The power of children's books

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Through reading, children learn to relax, dream away and gain knowledge. Writers Unlimited presented Wednesday 12 October 2022 in the Writers Series during Kinderboekenweek (Children's Books Week, 5-12 october 2022), for an adult audience, a probing conversation with two great children's book authors: Edward van de Vendel and Brian Elstak. How do they look at their work and especially their societal role? What is the impact of their books and how do their experiences differ?

Edward van de Vendel has written many book and poems for children and young adults, such as Vosje (Little Fox), his Tycho and Oliver series, the book Gloei (Glow) with stories by lhbtiqa+ youngsters and the Zilveren Griffel en Bronzen Penseel 2022 award-winning Rekenen voor je leven (Calculating for your life). Certainly also irresistible is his Wat je moet doen als je over een nijlpaard struikelt: gedichten waar je wat aan hebt (What to do if you trip over a hippopotamus: useful poems), with illustrations by Martijn van der Linden.

Brian Elstak is a visual artist, graphic novelist and illustrator of children's books. For his stories, music videos and arts installations, he uses a visual language that refers to hip-hop culture, video games and social issues. November 2022 sees the publication of Lobi, featuring new adventures of Cel, Bones and Zi, known and loved from his books Tori (written with Karin Amatmoekrim) and Trobi (like Lobi, written with Esther Duysker). Brian participated 2022 in Documenta 15 with The Black Archives and founded the artist collective Lowrey Foley McClane.

Moderator and journalist Jellie Brouwer, known among other things as presenter and interviewer of the national radio network NPO programme Kunststof, knows better than anyone else how to ask the right question at the right time!

Programme compiled by Joëlle Koorneef (Writers Unlimited).
Book sale: De Vries Van Stockum Boeken.

Addres info Zaal 3: De Constant Rebecqueplein 20A, Den Haag

Information

Date and time Wednesday 12 October 2022 from 20:30 to 22:00 hrs
Location Zaal 3 HNT
Price € 10,- / young adults up to 30 years, CJP, Ooievaarspas €5,-

Line-up

Edward van de Vendel

(Netherlands, 1964) published, in collaboration with many illustrators, an extensive, highly acclaimed and awarded oeuvre comprising poems, children's and young adult's novels, drama, non-fiction, songs and texts for picture books. He makes podcasts and started the publishing company Blauw Gras. He does not shy away from heavier themes in his work. In 2008 he started the Slash series: books based on true stories of young people who have already been through a lot, with De Gelukvinder (The Luck Finder), about a boy from Afghanistan fleeing the Taliban. In 2020 he initiated Querido Glow, a book series in which young people who identify as queer can recognize themselves. Translations of his works are available in many countries.
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Jellie Brouwer

(The Hague, 1965) is a journalist, moderator and widely known as presenter and interviewer of Kunststof, the arts news show on national Dutch radio network Radio 1. In the programme, broadcast every Monday to Thursday between 19:00 and 20:00, she welcomes a prominent guest from the arts and culture in the studio. Jellie studies at the School for Journalism in Utrecht. Afterwards, she starts working for Radio West in The Hague as a presenter and reporter. After a few years of regional journalism, she ends up national broeadcasters as editor and works for TV programmes such as TV3, RUR, and Ischa. And she is a radio reporter at NOS and AVRO. From 1992, she presents radio programmes for the NOS (later the NPS): Radio Uit, Nieuws op 1, Knetterende Letteren and De Recensenten.
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Brian Elstak

(Zaanstad, 1980) is a visual artist. author and illustrator of children's books and graphic novels, and also creates music videos, paintings, t-shirts and installations. For his stories he uses a visual language that refers to pop culture and social issues. November 2022, Das Mag will publish Lobi with new adventures of the human children Cel, Bones and Zi, known and loved from his books Tori (2017. written with Karin Amatmoekrim) and Trobi (2018. like Lobi written with Esther Duysker). Raised on Marvel Comics and hip-hop, he developed into a true storyteller through theatre. In doing so, he likes to seek collaboration. Underneath his cheerful, dynamic drawing style are big themes, such as inequality and black awareness.
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