A tribute to Hella S. Haasse & Jan Campert Awards

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In cooperation with the Haasse Estate and Publisher Querido Writers Unlimited organises a tribute in the Koninklijke Schouwburg: a festive meeting in which the richness and diversity of her life and work are celebrated.

Willem Nijholt reads from his letters to the writer and Loes Luca performs cabaret texts written by Hella Haasse. Elsbeth Etty, Marjolijn Februari, Kees ’t Hart, Patricia de Groot, Gustaaf Peek, Margot Dijkgraaf, Rudi Wester and Arjan Peters tell anecdotes and stories. Her daughters Ellen and Marijn van Lelyveld will add a personal contribution to the programme, which will be presented by Pieter Steinz. Hella S. Haasse died on 29 september 2011. She leaves behind a massive oeuvre, among other books the popular novels Oeroeg, In a Dark Wood Wandering, The Tea Lords. She won many awards, including the Dutch Letters Award in 2004.

After the interval the Jan Campert Prizes will be presented, the literary awards of the Municipality of The Hague, including the Constantijn Huygens Prize, which has been awarded to A.F.Th. van de Heijden. Erik Spinoy (1960) is recipient of the Jan Campert-prijs 2011 for his book of poetry Dode kamer (Dead room). Gustaaf Peek (1975) is recipient of the F. Bordewijk Prize 2011 for his novel Ik was Amerika (I was America). Benny Lindelauf (1964) receives the biennial Nienke van Hichtum Prize for children's literature 2011 for De hemel van Heivisj (Heivisj's heaven) the triennial G.H. ’s Gravesande Prize for special literary merit 2011 goes to Stichting Perdu. Host: Trio Droomvogels.

Information

Date and time Sunday 22 January 2012 from 14:00 to 16:45 hrs
Location Koninklijke Schouwburg

Line-up

Loes Luca

(1953) studied drama at the Kunstacademie in Utrecht. She made her debut with the Amsterdam theatre company Orkater, acted in successful television programmes, played in various Dutch films, had her own band ‘Nénette et les Zézettes’, with which she performed a lot (e.g. on De Parade) and sang with various renowned orchestras. In 2002 Loes Luca hosted the public night of the Royal Wedding. In the same year she was elected Actress of the Year by the Dutch public and won the Rembrandt Award. In 2006 she was in the theatre with Moordwijven, her first one woman show. In 2007 she was nominated for the Theo d’Or and won the Gouden Notekraker. In 2011 she was successful with her roles in the plays The Hypochondriac and August, Oklahoma.
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Willem Nijholt

(Gombong, Java, 1934) has played in numerous plays, films, tv series and musicals. The public at large knows him from the Sonneveld show, De stille kracht, Oebele, Foxtrot and Miss Saigon. The theatre lover knows him because of his great, more serious roles, such as in Amadeus, De verbroken code, Shakespeare's The Tempest and Children of a Lesser God. In 2011 he was appointed a Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion, a distinction given to people with exceptional achievements for society on the basis of very special talents. In his career of fifty years Willem Nijholt has always regarded language as the basis of acting. In addition to being an avid reader he is first and foremost a passionate writer. That great love of language can be read in Met bonzend hart. Brieven aan Hella Haasse (With a throbbing heart, Letters to Hella Haasse).
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Elsbeth Etty

(Hulshorst, NL, 1951) received the Anne Vondeling Award for political journalism in 2008, owing to her sharp analyses of social problems. She is a journalist in the widest sense of the word. Besides being an editor and columnist with the NRC Handelsblad newspaper, she makes frequent appearances on radio and TV. In 2007 she debuted as a novelist with Maak jezelf maar klaar (Go Get Yourself Off), in which one of the characters from Harry Mulisch's The Discovery of Heaven figures as a main character. Etty obtained her Ph.D. with distinction from Utrecht University with a biography of Henriëtte Roland Holst, Liefde is heel het leven niet (Love Is Not All of Life, 1996). Her newspaper columns appeared in four different books. Her reviews were compiled in Dames gaan voor - Van Hella Haasse to Connie Palmen (Ladies First: From Hella Haasse to Connie Palmen, 1999). Etty is a special lecturer in Literary Criticism at the Free University in Amsterdam, and is now at work on a biography of the late Dutch poet and songwriter Willem Wilmink.
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Ellen van Lelyveld

(1947) is a daughter of Hella S. Haasse and Jan van Lelyveld. She studied piano and composition at the Sweelinck Conservatorium. She also studied psychology for some years at the University of Amsterdam and graphic design at the Rietveld Academy. In the years that followed she studied hypnotherapy, psychosynthesis and effective intuition, specialising in the mental side of music making. This resulted in the emergence of the integrated studying method. From 1996-1999 she was project coordinator of Personal Instrument, a project on attitude, movement and mental training at the Zwolle conservatory. Within that framework she designed a Mental Training for students of music. She has her own practice, counselling students of music in many fields. www.ellenvanlelyveld.com
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Kees 't Hart

