Joke van Leeuwen
(The Hague, NL 1952) is a jack-of-all-trades. Apart from writing prose and poetry for children and adults, she illustrates and performs. In 2008 and 2009 she was city poet of Antwerp, Belgium. Her illustrated novel Alles Nieuw (Everything New) made it to the shortlist of the 2009 Ako Literature Prize. Van Leeuwen's children's books have been awarded many times with the Zilveren Griffel (Silver Pencil), Gouden Uil (Golden Owl) and the Woutertje Pieterse Prize. Especially her children's book Deesje was translated in many languages and awarded abroad. The power in her work is that she enriches her texts with beautiful illustrations. Van Leeuwen's main characters often walk through life with a gaze of wonderment while at the same time they seem locked by everyday routine. Van Leeuwen's career began in 1978 when she won the Camaretten (cabaret) festival and published her first children's book. Since then she hes been performing in smaller and bigger productions, combining cabaret, literature and image.
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Archive available for: Joke van Leeuwen
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Writers' Fest 2013
With: Bart Moeyaert, Denise Jannah, Ellen Deckwitz, Guus Janssen, Jaap Cohen, Joke van Leeuwen, Lucas Hüsgen, Marja Pruis, Nico Dijkshoorn, Pieter Steinz, Roland Colastica, Ronald Giphart, Stephan Enter, Wouter Godijn
The festival closes with a Writers' Fest in the Koninklijke Schouwburg. A programme around Dutch literature, with performances by among others Joke van Leeuwen, Nico Dijkshoorn, Ronald Giphart, Bart Moeyaert, jazz singer Denise Jannah and pianist and composer Guus Janssen.
What is the state of affairs in Dutch letters? At the beginning of the year we take stock. Writer and critic Marja Pruis gives her vision on how Dutch literature fares. With music and readings we honour three great writers and poets who passed away in 2012. Queen of jazz and singer Denise Jannah, accompanied by guitarist Robby Alberga, sings a poem by Gerrit Komrij, Holland's foremost poet and promotor of Dutch poets and poetry. Composer and pianist Guus Janssen honours the prolific Dutch writer Bernlef with a composition for voice and piano. And we'll listen to a recording of poet Rutger Kopland, the grand old man of Dutch poetry. Curaçaoan writer and actor Roland Colastica, who made his debut last year with the children's novel Vuurwerk in mijn hoofd (Fireworks in my Head), tells us a story about his mother tongue, Papiamento, how as a child he got to know Dutch literature, on the importance of reading and telling stories.Presentation of the The Hague literary prizes
Four writers are awarded with a prize today: Stephan Enter is recipient of the F. Bordewijk Prize for his novel Grip, Wouter Godijn receives the Jan Campert Prize for his book of poetry Hoe H.H. de wereld redde (How H.H. Saved the World), and Lucas Hüsgen receives the J. Greshoff Prize for contemplative prose for his book Nazi te Venlo (Nazi in Venlo). Multitalent Joke van Leeuwen is recipient of the Constantijn Huygens Prize for her entire oeuvre. The afternoon closes with her theatrical word of thanks: a unique performance by Van Leeuwen, this writer, poet, illustrator and comedian. In cooperation with the Nederlands Letterenfonds, Stichting Lezen and the Jan Campert Stichting. The prizes are given by the alderman for culture of The Hague, Marjolein de Jong. -
Decisive rules
Whether literature offers solace or confusion, whether it shows the way or disorders, every writer must have been moved in the course of his or her life by a passage, a line, an image or a poem which gave direction to his or her life. Was it a boys' book? A text on a tile? A column? Or rather that highly valued, often quoted passage from world literature? Jonathan Safran Foer, Tash Aw, Ramsey Nasr, Joke van Leeuwen and Petina Gappah read those passages that changed their lives for good, and reveal what happened to them when they read those lines for the first time. The programme starts with a reading from his work by the Iranian author Shahriar Mandanipour.
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Wintercafé 2: Hold on! Oulipo.
