David Grossman interviewed by Bas Heijne

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In this edition of Writers Unlimited The Series, essayist en columnist Bas Heijne will talk to novelist David Grossman. Recently Grossman’s latest novel Falling Out of Time about the grief of parents who have lost a child, has been published in Dutch and English. ActorHugo Maerten will read excerpts from this novel.

David Grossman (Jerusalem, 1954) is one of Israel’s most celebrated authors. His work includes novels, essays, children’s books and a stage play, and has been translated into twenty-five languages. Among the countless awards he received was the prestigious Peace Prize of the German booksellers association, presented to him in 2010.

Information

Date and time Tuesday 11 September 2012 from 20:30 to 22:00 hrs
Location Podium B - Centrale Bibliotheek Den Haag, Spui 68, 5e etage

Hugo Maerten

David Grossman

(Israel, 1954) writes children's books, novels, and essays. His book Falling Out of Time (2012) falls somewhere between poetry, prose, and playwriting. He wrote it after his son was killed during the Lebanese war. "Grossman has exposed the deepest core of mourning for a child in an unsentimental and heartbreaking manner," wrote the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz. Grossman considers it his task to make understandable the complexity of the world in which we live. He studied philosophy and theatre in Jerusalem and produced a popular children's program in the 1970s and 1980s. Most of Grossman's books have been translated into Dutch, and his work has received numerous awards. His children's book The Zigzag Kid (1994) was filmed in 2012. Other of his well-known titles include See Under:Love (1986), Tamar's Voice (YA novel, 2000) and Someone to Run With (2009).
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Bas Heijne

(Nijmegen, NL, 1960) writes essays, short stories and plays, and is a columnist with the daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad. He published the novels Laatste woorden (Last words) and Suez and received the Henriëtte Roland Holst Prize in 2005. In 2011's Moeten wij van elkaar houden, het populisme ontleed (Do We Have to Love One Another? Populism Dissected) Heijne shows how globalisation and individualism pave the way for populism. Angst en schoonheid (Fear and Beauty) was published in 2013, an essay about Dutch writer Louis Couperus, whom Heijne admires. In the same year his documentary about Couperus was broadcast. In 2015 he hosted the five-part documentary De volmaakte mens (The Perfect Human). In 2016 his essay Onbehagen – nieuw licht op de beschaafde mens (Discontent - new light on civilized man) was published. In 2017 Heijne received the P.C. Hooft Award for his essayistic works.
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