Margriet Oostveen
(1968, Den Bosch, NL) debuted in 2009 with Botox op K Street (Botox on K Street) about the city of Washington, which she wrote after a years-long stay in the US. She ignored Congress and the embassies and sought out small events and unknown people, which perhaps tell us much more about a country than the things that make the global news.
She attended the funeral of a gangster, discovered the life of female night-shift cooks, and attempted to understand the self-hatred of black children. Back in the Netherlands, she went to work in similar fashion for NRC Handelsblad newspaper: instead of sitting behind her desk she went out to talk to people who normally didn't appear in its pages. Her columns are collected in Knus (Snug). In 2014 she moved to the Volkskrant newspaper.
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This Is Not America (Part 2)
The unexpected election of businessman Donald Trump as president of the United States will be signed and sealed in Washington this Friday, 20 January. The choice of Trump is seen primarily as a protest by citizens against the established political elite, and a sign of broad discontent among the American public. Is the USA our role model - will voters stand up against the political establishment here as well? In Europe in 2017, significant elections will take place in the Netherlands, France and Germany; the Dutch will be first to go to the ballot box on 15 March to elect their members of parliament. Should we expect a surprise?
In This is Not America, writers and journalists will compare the USA and the Netherlands under the knowledgeable direction of Stephan Sanders. Margriet Oostveen wrote a column for NRC Handelsblad from the US about daily life there; currently she does the same for the Volkskrant about the Dutch from the Netherlands. Bas Heijne offers a broader cultural context for the general discontent; Ian Buruma, a citizen of and expert on both countries, makes comparisons; and Arnon Grunberg reflects on what he hears and sees in the streets of New York and The Hague. Jeanine Valeriano and her Spoken Beat Night finish up the evening with a sparkling performance.