FRIDAY NIGHT UNLIMITED

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A varied evening with programmes on five stages. Writers, poets, and visitors come together this evening in a festive, informal atmosphere. The writers will read from work commissioned by the festival, or from their books and discuss current themes. And at the end of the evening everyone dances the night away. A ticket gives admission to all programme parts. Language is no problem: there are programmes in English and in Dutch.

Amin Maalouf delivers the opening speech, Ian Buruma presents his film choice, authors read tirades (in cooperation with the literary magazine Tirade) or tell about the Text of their Life, while those nominated for the VSB Poetry Award perform together with poet/rapper Typhoon. 

Other guests on Friday Night Unlimited: Abdelkader Benali, Arie Boomsma, Wim Brands, Linda Christanty (Indonesia), Saskia De Coster (Belgium), Aminatta Forna (GB/Sierra Leone), Rodaan Al Galidi (NL Iraq), Amin Maalouf (France/Lebanon), Andrés Neuman (Spain/Argentina), Elisabeth van Nimwegen, Roos Pollmann, Simone van Saarloos, Andries Samuel (South Africa), Alfred Schaffer, Nihad Sirees (Syria), Petra Stienen and many others.

In Zaal 1 your MC is Roos Pollman, in Zaal 2 Umar Mirza and in the foyer you will be welcomed by MC Francis Broekhuijsen. 

Programme changes: Geling Yan will not perform tonight, for health reasons. Tomorrow, at Saturday Night Unlimited, she will be present. 

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 from 20:00 to 01:00 hrs
Location Theater aan het Spui & Filmhuis Den Haag

Tijdschema 17 January

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Time Location
20:00 - 20:50 Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 2 A piece of elite to the people - a polemic
20:00 - 20:45 Theater aan het Spui - foyer Friday Night Wintercafé: Who's Afraid of Youth
20:00 - 21:30 Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1 Like me. Please like me. Opening Lecture by Amin Maalouf
20:00 - 21:00 Filmhuis - zaal 1 Writers and film: Ian Buruma
20:00 - 20:20 Filmhuis - Studio A The Text of my Life: Nihad Sirees
20:20 - 20:40 Filmhuis - Studio A The Text of my Life: Linda Christanty
20:40 - 21:00 Filmhuis - Studio A The Text of my Life: Noreena Hertz
20:50 - 20:55 Theater aan het Spui - foyer Tirade against ready-to-eat chunks of literature
20:55 - 21:45 Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 2 Let's talk about Sex
20:55 - 21:10 Theater aan het Spui - foyer Talking to the writer: Saskia De Coster
21:10 - 22:20 Filmhuis - zaal 1 Film - Frank Martinus Arion: Yu di Kòrsou
21:15 - 21:35 Filmhuis - Studio A The Text of my Life: Elisabeth van Nimwegen
21:15 - 21:30 Theater aan het Spui - foyer Talking to the poets: Rodaan Al Galidi and Alfred Schaffer
21:30 - 21:35 Theater aan het Spui - foyer Tirade against a demanding child
21:35 - 21:55 Filmhuis - Studio A The Text of my Life: Arie Boomsma
21:35 - 22:45 Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1 Eyes Wide Open: Noreena Hertz & Femke Halsema
21:45 - 21:50 Theater aan het Spui - foyer Tirade about someone called Walter van den Berg
21:50 - 22:45 Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 2 The Turning Point
21:55 - 22:20 Theater aan het Spui - foyer Talking to the anthologist: Arie Boomsma
22:15 - 22:35 Filmhuis - Studio A The Text of my Life: Alfred Schaffer
22:20 - 22:45 Theater aan het Spui - foyer Friday Night Wintercafé
22:30 - 23:55 Filmhuis - zaal 1 Film: InRealLife
22:35 - 22:55 Filmhuis - Studio A The Text of my Life: Abdelkader Benali
22:45 - 22:50 Theater aan het Spui - foyer Tirade to dispel loneliness
22:50 - 23:45 Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1 Call me, call me!
22:50 - 23:10 Theater aan het Spui - foyer Talking to the writer: Aminatta Forna and Noreena Hertz
22:55 - 23:15 Filmhuis - Studio A The Text of my Life: Roos Pollmann
23:10 - 23:45 Theater aan het Spui - foyer Friday Night Wintercafé
23:15 - 23:35 Filmhuis - Studio A The Text of my Life: Andrés Neuman
23:45 - 01:00 Theater aan het Spui - foyer Dancing into the Night

