Jannah Loontjens
(1974) is a writer and philosopher. She grew up in the Netherlands and Sweden and has published four novels as well as poetry and essay collections. Her novel Schuldig: Een verkenning van mijn geweten (Guilty: An exploration of my conscience, 2020) is an essayistic and philosophial confession and personal quest for the origin of her feelings of guilt. Loontjens is a member of the writers' collective Fixdit, which aims to increase diversity in the literary world. By way of podcasts, essays, open letters and conversations, Fixdit wants the raise awareness of gender inequality in the world of letters and expand the canon with work by important female authors. She also writes opinion pieces for Dutch newspspers and a column for Filosofie Magazine, in which she discusses philosophers that influenced her thinking and writing. She reviews poetry for Awater. Besides her writerly activities, Loontjens has taught philosophy and literary analysis at Dutch universities and arts institutes.
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Archive available for: Jannah Loontjens
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Optimistische woede (Optimistical Anger)
With: Annelies Verbeke, Christine Otten, Jannah Loontjens, Manon Uphoff, Rachida Lamrabet, Sanneke van Hassel, Shantie Singh
In this Writers Series programme, writers' collective Fixdit, in collaboration with Writers Unlimited, celebrated the publication of the Fixdit manifesto Optimistische woede: fix het seksisme in de literatuur (Optimistic Rage: fix sexism in literature), a publication of De Geus, at Theater aan het Spui in The Hague.Optimistic rage
Many people openly admit to barely reading books by women. Reading lists in schools are dominated by books by (white straight) men. Women win fewer literary prizes than men. Is that a bad thing? Yes, because it reflects and shapes relations in society.Eleven female writers are outraged by the unequal position of women in the arts, and united in the collective Fixdit. From alliance, they fight for change, in the literary world and in the canon. In the eleven pieces of this manifesto, they explore the problem in depth. Furious, combative, and above all: optimistic.
Programme
No fewer than eight of the eleven Fixdit authors read from their contributions to their joint manifesto: Sanneke van Hassel, Rachida Lamrabet, Jannah Loontjens, Christine Otten, Shantie Singh, Fleur Speet, Manon Uphoff and Annelies Verbeke. You probably read their books and met them in previous Writers Series programmes or at the Winternachten festival.The programme in Zaal 1 opened and closed with parts from Gregory Shaggy's urban dance performance (Y)our eyes only about the reality of young black men in Western society. With their own dreams, goals and talents, they try to make a name for themselves in a world where prejudice, racism, inequality and distorted images in the media are unfortunately still among today's problems. The men want to search for their own truths. They try to face personal blockages in order to ultimately follow their dreams.
After the programme, we celebrated the book launch with bubbles and book signing at De Vries Van Stockum Boeken's book sales stand in the foyer. This book launch marked the start of a Fixdit tour along bookshops and literary venues throughout the Netherlands and Belgium.
Fixdit consists of Yra van Dijk, Sanneke van Hassel, Rachida Lamrabet, Jannah Loontjens, Munganyende Hélène Christelle, Christine Otten, Gaea Schoeters, Shantie Singh, Fleur Speet, Manon Uphoff and Annelies Verbeke. -
Fixdit - about the legendary Nawal el Saadawi
Writer, doctor and feminist in 20th-century Egypt - with Annelies Verbeke, Jannah Loontjens, Rachida Lamrabet and Gamal Fouad.
Legendary Egyptian author Nawal el Saadawi passed away in March 2021 at the age of 90. Hadn't you heard of her yet? Then this event is the perfect chance to correct that oversight!
Nawal el Saadawi is also known as "the Simone de Beauvoir of the Arab world," and her work ruffled a lot of feathers. She was a doctor and an activist who wrote unabashedly about her life as an emancipated, feminist woman in an Egypt in which far from everyone shared her opinions. It's time to shine a spotlight on her groundbreaking work, and we let Annelies Verbeke and Jannah Loontjens of the Fixdit collective do the honours!
For this event, which is also a live recording of a new podcast episode, authors and Fixdit founders Annelies Verbeke and Jannah Loontjens embarked on a discussion with the Belgian author and lawyer Rachida Lamrabet and the Dutch writer and visual artist Gamal Fouad. They discussed Nawal el Saadawi's influential work and in particular her novel The Fall of the Imam.
About Fixdit
The writers' collective Fixdit is committed to raising the profile of work by female authors that deserves a wider readership. In collaboration with the literary magazine De Gids, Loontjens and Verbeke produce the Fixdit podcast series Moderne klassikers (Modern Classics), in which they give exposure to literary classics written by women.
Fixdit & Writers Unlimited
Fixdit and Writers Unlimited have joined forces to bring attention to international female authors who deserve a spot in the literary canon. November 2021 Fixdit and Writers Unlimited jointly created the episode Bibi Koetis voor altijd (Bibi Koetis For Ever), about the Indonesian author Lin Scholte Previously we jointly created an episode about Dutch-Indonesian author Lin Scholte (1921-1997), with Annelies Verbeke, Jannah Loontjens, Vilan van de Loo (writer and editor of Lin Scholte's collected works) and writer Gustaaf Peek. View here the video registration of the live podcast recording that took place at Nationaal Museum Sophiahof - van Indië tot nu (The Hague). The conversation is in Dutch.
Reading tips:
The entire oevre of Nawal el Saadawi, especially The Fall of the Imam, Memoirs of a Woman Doctor and Woman at Point Zero.Dutch spoken.
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'Bibi Koetis voor altijd', Lin Scholte
With: Annelies Verbeke, Gustaaf Peek, Jannah Loontjens, Vilan van de Loo
In collaboration with literary magazine De Gids, writers Jannah Loontjens and Annelies Verbeke create the Fixdit podcast series Modern Classics. Every two months they highlight a literary classic written by a woman. On Thursday 4 November, Lin Scholte's novel Bibi Koetis Forever (1974) - set in the Dutch East Indies community - was discussed with writers Gustaaf Peek and Vilan van de Loo. This was a live event, Dutch spoken. Together with Writers Unlimited, this edition of the podcast was recorded in the presence of an audience at the beautiful and appropriate location in The Hague: Museum Sophiahof.
Soon available in your favorite podcast-app!
Bibi Koetis voor altijd, Lin Scholte
Date: Thursday 4 November 2021
Start: 20.30 hrs, door open at 20.00 hrs
Free entrance for students and scholars. Regular ticket €10,- including tea/coffee and spekkoek
Further information and tickets: www.museumsophiahof.nl
Location: Nationaal Museum Sophiahof, Sophialaan 10, 2514 JR Den HaagDutch spoken.
Event curated by Ellen Walraven (Writers Unlimited), Annelies Verbeke and Jannah Loontjens (Fixdit).
Books for sale courtesy of De Vries Van Stockum Books
Please note!
- It is mandatory to show an identity card and a corona admission ticket at the entrance.
- The corona admission ticket is mandatory for adults and children older than 13 years.
- In the event of cancellation due to corona complaints, we return the purchase amount.
This program is a coproduction of Fixdit and Writers Unlimited in collaboration with Museum Sophiahof.
