(1961, Indonesia) lives and works in Jakarta and Bandung as a painter, poet and sculptor. Her work has been exhibited all over the world. She first appeared in The Hague as a performer during the Winternachten festival of 1997.
WN 1998

Epe (1919). She lived on Sumatra and Java during her youth. She gained fame and success in 1955, with her novel De atlasvlinder (The Atlas Butterfly). She uses her numerous travel experiences for her fictional work, but she’s not a travel writer. She was awarded the Anna Bijns Prize for prose in 1997.
WN 1998

(1939, Bonnievale) is a South-African writer and painter with French citizenship. He studied at the University of Cape Town. He became a committed opponent of apartheid and left South Africa for Paris in the early 1960s. On returning to South Africa in 1975 he was arrested and sentenced to nine years of imprisonment. In his work The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist he describes aspects of his imprisonment. After his release in 1982 he returned to Paris. Breytenbach wrote poetry, novels, essays and plays. His poems are rich in metaphores and are a complex mixture of references to Buddhism, Afrikaans idiomatic speech, and memories of the South African landscape. Breytenbach is also known as a painter. Many of his paintings portray surreal human and animal figures, often shown in captivity. He has been honored with numerous literary and art awards. Breytenbach is active in different organizations for South-African political exiles.

(Johannesburg, 1929) grew up in South-Africa, but he lives in the United Kingdom since 1954. He write novels, short stories, essays and poetry. He is an emeritus professor of English Literature. In his novel Heshels Rijk (Heshel’s Empire) he searches for his grandfather, a rabbi in a Latvian village, whose death cleared the way for the family’s move to South-Africa, through which they escaped from the holocaust.

(Aruba, 1945). Henriquez studied in Delft, The Netherlands, and now works as a physics teacher in Rotterdam. He wrote several plays and a film scenario. His debut was the novel Zuidstraat (South Street, 1992). In 1995, Delft blues saw the light of day, an often comical sketch of student life in the 1960s.
(WN 1998)

(Curaçao, 1936) studied Dutch Language and Literature at Leyden University. He lectured at Amsterdam University and from 1975 to 1981 taught at a teacher training college in Surinam. After that he returned to Curaçao to be appointed head of the Instituto Lingkwistiko Antiano. He founded a Papiamento secondary school based on humanistic principles: the Kolegio Erasmo. He writes stories, essays, poetry and novels. His successful debut novel Dubbelspel (Double Play, 1973) is presently being adapted for the screen. Following Dubbelspel the novels Nobele wilden (Noble savages, 1979) and De laatste vrijheid (The last freedom 1995) appeared, which won him the Cola Debrot Prize in 2001. In November 2001 the collection of stories De eeuwige hond (The eternal dog) appeared. His latest novel De deserteurs (The deserters) was published in 2006.

(Winterswijk, 1944) was the first Poet Laureate of the Netherlands. He is considered one of the best columnists in the country, a novelist, renowned translator, and an enhtusiastic reviewer of poetry. Komrij is a cat in a Strange Warehouse, as he called a book of collected essays that came out in 2001. The world is never a trusted or obvious place, but if you look good, there's always something surprising around. 'I don't think I'm a no-nonsense guy. There's too much noise inside of me'. Komrij, who has lived in Portugal since 1984, is one of the most productive Dutch writers. Since 1968 he has published several works annually. Recently Komrij's choice of the one-hundred best Dutch poems (2008) appeared, in addition to an anthology of Dutch children's poetry in over 1000 poems (2007) and Kakafonie (2006), an 'encyclopaedia of shit'. In 2005 he published Eendagsvliegen (Ephemera, literary diary entries) and a volume of poetry Fata Morgana.

(1947-2005) was a painter and writer. He lived in South Africa since he was nine and after his studies in the arts remigrated to Europe. In 2001 Henk van Woerden made an international breakthrough. In that year he received for his book Een mond vol glas (A mouthful of glass) (1998) the prestigious Sunday Times Fiction/ Alan Paton Award, the award for the best book in South Africa. Een mond vol glas, a chronicle about Tsafendas, the murderder of prime minister Verwoerd, is the last section of a triptych about South Africa. His prose debut Moenie kyk nie (Don't look) (1993), which was crowned with the Geertjan Lubberhuizen award, was the first section. The second section was the novel Tikoes (1996). By the end of 2002 Notities van een luchtfietser (Notes from an air cyclist) appeared, in which van Woerden writes about both his imaginary and his real travels. In February 2003 Henk van Woerden received the Frank Kellendonk award. In October 2005 his last novel was published, Ultramarijn. It was awarded the Flemish literary prize the Gouden Uil in 2006.