Line-up

Roos Pollmann

(Amsterdam, 1988) calls herself a ‘multimedial storyteller’. She likes to do a lot of things at the same time, like writing, acting in films and in the theatre, play the ukelele as awell as writing Dutch country music. Two columns of hers in Dorst (VPRO tv guide) caused Nijgh & van Ditmar publishers to ask her to write a novel. In the book, to be published early 2014, she deals with themes which often occur in her theatre work and in her columns: she is amazed about the world and sketches the struggle to grow up, sexuality often playing an important role. Pollmann acted in various theatre performances with among others Theatergroep Thomas. During the Amsterdam Fringe Festival 2013 she did the main character role in the living-room performance of Bezoek, about a young woman seeking a confrontation with herself.
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Umar Mirza

(The Hague, NL 1987) is a talented tv host, chairman and columnist. His parents emigrated to the Netherlands from Pakistan. At the age of 18 Umar Mirza began as a columnist and editor of the multicultural platform Wijblijvenhier.nl and developed his outlook on the Netherlands in contributions on various weblogs, opinion sites, in magazines and collections of essays. In addition he regularly sits on panels, chairs meetings and leads debates. Since 2009 he is a guest lecturer at Fontys Hogeschool voor Journalistiek in Tilburg and since 2011 has hosted tv programmes for NTR (Mijn moskee is top). Umar did the minor People and Society at Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam and in 2012 completed his Master's at the Technische Universiteit Delft. He was elected one of the twelve Best Graduates of the Netherlands. He is working on a new television programme. www.umarmirza.nl.
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A piece of elite to the people - a polemic

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 20:00 tot 20:50 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 2
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Gone seem the times of literary fireworks between opponents who, with a feeling for language and humor, sought the boundaries of decency in their zeal to tirelessly cross verbal swords. Those good old times revive with a round of polemics between Abdelkader Benali and Saskia De Coster. Both of them fiercely plead for and against the return of the elite. Down with the dictatorship of the rabble, down with long live the people! Meer details bekijken

Friday Night Wintercafé: Who's Afraid of Youth

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 20:00 tot 20:45 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - foyer
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The Wintercafé is the meeting point of the festival, where writers and audience come together and are welcomed by MC Francis Broekhuijsen. In this first hour pupils of the Johan de Witt College present their poems, the result of a series of workshops at their school. They perform together with poet Bernke Klein Zandvoort. Meanwhile in the Wintercafé: snacks and drinks and the Paagman bookstall sell their books. Meer details bekijken

Like me. Please like me. Opening Lecture by Amin Maalouf

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 20:00 tot 21:30 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1
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See me. Hear me. Read me. Appreciate me. Be like me. Do like me. Join me: with the democratisation of the media owing to the Internet and the social media, there is a growing longing for recognition. Not only do celebrities have a stage to sparkle on, all those with a blog, Facebook or Twitter account  can create their own little kingdom and think themselves a poet, a writer, a political expert or an expert on the environment.  Boundaries fade; idols and politicians can be reached on Twitter, making it seem as if one really counts. And a  like or a retweet is the reward. New online communities are formed, not hindered by national borders or local politics. The new world citizen creates his own virtual society of kindred spirits. What does it mean to live in a virtual world and what are the consequences for people's identities? Amin Maalouf ponders the deper layers and consequences behind a simple request: Like me. Followed by a debate on the topic. In English. Meer details bekijken

Writers and film: Ian Buruma

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Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 20:00 tot 21:00 uur
Location Filmhuis - zaal 1
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Writer Ian Buruma for this hour has chosen a number of film extracts about war. He talks to Paul van der Gaag (VPRO's history programme OVT). With among others extracts from Apocalypse Now and Throne of Blood. In Dutch. Meer details bekijken

The Text of my Life: Nihad Sirees

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 20:00 tot 20:20 uur
Location Filmhuis - Studio A
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Which texts from world literature has Syrian writer Nihad Sirees cherished as long as he lives? This most beautiful or most inspiring text can be a poem, an excerpt from a novel or a song-text. He discusses the text with the audience. In English. Meer details bekijken

The Text of my Life: Linda Christanty

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Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 20:20 tot 20:40 uur
Location Filmhuis - Studio A
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Which texts from world literature has Linda Christanty from Indonesia cherished as long as she lives? This most beautiful or most inspiring text can be a poem, an excerpt from a novel or a song-text. She discusses the text with the audience. In English. Meer details bekijken

The Text of my Life: Noreena Hertz

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Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 20:40 tot 21:00 uur
Location Filmhuis - Studio A
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Which texts from world literature has econonomist and writer Noreena Hertz from Great Britain cherished as long as she lives? This most beautiful or most inspiring text can be a poem, an excerpt from a novel or a song-text. She discusses the text with the audience. In English. Meer details bekijken

Tirade against ready-to-eat chunks of literature

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 20:50 tot 20:55 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - foyer
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Editors of the literary magazine Tirade and several writers climb on to the soapbox in the foyer and hold a Tirade, as appeared in the anniversary edition of Tirade 450. Martijn Knol rants on about easy pieces: ready-to-eat chunks of literature. Meer details bekijken

Let's talk about Sex

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Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 20:55 tot 21:45 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 2
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Two writers with diverse cultural backgrounds talk about the role of sex and violence in their literary work. The Indonesian writer Linda Christanty highlights religious, political and gender themes. In his novels Gary Barker - who calls himself a 'masculine feminist' - describes love in times of violence and war, situated in Latin America and Congo. In English.

