Celebrated Indian author Amitav Ghosh will receive the Erasmus Prize this year for his contribution to the theme 'the imagination of the unthinkable,' in which climate change—an unprecedented global crisis—takes shape through the written word.

In his recent books The Nutmeg's Curse and Smoke and Ashes, Ghosh connects colonialism to the current climate crisis, with particular attention to the Dutch East India Company (VOC). According to Ghosh, colonialism and genocide have been the foundations upon which industrial modernity was built. A worldview in which the earth is seen as a resource goes beyond genocide and ecocide: it welcomes the prospect of 'omnicide'—the extermination of everything—humans, animals, and the planet itself.The conversation will take place in Hoorn, the birthplace of VOC General Jan Pieterszoon Coen, who committed genocide against the population of the Banda Islands to secure a monopoly on the lucrative nutmeg trade.Amitav Ghosh is unmatched in his ability to forge new connections that transcend centuries, continents, and ideologies, offering a fresh perspective on history.

Ghosh will be in conversation with writer and literary critic Margot Dijkgraaf. Her autobiography In de voetsporen van mijn grootvader (In the Footsteps of My Grandfather) (2021) is a search for her literary roots. She has published books on French and European literature, as well as works on Hella S. Haasse and Cees Nooteboom. Previously, she released Met Parijse pen. Literaire omzwervingen (With a Parisian Pen: Literary Wanderings) (2020, with photographer Bart Koetsier), which leads readers through Paris, tracing the footsteps of famous writers.After the event, attendees will have the opportunity to purchase and have their books signed.

Echoes from the past, visions of the future: Amitav Ghosh in conversation with Margot Dijkgraaf
Sunday, November 24, 2024, Hoorn – Noorderkerk
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Doors open at 2:30 p.m.

Free entry, registration required via the link.

Foundation Praemium Erasmianum in collaboration with the Westfries Museum, the Municipality of Hoorn, and Writers Unlimited.