Saskia Bruines
(Netherlands, 1962) is The Hague's alderman for Finance, Culture and Economy. She studied social geography with a specialisation in historical geography at the University of Amsterdam and published the book Binnewaeters Gewelt, 450 jaar boezembeheer in Hollands Noorderkwartier. From 1998 to 2006, she was a member of the Amsterdam City Council and an Amsterdam alderman from 1999 to 2002. She then served as alderman of Leidschendam-Voorburg from 2012 to 2017 and as alderman of The Hague since 2017.
(WU2024)Archive available for: Saskia Bruines
-
Ode to Remco Campert & The Hague Literary Prizes Ceremony
With: Aad Meinderts, Alma Mathijsen, Anjet Daanje, Benjamin Herman, Blue Moon, Corrie van Binsbergen, Ellen ten Damme, Jan Kuijper, Judith Uyterlinde, Kees 't Hart, Kees van Kooten, Lucky Fonz III, Maartje Meijer, Marjoleine de Vos, Mirjam van Hengel, Ramsey Nasr, Ronelda S. Kamfer, Rozalie Hirs, Saskia Bruines, Tjibbe Veldkamp, Tomas Lieske
To grandly celebrate the life and work of Remco Campert, an ode to him took place on the final day of the 2024 Writers Unlimited International Literature Festival The Hague, preceding the award ceremony of The Hague Literature Prizes. The event was organized by Writers Unlimited and the Literatuurmuseum, in collaboration with the Jan Campert Foundation, de Volkskrant and De Bezige Bij.
Ode to Remco Campert
Campert was honoured with appearances by prominent writers and artists such as Ellen ten Damme, Kees van Kooten, Ramsey Nasr, Alma Mathijsen, Mirjam van Hengel, South African poet Ronelda S. Kamfer, guitarist Corrie van Binsbergen and the Benjamin Herman Quartet formed by Benjamin Herman (saxophone), Thomas Poll (double bass), Timothy Banchet (piano) and Jimmi Hueting (drums). All let themselves be inspired by the person and work of Campert for their musical or verbal contributions.Remco Campert (1929-2022) was born in The Hague. He was a much-loved poet, novelist and columnist. His poetry won awards such as the Reina Prinsen Geerligs Prize, the Poetry Prize of the City of Amsterdam, the Jan Campert Prize, the P.C. Hooft Price and the Gouden Ganzenveer. In 2015 he was honoured with the Dutch Literature Prize.
Besides poetry, Campert wrote several novels, stories and novellas from the 1960s on, such as 2004's Een liefde in Parijs (A Love in Paris), which became revered classics. From 1989 until 1995, together with Jan Mulder and Bart Chabot, he read from his own work in theatres. From 1996 to 2006, together with Mulder, he wrote the joint column CaMu that appeared on the front page of the Volkskrant daily newspaper. His last works were 2019's Aanelkaar (To Each Other), an exchange of letters with Kees van Kooten, and the poetry collection Mijn dood en ik (My death and I, 2019), in which he lucidly looks death in the eye.
The Hague Literature Prizes Award Ceremony
The festival ended with The Hague Literature Prizes, which are awarded annually by the Jan Campert Foundation. The laureats - Anjet Daanje, Tomas Lieske, Rozalie Hirs en Tjibbe Veldkamp - received their prizes from Saskia Bruines, alderwoman of Finance, Culture and Economy of The Hague.Anjet Daanje received the Constantijn Huygens Prize, The Hague's most important award for a body of work. Tomas Lieske was awarded the F. Bordewijk Prize for his novel Niets dat hier hemelt. Rozalie Hirs received the Jan Campert Prize for her collection of poetry ecologica. The biennial Nienke van Hichtum Prize for children's books went to Tjibbe Veldkamp for his De jongen die van de wereld hield.
Each laureate was honoured with a laudatio by a special guest! Thus, writer Kees 't Hart and pianist, singer and composer Maartje Meijer performed for Anjet Daanje. Rozalie Hirs and Tomas Lieske were praised by poet Jan Kuijper and writer Marjoleine de Vos respectively. Singer-songwriter Lucky Fonz III performed for Tjibbe Veldkamp.
Judith Uyterlinde, director of Writers Unlimited, and Aad Meinderts, chair of the Jan Campert Foundation, delivered welcoming words.
Bookstore De Vries van Stockum was present in the foyer with a stand where books by the authors participating in this event and others were available!
Ode to Remco Campert & The Hague Literary Prizes Ceremony was curated by Jet Steinz on behalf of the Jan Campert Foundation and Writers Unlimited. Mirjam van Hengel hosted the event.
-
Haagse literatuurprijzen: a festive programme celebrating The Hague's Literary Award winners
With: Aad Meinderts, Amara van der Elst, Chelsy Valentina, Dominique De Groen, Donald Niedekker, Farah Karimi, Hasan Gök, Hashem Kabreet, Hassnae Bouazza, Jeremy Jordan Rosa, Jina Sumedi, Kaja Wolffers, LUWTEN, Marion Bloem, Marjan Slob, Obe Alkema, Orchestre Partout, Saskia Bruines, Sinan Can
The Winternachten festival 2023 opened with prose, poetry, spoken word, music and the ceremony of the literary prizes of the City of the The Hague. The prize winners Marion Bloem, Donald Niedekker, Dominique De Groen and Marjan Slob (respectively) received the Constantijn Huygens-, F. Bordewijk-, Jan Campert-, and J. Greshoff- prizes from Saskia Bruines, alderman of Finance, Culture and Economy of The Hague.
The prize winners were each of them be honoured with performances by special guests, including research journalist and documentary filmmaker Sinan Can, poet Obe Alkema, The Hague student Jeremy Jordan Rosa and film and TV producer Kaja Wolffers (son of Marion Bloem).
The programme kicked off with the first official performance of Chelsy Valentina, the brand new and first Jonge Stadsdichter van Den Haag 2023 (Young City Poet of The Hague). Percussionist and handpan player Hashem Kabreet and Orchestre Partout gave music performances.
Farah Karimi, who chaired the Board of Writers Unlimited, and Aad Meinderts, director of the Literatuurmuseum spoke words of welcome. Additionally, the jubilee publication on the occasion of 75 years of The Hague literary prizes, was presented to the alderman.
Lobby programme with Amara van der Elst, Hasan Gök and the Jonge Stadsdichter
From 14:30 hours, preceding the award ceremony in Zaal 1, spoken word artist Hasan Gök presented from the lobby stage a short interview with Chelsey Valentina, the Jonge Stadsdichter (Young Civic Poet). Spoken word artist Amara van der Elst performed, and also Hasan Gök performed some of his poems, accompanied by Jina Sumedi on keyboard.Bookstore De Vries van Stockum was present in the lobby with a stand offering books by participating authors of this programme, among others — including signing opportunties!
Haagse literatuurprijzen was curated by Jet Steinz for Literatuurmuseum/Writers Unlimited. Moderator was Hassnae Bouazza.