FFÛH x Writers Unlimited Festival: Open Mic

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Come listen to poems, support your poets or recite your own poem! The microphone is yours and ready on the foyer stage of Theater aan het Spui during the Writers Unlimited International Literature Festival The Hague.

Tyson Hill, writer from Curaçao, will perform and the presentation of the Open Mic will be in the hands of Benzokarim, writer, spoken word artist and City Poet of Rotterdam.

Festival tip: this Saturday afternoon, we will be hosting a whole series of writer interviews, performances, recitals, award ceremonies and a podcast recording.
Choose from:
- 12:00-13:00 hrs. Zaal 1: writer and journalist Anna Krijger was interviewed about her novel Geen mens meer in Gaza (No One Left in Gaza). Dutch spoken.
- 13:30-14:30 hrs, Zaal 1: Interview with Adriaan van Dis about his new novel, Alles voor de reis (Everything for the Journey). Dutch spoken.
- 13:45-14:45 hrs, foyer: Open Mic. Dutch spoken.
- 15:00-16:00 hrs, Zaal 2: Love, reading, lust: YOUNG! by FFÛH and VPRO Club Lees with writer Hanna Bervoets and poet Lies Kelder, among others. Dutch spoken.
- 15:30-17:00 hrs, Zaal 1: Presentation of The Hague Literature Prizes, festive programme with recitals and music. Dutch spoken.
- 16:00-17:00 hrs, foyer: Presentation of the new FFÛH poetry collection with recitals by the poets of FFÛH. Dutch spoken.
- 17:00-18:00 hrs, Room 2: Fixdit podcast recording: interview with writer Shantie Singh about her female sources of inspiration.

On Saturday afternoon, 25 January, the foyer of Theater aan het Spui was open to the public free of charge; to access the auditorium programmes, tickets  were available via writersunlimited.nl. After the presentation, the FFÛH anthology was available at the festival stand of De Vries Van Stockum bookshop in the foyer of Theater aan het Spui.

FFÛH is a collective and literary platform for young writers in The Hague. FFÛH has a strong desire to provide a broader stage for the undiscovered writing talent that lurks in The Hague. It has emerged as a platform for poetry evenings, open mics and collective writing sessions. It also offers new poets the opportunity to be published in an anthology.

Information

Date and time Saturday 24 January 2026 from 13:45 to 14:45 hrs
Location Theater aan het Spui - foyer - overige locaties
Price Free entry.

Fester Vogels

(The Netherlands, 2000) is a writer, visual artist and co-founder of the Hague poetry collective FFûH. Their texts attempt to find recognition within alienation, with texts full of stimuli, twists and turns. Within the chaos, representation and the recovery of narratives are central to his work. They contributed work, and also served as editor and cover designer, to Zilt en Asfalt, the first collection by FFûH, which was presented with readings during the Writers Unlimited Festival 2025. Their work has also appeared in Kluger Hans and SKUT. Fester's first poetry collection, Tijgerbalsem in je Ogen - Een opeenhoping van queer, poëtisch proza (Tiger Balm in Your Eyes - An Accumulation of Queer, Poetic Prose), was published in 2024.

Instagram: @festervogels
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Benzokarim

(1996) is a poet and performer. In 2022, he won the El Hizjra literature prize for poetry and published his debut collection El Ghorba. In it, he talks to his father, mourns his mother and writes poetry about experiences that are recognisable to anyone with a migrant background. His second collection, Ons gaan allemaal (We're all going), has been awarded with the Jan Campert Prize 2025, yearly prize for poetry. As coach of Poetry Circle 070 and editor of Mensen Zeggen Dingen, he is working hard to pave the way for a new generation of world improvers. Benzokarim is Rotterdam's City Poet in 2025 and 2026.

Bekijk de website van Benzokarim
Instagram: @benzokarim_
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Tyson Hill

(Curaçao) is a writer and performer. In September 2025, Tyson presented his first poetry collection, Sigá ku glas di awa (Cigar with a glass of water), during the Wintertuin Curaçao Festival. He grew up with a love of reading and writing. After studying in the Netherlands, he returned to Curaçao and rediscovered his passion for literature in his native language, Papiamentu. Creative writing helped him to shape his identity. In this bilingual collection, written in Papiamentu and translated into Dutch by Nathania Engelhardt, Hill takes the reader on a journey through childhood, love, memory and Curaçaoan identity.

Instagram: @tej.hill
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