Gary Barker replaces the Chinese Geling Yan, who for health reasons will not perfom today. She will be peforming on Saturday night. Meer details bekijken

Talking to the writer: Saskia De Coster

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 20:55 tot 21:10 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - foyer
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Join the regulars' table. Host Francis Broekhuijsen welcomes Saskia De Coster. We listen to her favourite music, and talk to her. Don't forget to have your books autographed. In Dutch. Meer details bekijken

Film - Frank Martinus Arion: Yu di Kòrsou

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 21:10 tot 22:20 uur
Location Filmhuis - zaal 1
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A new documentary on the Curaçao writer and poet Frank Martinus Arion (1936), directed by Cindy Kerseborn. With a.o. Trudi Martinus-Guda, Omayra Leeflang, Igma van Putte-De Windt, Jos de Roo, Walter Palm and Francio Guadeloupe.  In Dutch. Meer details bekijken

The Text of my Life: Elisabeth van Nimwegen

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 21:15 tot 21:35 uur
Location Filmhuis - Studio A
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Which texts from world literature has Dutch writer Elisabeth van Nimwegen cherished as long as she lives? This most beautiful or most inspiring text can be a poem, an excerpt from a novel or a song-text. She discusses the text with the audience. In Dutch. Meer details bekijken

Talking to the poets: Rodaan Al Galidi and Alfred Schaffer

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 21:15 tot 21:30 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - foyer
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Join the regulars' table. Host Francis Broekhuijsen welcomes poet Rodaan Al Galidi and Alfred Schaffer. We listen to their favourite music, and get a chance to talk to them. Don't forget to have your books of poetry signed. In Dutch. Meer details bekijken

Tirade against a demanding child

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 21:30 tot 21:35 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - foyer
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Tirade number three, straight from the 450th edition of the literary magazine with the same name, from the soapbox, by Sanneke van Hassel, aimed at a demanding child. Meer details bekijken

The Text of my Life: Arie Boomsma

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Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 21:35 tot 21:55 uur
Location Filmhuis - Studio A
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Which texts from world literature has Dutch poetry anthologist and tv anchor Arie Boomsma cherished as long as he lives? This most beautiful or most inspiring text can be a poem, an excerpt from a novel or a song-text. He discusses the text with the audience. In Dutch. Meer details bekijken

Eyes Wide Open: Noreena Hertz & Femke Halsema

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Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 21:35 tot 22:45 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1
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In an age where established orders are collapsing all around us, traditional gatekeepers are leaving their gates and people have to google their way through many disparate sources, it is getting increasingly difficult to distinguish the sense from the nonsense. Economist Noreena Hertz recently published ‘Eyes Wide Open’ about these changing times and challenges for the present day civilian to take a ‘radically different approach’ and to become ‘empowered decision-makers, capable of making high-stakes choices ourselves’. But what does it mean for experts like Hertz and Halsema? What is their role as decision-maker in a world where everyone is deciding? And what does this new world look like? Meer details bekijken

Tirade about someone called Walter van den Berg

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 21:45 tot 21:50 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - foyer
Editors of the literary magazine Tirade and several writers climb on to the soapbox in the foyer and hold a Tirade, as appeared in the anniversary edition of Tirade. Walter van den Berg holds a tirade against the writer Walter van den Berg who is not a character but a writer, whose name is Walter van den Berg, who hurt someone. Meer details bekijken

The Turning Point

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 21:50 tot 22:45 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 2
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Tonight three authors talk about their drives, motivations and inspiration for taking up a career as a writer in an often violent and complex world. Architect Andries Samuel, documentary maker and BBC reporter Aminatta Forna and constructional engineer Nihad Sirees decided to turn to fiction at a certain point in their lives. Andries Samuel, the son of Antjie Krog, made his debut in 2013 with the book of poetry Wanpraktyk. In her latest novel The Hired Man Forna sketches the fermenting tension in postwar Croatia. Nihad Sirees' great power is that he succeeds in turning fear into humor in his novel The Silence and the Roar. What compelled these three people to start writing? In English. Meer details bekijken

Talking to the anthologist: Arie Boomsma

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Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 21:55 tot 22:20 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - foyer
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Join the table of host Francis Broekhuijsen. He welcomes Arie Boomsma, editor of beautoful poetry anthologies. We listen to his favouriee music, and talk to him.  Don't forget to have your books of poetry signed. In Dutch. Meer details bekijken

