Writer, poet and classical scholar Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer is without a doubt one of the best-read contemporary Dutch authors. Besides his recent, award-winning novels La Superba and Grand Hotel Europa, he has published many essays, poems, plays and more novels. He also presented the TV series Via Genua, in which he gives a tour of his chosen city of Genova through migrant stories.

During this free accessible conversation with Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer in the Speakers' Corner the author was interviewed by Joost Boogard, student European Studies at The Hague University of Applied Sciences (De Haagse Hogeschool).

**** "Grand Hotel Europa doesn't shrink from anything, wants to impress and impresses indeed. Its big-bigger-biggest scope turns the novel into an amazing masterpiece. On top of this, it's a wonderful book that you read with an eagerness that becomes more and more feverish. Pfeijffer has caught the zeitgeist and served it up in irresistible fashion. He's written the novel of the year." NRC Handelsblad

"Grand Hotel Europa is not only an overwhelming reading experience, Pfeijffer also dishes up tons of food for thought. Who can match him in today's Dutch literary scene, with his enormous ability to light a fire under the zeitgeist and thumb his nose at all the decent, fussy novels full of first-world problems?" De Morgen

"You can easily call Grand Hotel Europa a pageturner. The most admirable aspect of the novel is Pfeijffer's fascination with his subject, and his engagement. Grand Hotel Europa is not only a consideration of our identity but also a contribution to its continuation." De Volkskrant