Book Club: 'Woman' (My Struggle, Book 6) by Karl Ove Knausgård

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Maria Vlaar (who takes the place of Wim Brands, who had to cancel for health reasons) engages in a conversation with the public about Woman, the final part of Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgård's My Struggle series. First, however, philosopher Stine Jensen and writer Marcel Möring offer their honest opinion in spoken reviews. In My Struggle, Knausgård (b. 1968) tackles his daily battle with life as a father, son and husband. In part one, Father, the protagonist battles his late alcoholic parent; in part two, Love, Knausgård himself becomes a father and must battle his wife, Linda, and their children. Parts three and four, Son and Night, describe how he grew up and became a teacher; and in part five, Writer, he struggles with writing, love, infidelity and jealousy. Now we have part six: in Woman, he reflects on his literary project; wonders if he should have written so openly about himself and his family; ponders literature, history and Evil; and writes about his manic-depressive wife. In Dutch

Beforehand, you can attend the English-language inteview with Karl Ove Knausgård by Stine Jensen. There is also a book-signing session with the writer at 13:45. 

Information

Date and time Saturday 16 January 2016 from 16:15 to 17:30 hrs
Location Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1

Maria Vlaar

(Netherlands, 1964) is a writer, publicist and interviewer. She is a reviewer for Belgian daily newspaper De Standaard, writes the biography of author Joost Zwagerman and was awarded the J.M.A. Biesheuvel Prize for her debut, the short stories collection Diepe aarde (Deep Earth). She previously wrote for De Groene Amsterdammer and served as editor of De Bezige Bij, deputy director of the Dutch Foundation for Literature and chairman of the Authors' Union, among other positions. In 2013, 2016 and 2017, she was involved as a programme maker and interviewer and in 2022 as interim director of the Winternachten International Literature Festival The Hague.
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Stine Jensen

(Denmark, 1972) is a Danish/Dutch philosopher, literary scholar and writer. Her initial work dealt with love and evil in person-to-animal and person-to-person relationships; now she turns her gaze inside with Go East, her quest for spirituality, and Mag ik je wat vragen over lust en liefde (Can I ask you something about lust and love), a workbook to increase happiness.Turkse Vlinders (Turkish Butterflies, 2005) explored her own experience with intercultural love affairs. Leugenaars (Liars, 2006) was a philosophical inquiry into Latin lovers, crooks and other shady characters. The cultural differences between East and West formed the leitmotif of her first novel, Dokter Jazz (Doctor Jazz, 2009). For television, she made a series about philosophy and Scandinavia. Her debut children's book, Lieve Stine, weet jij het? (Dear Stine, Do You Know?) won the 2015 Silveren Griffel award.
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Marcel Möring

(1957, Enschede) moved to Assen when he was 11, where he grew up and attended high school. At thirteen, he decided to become a writer. In order to do so he quit his education and took on several jobs to provide for himself. In 1990, his debut, Mendels erfenis (Mendels heritage) was published, which was awarded the Geertjan Lubberhuizen Prize for the best debut. Two years later, his second novel Het grote verlangen (The Great Desire) was awarded the Ako Literature Prize. In 1995, the short novella Bederf is de weg van alle vlees (Decay is the way of all flesh) and the collection Het derde testament (The third testament), a collection of Jewish texts of writers and scientists. In 1997 In Babylon was published, a great epic novel about a special family in history: as much a magical realist novel as it is a horror story.  Six years after his previous novel Moring came forcefully bacj with his new novel Eden. Eden is the final part of the trilogy that Moring began with Dis (2006) and Louteringsberg (2011). Marcel Moring is without any doubt one of the most ingenious authors of our time and also has the most imagination." -The Time Literary Supplement
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