Thea Doelwijt

(Den Helder, 1938) writes plays and stories for both children and adults. In Surinam, her father's native country, she was a member of the writers group Moetete (1968), and was the co-founder of the Doe-theater (Do theater) (1970-1983), which after 1973 has grown into the first professional theater company of Surinam. From time to time she also worked for the Surinam television, for which in 1965 she wrote the scenario Grootvaders klok (Grandfather's clock), which was Surinam's first short television film. After having lived in Surinam for 22 years, Thea Doelwijt returned to the Netherlands (native country of her mother) in 1983, and lives and works here now. Doelwijt has written several books. Her most recent book is O sekoer! Help! (2000), a story about a Surinam boy who, together with his grandmother, has an adventure in France. In 2003 the book En toen en toen en toen (And then and then and then) appeared in Surinam. This consiists of a collection of compositions by children, especially written for Thea Doelwijt during the children's book festival in Paramaribo. In 1998 and 2003 Doelwijt revived in Surinam two popular opera's about the slavery period : De Gouden Koe (The golden cow), which was also performed in the Netherlands, and De Diamanten Du (The diamand Du), which will be on tour in the Netherlands in February 2004.
WIN2003