De Volkskrant Leesclub Live on Remco Campert's oeuvre

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De Volkskrant Leesclub Live focused on the diverse oevre of Remco Campert, especially his novel Het satijnen hart (The Satin Heart), and allowed the audience to get their questions answered by an amazing writers' panel of expert enthusiasts: Jan Mulder, Bert Wagendorp and Mirjam van Hengel.

If you read Dutch, you could order Camperts' novel Het satijnen hart via the Leesclub (a special edition for this occasion published by De Bezige Bij) and get a discount on your ticket!

Mulder talked about Camperts' columns, Wagendorp about his stories, and Van Hengel about his poetry. Wilma de Rek, books editor at De Volkskrant newspaper, participated as moderator.

For a musical-poetic intermezzo, Frederique van Rijn and actor/singer Frans van Deursen performed an excerpt from the Campert's show Poëzie is mijn adem (Poetry is my Breath) featuring his own poems, accompanied by Mark Nieuwenhuis (compositions, trumpet, samples, beats) and Frank van Bommel (compositions, piano, various percussion).

Born in The Hague, Remco Campert (1929-2022) was one of The Netherlands' most loved and multifaceted writers. Besides poetry, he wrote several novels and novellas, several of which have become contemporary classics. From 1989 until 1995, together with Jan Mulder and Bart Chabot, he read from his own work in theatres. From 1996 to 2006, together with Mulder, he wrote the joint column CaMu that appeared on the front page of the Volkskrant daily newspaper. His bestselling novel Een liefde in Parijs (A Love in Paris) came out in 2004, followed by 2006's Het satijnen hart (The Satin Heart), a wistful portrait of a painter who can't choose between love and art all the way into old age. His last works were 2019's Aanelkaar (To Each Other), an exchange of letters with Kees van Kooten, and the poetry collection Mijn dood en ik (My death and I, 2019), in which he lucidly looks death in the eye.

Festival tip: Ode to Remco Campert & Award Ceremony Hague Literature Prizes (Koninklijke Schouwburg, Sunday afternoon, 21 January 2024) with appearaces by Kees van Kooten, Ramsey Nasr, Alma Mathijsen, Ronelda Kamfer, Ellen ten Damme, Benjamin Herman and Corrie van Binsbergen, followed by the ceremony of the Hague Literature Prizes to be awarded to Anjet Daanje, Tomas Lieske, Rozalie Hirs and Tjibbe Veldkamp.

Information

Date and time Saturday 20 January 2024 from 16:00 to 17:20 hrs
Location Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1
Price €20
Readers de Volkskrant €15
Up to 30 years / Ooievaarspas €10
DenHaagPas €12,50.

Line-up

Jan Mulder

(The Netherlands, 1945) turned to writing after a stint as professional footballer. Together with Remco Campert he wrote CaMu, their virtuostic front-page column for the Volkskrant newspaper, every other day for ten years. Mulder became an influential TV personality, including on Dutch talk shows. He has written books, including in collaboration with Remco Campert, since the 1970s. A collection of his prose (stories and columns) appeared as De vrouw als karretje (Woman as Cart, 2001). His more recent books include the novels Iris (2003) and Liefde en aardbevingen (Love and Earthquakes, 2018); Chez Stans (2010), memoirs of his time in football; the Boekenweek gift book Labradoedel (Labradoodle, 2010); and Tot u spreekt Jan Mulder (Jan Mulder Speaks to You, 2014), reflections on football and himself.
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Bert Wagendorp

(The Netherlands, 1956) is a writer and journalist. He was a longtime sports reporter, first with a regional and then a national Dutch newspaper. In 1995 he published his first novel De proloog (The Prologue), about the wakeful night of a cyclist during the Tour de France. From 2006 to 2022 he wrote the Page 2 opinion column for the Dutch daily De Volkskrant every other day. The sport of cycling and friendship are central themes of his bestselling novel Ventoux (2013) and its sequel Ferrara (2019). Wagendorp also co-wrote the script for the film Ventoux (2015) and its sequel Laatste Ronde (Final Lap), which will be in theatres in 2024. Together with his daughter Hannah, he wrote Het Vader & Dochter boek (The Father & Daughter Book) and the novel Masser Brock (2017). The first two books of his novel series De memoires van Abel Sikkink (The Memoirs of Abel Sikkink), about a journalist who emigrates to America in the 19th century, appeared in 2022 and 2023.


