (I Bought a Bike) and sold more than 6,000 copies "out of his suitcase." As poet laureate of Amsterdam he wrote one poem per month for newspaper publication between 2019 and 2022. Bonevacia managed to make good use of his dyslexia: wrestling with words turned him into an inventive word artist, and a popular guest on cultural programs. In 2021 he translated the children's book Change Sings by U.S. spoken-word artist Amanda Gorman into Dutch and published the poetry collection Toen ik klein was, was ik niet bang (I Wasn't Scared When I Was Young). The latter is an ode to his young fearless self and an attempt to incorporate that person again. In 2023, Bonevacia appears on stage in Terug naar Prinsenplein (Back to Prinsenplein).
(WU2024)Archive available for: Gershwin Bonevacia
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Warriors! Heroes from Suriname and the Caribbean
Warriors! is an ode in spoken word, music, dance and stories to people from Suriname and the Caribbean who risked their lives to fight for freedom. Heroes from our colonial past that resisted oppression and a lack of freedom. Stories that were previously ignored, made invisible or hidden away. Now, more than 150 years after the abolition of slavery, many stories are emerging, but there also remain many stories that must be told about warriors from the past and warriors of the present.
Gershwin Bonevacia, Dean Bowen, Julien Ignacio, Raj Mohan and OTION - Master of Sceneries presented their own work. In a conversation with presenter Shantie Singh, Karin Amatmoekrim talked about the writer Anil Ramdas, about whom she recently published the biography In wat voor land leef ik eigenlijk? (What Kind of Country Do I Live In, Anyway?).
Tip: Shantie Singh also created Her (s)tories, a theatrical ode to women in Hindustani migration history, which was performed on Friday 12 January 2024 at Theater aan het Spui, The Hague.
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WWZ x Winternachten Festival 2022
Yippee, WWZ was back at Winternachten! We ordered a drink and got carried away by today's top spoken-word artists and poets.
WWZ is a popular platform for authors, spoken-word artists and musicians that has, with energy and a deep love of language, staged the most beautiful performances and loveliest music for sold-out venues for many years. During Winternachten we joined forces with WWZ and PAARD. Besides Dutch poets and spoken-word artists, international festival authors let their voices be heard at WWZ x Winternachten Festival 2022 in an extra-long, high-profile program. Good vibes guaranteed!
Line-up
During this event you saw and heard performers such as: WWZ-founder and spoken-word artist Elten Kiene, writer and musician Aafke Romeijn, poet Derek Otte, spoken-word artists Kelvin Allison and Amara van der Elst, poet (and former Amsterdam poet laureate) Gershwin Bonevacia, poet Ellen Deckwitz, and Iranian-Swedish poet Athena Farrokhzad.