Hold on! Oulipo and the literary restriction: If you play the game, you make the rules. The French OuLiPo company (Ouvroir Littéraire Potentielle, founded in 1960) thought that with self-imposed literary restrictions one could write potentially interesting texts. In which only the e as a vowel would occur, or a poem in which all the letters of the alphabet would recur.This programme, a co-production of Wintertuin (Nijmegen) and festival Winternachten (The Hague) is a tribute to the writers, mathematicians and philosophers of OuLiPo. Four writers, Saskia de Coster, Karin Amamoetkrin, Anton Valens and Joke van Leeuwen were given a restriction by writer/mathematician Hugo Brandt Corstius in Nijmegen. Now the four writers and their 'patron' get together in The Hague to read the results. Meanwhile, all the texts will have been published in a handy-sized booklet – available at Winternachten in a limited edition!
At the end of this hour there is a performance by saxophonist and composer Maarten Ornstein and Joshua Samson (percussion). Ornstein composed music to poems of the South African poet Ronelda Kamfer. In Dutch. -
Poem - interpreted - illustrated
With: Anna Enquist, Jean Pierre Rawie, Joke van Leeuwen, Toef Jaeger
What you always wanted to know but never dared to ask. Anna Enquist and Jean Pierre Rawie will teach you how to write poetry. Together with the audience each of the poets will interpret a visually expressive poem, chosen from world literature. At the same time the audience can watch on a large screen writer and illustrator Joke van Leeuwen illustrating her own vision of the poem. Enquist, Rawie and Van Leeuwen hope for a great deal of audience participation. Shortly before the start of the festival the poems will be available on this website. Visitors to the festival will have the poems sent to them beforehand. Bring along pen and paper!
Dutch spoken
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Writers lessons
With: Cynthia Mc Leod, Joke van Leeuwen, Ronald Giphart
In November 2003 and February 2004 the Dutch writer, illustrator and cabaret artist Joke van Leeuwen gave several workshops for Surinam authors and illustrators. This was a joint project from the Dutch Literary Production and Translation Fund and Writers group '77. Together with Joke van Leeuwen the aspirant writers present tonight the provisional results of these workshops. Joke van Leeuwen is accompanied by the writers Cynthia McLeod and Ronald Giphart. They show what can be done with a text from its very first version to the final result in book form.
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1001 identities - opening night
With: Arlette Codfried, Cynthia Mc Leod, Dansgroep Tandava, Denise Jannah, EKM Dido, Fafiri Brothers, Frits Wols, Gibi Bacilio, Joke van Leeuwen, Rappa, Ronald Giphart, Sitok Srengenge
The first night of the festival in Paramaribo offers a diverse program. Writers from five countries read from their novels and poetry. Hosted and presented by Arlette Codfried they talk about their own country and how people from different cultures live together there. Denise Jannah sings poems chosen from poets that represent the five different countries participating in this ffestival, amongst others from the winner of the State literature prize Orlando Emanuels. Cynthia McLeod, Rappa, Surianto and Frits Wols perform together with their foreign colleague writers Gibi Bacilio (Curaçao), EKM Dido (South Africa), Ronald Giphart (The Netherlands), Joke van Leeuwen (The Netherlands) and Sitok Srengenge (Indonesia). The dance group Tandava dances poems from Slory and Shrinivasi. The Fafiri Brothers will provide further musical accompaniment.
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The future is not a fairy-tale
With: André Klukhuhn, Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer, Joke van Leeuwen, Manon Uphoff, Michaël Zeeman, Said el Haji, Thea Doelwijt
Once apon a time there was a girl, that climbed to the top of a tower of books, high above the clouds. What is the view like up there? Is she safe? What will become of her? Authors Manon Uphoff and Thea Doelwijt, writer and performer Said El Haji, philosopher and writer André Klukhuhn, author and stand-up comedian Joke van Leeuwen and poet and rebel Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer wrote a fairy-tale for her. They give her a future, perhaps they will even present her with an ideal. Will she be happy? Listen to six adult fairy-tales and a conversation with the writers, led by Michaël Zeeman.