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Mirjam van Hengel

(The Netherlands, 1967) is a writer and programme maker for ILFU, among others. In 2014, her book Hoe mooi alles. Leo en Tineke Vroman, een liefde in oorlogstijd (How beautiful everything is. Leo and Tineke Vroman, a love in wartime) was published, followed in 2018 by her biography of Remco Campert, Een knipperend ogenblik (A fleeting moment), which was awarded the Henriëtte de Beaufort Prize. Dola, about writer and dancer Dola de Jong, was published in 2022. Van Hengel was an editor at Uitgeverij Van Oorschot and Uitgeverij Querido for many years. She has edited numerous collected works and poetry anthologies and writes for De Volkskrant, among others. Her most personal book, Ganzentijd (Goose Time), about her father and herself as his daughter, was recently published.

Go to the website of Mirjam van Hengel
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Wilma de Rek

is a writer and books editor of the Dutch daily De Volkskrant. Previously, she was head of two other sections of the newspaper. She is the author of the books Canto Ostinato. Simeon ten Holt over zijn meesterwerk (Canto Ostinato: Simon ten Holt on his Masterwork), and Allemaal losers (Losers All). She is also co-author of the Encyclopedie der Nederlanden (with Bert Wagendorp); De stijl van de Leider (The Leader`s Style, 2011, together with Pieter Broertjes), a series of interviews with Johan Cruijff and others; and Van big bang tot burn-out (From Big Bang to Burnout, together with Witte Hoogendijk). Stand-up filosoof (Stand-up Philosopher, 2013) is a record of her conversations with René Gude, philosopher and thinker laureate, about the meaning of life, love, the role of the mind, approaching death, optimism, envy, and much more.

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Frederique van Rijn

(France, 1982) is a photographer and visual artist. Her photo documentary series focus on places with history. She works together with artists and writers such as Remco Campert and Elly de Waard. She is also a founder of the catering collective Ogentroost (which works with edible flowers) and a creative instructor at the Free School. For her book Het lichte oog huilt kleuren (The Light Eye Weeps in Colour, 2017), she photographed fragments of drawings, paintings, etchings, paint spatters and notable details in the Bergen atelier of the painter and poet Lucebert. She digitally combined these with her photos of the nearby landscape, and asked Remco Campert to choose fragments of Lucebert's poetry as titles for the collages. Currently she is working on a photo series in Neerijnen and editing photos from her grandmother's family archive.
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Frans van Deursen

(The Netherlands, 1962) is an actor, singer, composer and translator. In his successful stage career he has played the most diverse roles in the the widest variety of productions. A small selection: he was the Controller in Miss Saigon and Zoser in Aida. Elwood Blues in The Blues Brothers and Tiger Brown in The Threepenny Opera. He has played Astor Piazzolla and Judas, Pantaar and Hipockets Duncan. On TV he's had large and small roles in various Dutch-language series. His first album from 2010 featured translations of Tom Waits songs, followed by a 2015 album that set Leo Vroman's poetry to music. In 2023, together with director Theu Boermans, he is creating an adaptation and translation for the show Mozart's Zauberflöte - Next Generation.
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Frank van Bommel

is a pianist who has diversity at his fingertips, with a particular affinity for melodic figures. He started with classical piano lessons from an early age, and received improvisation lessons from Misha Mengelberg. From the nineties on he forms or participates in several ensembles that perform his compositions, linked to contemporary music-influences and improvisations. He collaborated with theatre ensemble De Appel, with Willem Breuker and Eric Vloeimans in The Dolphy 2000 Project, and worked on the theatre plays Victoria and Poëzie is mijn adem (Poetry is My Breath) by Felix Strategier.
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Mark Nieuwenhuis

(1981) plays trumpet, composes and produces various styles of music. As a trumpet player, he plays in bands, with DJs and as a solo artist. He has played on countless stages at home and abroad, such as at Lowlands, Concertgebouw, Extrema Outdoor, Paradiso, Oerol and Mawazine Festival (Morocco). He composes on commission for film, television and theatre, as well as autonomously for ensembles and orchestras. He has collaborated with Sizzer Amsterdam, Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, Born Digital and Theatergroep Gehring and Ketelaars, among others.
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