(The Netherlands, 1944) is a writer and poet. His novel De Keizer en de astroloog (The Emperor and the Astrologer, 2008) sees apprentice psychiatrist Simon employed as an astrologer at the court of Emperor William II in Doorn, ending up in absurd situations. In 2000 he wins the Multatuli Prize for his novel The Revue (1999). In Teatro Olimpico (2014) Dutch theatre professionals try to stage their show in Italy. Wederzijds (Mutual, 2017) is a satire about neighbourhood help and in the historical and humorous De ziekte van Weimar (The Disease of Weimar, 2019), a man from Franeker travels to Weimar to meet Goethe. VICTORIEN, ik hou van je (2021) is a collection of 'stories and outpourings'; 2023 will see the publication of his third collection of poems, Vogelkerkhof.
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Arjan Peters

(Amsterdam, NL, 1963) studied Dutch language and literature in Amsterdam. He writes reviews, interviews, columns and obituaries, and heads the books section of De Volkskrant newspaper. In 2011 he published Eindelijk Sneeuw (Snow at Last: twelve wintry stories about artists, writers, and books, from Willem Witsen's cityscapes to the tears of Mrs. Dickens). Exerpts from his reviews and interviews were published in the books Langzaam lopen is al verdacht (Walking Slowly is Suspicious, 1999), De ongeneeslijke lezer – een werkboek (The Incurable Reader: a workbook, 2002), Het woord is aan de schrijver (The Writer Has the Floor, 2005), and De Broodschrijver (The Hack, 2006), about Bart Chabot's biography of Herman Brood. In 2012 he published Kreten uit een urn (Cries from an Urn), a lecture on the role of the critic in our time. His text "Naar boven mit Brakman" ("Up With Brakman") accompanied the 2015 unveiling of the Brakman monument in Enschede.
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Pieter Steinz

(Rotterdam 1963 - Haarlem 2016) in 2010 published Grote Verwachtingen. Opgroeien in de letteren in 25 schema’s (Great Expectations. Growing up in Literature in 25 Charts). He did the same in Luisteren & cetera, (Listening etc) about 25 1970s pop albums. Somewhat earlier Macbet heeft echt geleefd (Macbeth Really Existed) appeared, on places where literary heroes used to live. In Verleden in verf (Past in Paint, 2011), Steinz sketches Dutch history in forty paintings. Steinz became an art editor with NRC Handelsblad in 1989. From 2005-2011 he headed the bookpages of that paper. Steinz studied ancient history and English. Earlier he wrote, among other books, Klein ABC van de wereldliteratuur (Concise ABC of world literature; 2008), Het web van de wereldliteratuur (The World Literature Web; 2007) and Lezen op locatie (Reading on Location; 2003), sixty maps on which he identifies where masterpieces of literature are set. In 2010 he published De Duivelskunstenaar (The wizard), a journey through Europe in search of Faust. Since 2012 Steinz has been head of the Dutch Literary Fund. He died in august 2016.
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Gustaaf Peek

(The Netherlands, 1975) is a writer of novels, poems, stories, essays, and screenplays. His work is characterized by the compelling way in which he brings characters involved in historical injustices to life. His debut novel Armin (2008) is about children adrift after World War II. In Ik was Amerika (I Was America, 2010), a Dutch prisoner of war in World War II befriends a farm worker in a camp in the US. Decades later, he seeks him out again. Peek received the BNG Literature Prize and the F. Bordewijk Prize for this work. Godin, held (Goddess, Hero, 2014) is a candid novel about the mysterious and all-too-human nature of love. In his pamphlet Verzet! Pleidooi voor communisme (Resistance! A Plea for Communism, 2015), he undermines decades of capitalist indoctrination. His novel A.D. (2021) tells about the events and hardships aboard one of the first seaships in the 16th century to present-day Indonesia and the arrival there. In 2025, his poetry collection Orang/oetan was published.
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Maxim Februari

(Coevorden, NL, 1963) was born as Marjolijn Drenth. Besides being a writer, he is an ethicist, an art historian, and a lawyer. Februari understands the art of turning moral dilemmas and legal issues into elegant prose. "It's got to be exciting and entertaining. If you write a pamphlet, no one will read it," he commented. His novel De literaire kring (The Book Club, 2007), on the morals of the Dutch cultural elite, got a very positive reception. From 2001 to 2010 Februari wrote columns for the Volkskrant newspaper. Some of these columns were published in Park Welgelegen - Notities over Morele Verwarring (Welgelegen Park: Notes on Moral Confusion, 2004). In his PhD thesis Een Pruik van Paardenhaar & Over het Lezen van een Boek (A Wig of Horse's Hair & On Reading a Book, 2000), nominated for the Golden Owl Award, he examines the relationship between economics and ethics. Currently he writes a weekly column for opinion page of NRC Handelsblad. Some of these, together with some Volkskrant columns, have been anthologised in Ons soort mensen (Our Kind of People, 2011). De maakbare man (The Makeable Man), notes on transsexuality, was published in 2013.
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Patricia de Groot