The Text of my Life: Alfred Schaffer

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 22:15 tot 22:35 uur
Location Filmhuis - Studio A
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Which texts from world literature has Dutch poet Alfred Schaffer cherished as long as he lives? This most beautiful or most inspiring text can be a poem, an excerpt from a novel or a song-text. He discusses the text with the audience. In Dutch. Meer details bekijken

Friday Night Wintercafé

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 22:20 tot 22:45 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - foyer
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The meeting point of the festival. In the Wintercafé writers and audience come together. Master of ceremonies Francis Broekhuijsen keeps you abreast of the
goings-on in the various rooms of the theatre. And he invites you to join the table for the regulars, where the writers sit and talk after their
performances and autograph their books. Also in the Wintercafé: snacks, drinks and Paagman bookshop sells their books. DJ Socrates plays his music.asdf Meer details bekijken

Film: InRealLife

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 22:30 tot 23:55 uur
Location Filmhuis - zaal 1
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(Beeban Kidron, 2013) Taking us on a journey from the bedrooms of British teenagers to the world of Silicon Valley, filmmaker Beeban Kidron suggests that rather than the promise of free and open connectivity, young people are increasingly ensnared in a commercial world. InRealLife asks if we can afford to stand by while our children, trapped in their 24/7 connectivity, are being outsourced to the net. In English. Meer details bekijken

The Text of my Life: Abdelkader Benali

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Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 22:35 tot 22:55 uur
Location Filmhuis - Studio A
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Which texts from world literature has Dutch-Moroccan writer Abdelkader Benali cherished as long as he lives? This most beautiful or most inspiring text can be a poem, an excerpt from a novel or a song-text. He discusses the text with the audience. In Dutch. Meer details bekijken

Tirade to dispel loneliness

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 22:45 tot 22:50 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - foyer
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Editors of the literary magazine Tirade and several writers climb on to the soapbox in the foyer and hold a Tirade, as appeared in the anniversary edition of Tirade 450. The last one tonight is by Lieke Marsman. She cannot read it hearself because of health reasons. Martijn Knol reads her tirade to dispel loneliness. Meer details bekijken

Call me, call me!

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 22:50 tot 23:45 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1
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'Name me, name me, speak to me, o, name me by my deepest name. For those I love, I want to be called,' Neeltje Maria Min wrote some fifty years ago in one of her most famous poems. The deep longing for love and confirmation is translated tonight in music and poetry by the poets Arie Boomsma introduces to us: the onrushing young debutante Kira Wuck, nominated for the C. Buddingh' Prize, the much-praised Alfred Schaffer, living in South Africa, the Dutch Iraqi poet Rodaan Al Galidi, who is perpetually in love and the nominees for the VSB Poetry prize Miriam Van hee and Antoinde de Kom. Interspersed with a magnificent performance by rapper/poet Typhoon. 

Programme in cooperation with Poetry International and CPNB  Meer details bekijken

Talking to the writer: Aminatta Forna and Noreena Hertz

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Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 22:50 tot 23:10 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - foyer
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Join the regulars' table. Host Francis Broekhuijsen welcomes Arie Boomsma, editor of beautiful poetry anthologies. We listen to their favourite music, and talk to them. Don't forget to have your books autographed. In English. Meer details bekijken

The Text of my Life: Roos Pollmann

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 22:55 tot 23:15 uur
Location Filmhuis - Studio A
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Which texts from world literature has Dutch writer and actress Roos Pollman cherished as long as she lives? This most beautiful or most inspiring text can be a poem, an excerpt from a novel or a song-text. She discusses the text with the audience. In Dutch. Meer details bekijken

Friday Night Wintercafé

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 23:10 tot 23:45 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - foyer
20130201093829 8
The meeting point of the festival. In the Wintercafé writers and audience come together. Master of ceremonies Francis Broekhuijsen keeps you abreast of the
goings-on in the various rooms of the theatre. And he invites you to join the table for the regulars, where the writers sit and talk after their
performances and autograph their books. Also in the Wintercafé: snacks, drinks and Paagman bookshop sells their books. DJ Socrates plays his music.asdf Meer details bekijken

The Text of my Life: Andrés Neuman

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 23:15 tot 23:35 uur
Location Filmhuis - Studio A
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Which texts from world literature has the Argentine writer Andrés Neuman cherished as long as he lives? This most beautiful or most inspiring text can be a poem, an excerpt from a novel or a song-text. He discusses the text with the audience. In English. Meer details bekijken

Dancing into the Night

Information

Date and time Friday 17 January 2014 23:45 tot 01:00 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - foyer
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Dancing into the night with DJ Socrates. Meer details bekijken

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