Dakota's Winternachten Verhalenfestival: Theesessie met Cynthia Mc Leod

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All interested are welcome to a conversation with writer Cynthia Mc Leod from Suriname, known from her novel Hoe duur was de suiker? The coffee and tea are ready! The conversation will in Dutch.

Cynthia Mc Leod writes historical novels and youth books that take place in Suriname. Through the research she has done for her books, she has gained a lot of knowledge about the eventful history of Suriname; knowledge she likes to share with others. Mc Leod is a real storyteller who passionately and enthusiastically brings the Surinamese history to life.

Wijkwinkel bij Betje is a place in Moerwijk (address: Betje Wolffstraat 181, Den Haag) where people come together and meet each other. Bij Betje was founded by the shopkeepers in the Betje Wolffstraat. They saw a shortage of social places in the neighbourhood and decided to realize a social place in their shopping street.

The neighbourhood discussion is an initiative of Writers Unlimited and Theater en Filmhuis Dakota on the occasion of the 25th Winternachten International Literature Festival The Hague (15-19 January). On Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 January, the free Winternachten Verhalen Festival will take place in Theatre and FIlmhuis Dakota, with meetings with writers Cynthia Mc Leod, Walter Palm and Vamba Sherif and the music theatre performance The Bright Side of Life on Saturday. On Sunday, there will be a storytelling workshop and open stage, a children's programme with children's book writer and illustrator Mylo Freeman and a talk show.

Information

Date and time Saturday 18 January 2020 from 10:30 to 11:30 hrs
Location Wijkwinkel bij Betje

Cynthia Mc Leod

(Suriname, 1936) made her writer's debut with Hoe duur was de suiker? (How Costly Was the Sugar?, 1987), the novel that made her the most famous Surinamese writer overnight and was adapted for film in 2013. She was the first to describe the history, the slaving past and the colonization of her country from a Surinamese perspective. As an expert in the field, she lectures about the history of slavery at US and Canadian universities and organizes educational field and city trips. She has written historic novels, including De Vrije Negerin Elisabeth, gevangene van kleur (The Free Negress Elizabeth, Prisoner of Colour, 1992), as well as studies, children's books and children's musicals. Her No kwik in het bos (No Mercury in the Forest, 2017) is a YA novel about a ten-year-old girl and the dangers of mercury in the gold-mining process. McLeod is a daughter of Johan Ferrier, the first president of Suriname.
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