(Tegelen, 1964) is a writer and a literary editor. In 1993 she graduated in Dutch language and literature at the University of Amsterdam. During and after her studies she organised literary evenings with Stichting Perdu. Since 1997 Patricia de Groot has worked as a editor with Uitgeverij Querido. In 2002 she made her debut as a prose writer with De achteroverval (The fall backwards), and in 2003 she and photographer Emmy Scheele made the text and phfoto book Op de kop (On the head). Her third book is entitled: Derde. Een sprookje over het hier en het namaals (Derde. A fairy-tale on the here and the hereafter). De Groot also publishes in literary magazines like Raster, De Gids and Tirade.
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Marijn van Lelyveld

(1951) is a daughter of Hella S. Haasse and Jan van Lelyveld. She studied Dutch in Amsterdam. From 1975-2006 she was a teacher of Dutch, a tutor, coordinator and student counsellor at the Vossius Gymnasium in Amsterdam. She taught Dutch to Arnon Grunberg, the later writer, whose compositions, she remembers, were brilliant. From 1994 she was deputy principal for the lower grades of the Vossius gymnasium. From 2007 Marijn van Lelyveld has had her own business: Marijn van Lelyveld, training and coaching. www.marijnvanlelyveld.nl
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Rudi Wester

(Leeuwarden, 1943) until 2009 headed the Institut Néerlandais in Paris. Previously she headed the Dutch Literary Production and Translation Fund. In that capacity she has given Dutch literature abroad a face. Wester studied French at the Amsterdam Free University. For a long time she reviewed French literature for the weekly magazine Vrij Nederland. Annually she anthologizes the best Dutch and Flemish travel stories. In 2000 the French government made her Officier des Arts et des Lettres; in 2001 she was made a Knight in the Order of Orange Nassau.
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Benny Lindelauf

(Sittard, 1964) as a child liked to listen to the stories his grandmother told him. Stories about her youth, and fairy tales. When he grew older he went to the Theaterschool in Amsterdam. He played and danced in various (youth) theatre productions. Meanwhile he is a fulltime writer, and he teaches people who want to learn how to write. His first book Omhoogvaldag (Falling upward day) appeared in 1998. Followed by among others Schuilen in een jas (Taking shelter in a coat) and Negen Open Armen (Nine open arms). For the latter he received the Gouden Zoen (Golden Kiss) 2005 and the Thea Beckman Award 2004. In 2010 De hemel van Heivisj (Heyvish's heaven) appeared, the sequel to Negen Open Armen, for which he received the Woutertje Pieterse Prize, the Dioraphte Youth literature prize and the Nienke van Hichtum Prize. Benny Lindelauf loves the theatre and regularly writes texts for youth theatre companies.
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Erik Spinoy

(Sint-Niklaas, 1960) is professor of modern Dutch literature at the University of Liège. He obtained his doctorate in Louvain with a thesis on the work of Paul van Ostaijen, gathered a following being an editor with the literary magazine Yang and was at the inception of Freespace Nieuwzuid. Discursive machine for cultural critique and amusement. After the double anthology Golden Boys with Dirk van Bastelaere, Spinoy published De jagers in de sneeuw (The hunters in the snow) which won him the Flemish Prize for Best Literary Debut. This was followed by Susette, for which he received the Hugues C. Pernath Award and Fratsen (Caprices). After a ten-year silence Spinoy started publishing books of poetry in Boze wolven (Angry wolves),which led to the Prize for Literature of the Flemish Provinces, L, which resulted in the Literary Award of the Province of West-Flanders and Ik, en andere gedichten (I and other poems). Spinoy's seventh book of poetry, Dode kamer (Dead room, Bezige Bij Antwerpen, 2011), was nominated for the VSB poetry award, owing to its uniform high quality’.
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Margot Dijkgraaf

(The Netherlands, 1960) is a literary critic, writer, curator, interviewer, debate leader and "ambassador between France and the Netherlands in the field of literature", as a French ambassador once said. She has been writing about literature for some 30 years, mainly for the NRC daily. She published books on French and European literature, on Hella S. Haasse and Cees Nooteboom. Her In de voetsporen van mijn grootvader (2021) is an autobiographical search for her literary genes. Before that, she published Met Parijse pen. Literaire omzwervingen (in collaboration with photographer Bart Koetsier, 2020), which takes readers to Paris for walks in the footsteps of famous Dutch and French writers. She was joint artistic curator of the Netherlands' Guest of Honour role at the 2024 Leipzig Book Fair with German journalist Bettina Baltschev.

Go to the website of Margot Dijkgraaf
Instagram: @margotdijkgraaf
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Matthijs Ponte

(1982) is a poet and a philosopher. He makes a podcast about and with poetry, VersSpreken. It was recipient of the 2010 European Podcast Award. In 2011 Ponte started the blog Politieke Taal (Political Language), in which he analyses how Geert Wilders and others try to gain influence through their use of langauge. Ponte graduated as a philosopher in 2007 from the Universiy of Amsterdam with a paper on the religious and metaphysical dimensions in the work van Gerard Reve. Right now he works as business coordinator of Stichting Perdu. He is also a co-worker in the working group Caribbean Literature. In addition he participates in the collective Schijnheilig. He has written pieces for among others deReactor.org and the literary magazine DWB as well as making programmes for Perdu and Schijnheilig.

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