(Jidt Narainsingh Baldewsingh, Livorno, Surinam, 1948) Born in Suriname, Jit Narain is the grandson of Indian immigrants. In 1969 he went to the Netherlands to study medicine and became a doctor in The Hague. He returned to Suriname in 1991. Since then he has been heading the head of an outpatients clinic in Saramacca. He is a fervent defender of the emancipation of Sarnami, the Hindu-Surinamese language and for his efforts received the Rahman Khan prize. Narain writes poems which can be read and sung. The poems reflect the history and memories of Hindustan immigrants in Suriname. He writes in Sarnami and in Dutch, approaching the same secret history of immigrants from different perspectives. He made his debut in 1977 with the poetry collection in Sarnami Dal Bhat Chatni (Rice, yellow peas and chutney). His debut has been followed by six other collections of poetry.

(Oirschot, 1957) from 1983 to 1987 he worked in Surinam. Van Kempen is the compiler of two extensive anthologies: Spiegel van de Surinaamse poëzie (Mirror of the Surinamese Poetry) (1995) and Mama Sranan. 200 jaar Surinaamse verhaalkunst (Mama Sranan, 200 Years of Surinamese Storytelling) (1999). In 1997 his first novel, Plantage Lankmoedigheid (Plantation Patience) appeared. He also published: Het Nirwana is een lege trein (Nirvana is an Empty Train) (2000) and Pakistaanse nacht (Pakistani Night) (2002). In 2002 he obtained his doctorate with his thesis Een geschiedenis van de Surinaamse literatuur (A history of Surinamese literature). His anthology Noordoostpassanten (Northeast Transients), which he compiled together with Wim Rutgers, was presented at the Winternachten festival in 2005. In 2006 he published the novel Escape Routes.

(Paramaribo, 1940) made a great number of movies with Wim Verstappen, among which the blockbuster Blue Movie (1971). Their 13th and last movie was WAN PIPEL [‘one people’, spelled phonetically in Dutch]. After his production company went broke, he retreated to Aruba. After his return in 1985, he initiated the 'minimal movie' movement. Returned ‘for good’ to Surinam in 1996.

(Solo, Mid-Java, 1935 - Bogor 2009) was a poet, dramatist and actor. From 1964 to 1967 he lived in the United States, where he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1968 he founded the Bengkel Teater in Depok, which was controversial due to its singular choice of material. His unconventional behavior and critical attitude was the cause of conflict with the government. As a poet he debuted in 1957 with the collection Ballada orang-orang tercinta (Ballad of the loved people). Several other collections include Blues untuk Bonnie (Blues for Bonnie, 1961) and Sajak-sajak sepatu tua (Poems of old shoes, 1972) His work has been translated in English, German and Dutch. Rendra placed his poetry in the tradition of Indonesian oral culture and considered literature a 'performing act'.

(Pematang Siantar, 1929 - Leiden, 2010) came to the Netherlands in 1946. In 1951 he published his first collection of poems Tien variaties op het bestiale (Ten variations on bestiality). He has a varied oevre to his name, consisting of many essay collections concerned with diverse subjects. One of which was Het Oostindisch kampsyndroom. Terug naar Negri Pan Erkoms (1995) (The East-Indies Camp syndrome. Back to country of origin), about our colonial past. It offers a refreshing insight on the how and the why of Kousbroek's unique vision of the colonial past. As part of a 400 years Netherlands-Japan relationship Kousbroek, together with film-maker Hans Keller, made the royal journey again. This resulted in an unparalleled journey through time, full of revelations and discoveries. The book In de tijdmachine door Japan (In the time machine through Japan) (2000) forms the background of the film that Hans Keller made for the VPRO. Kousbroek died in 2010.

(Cape town, 1958) is a popular stand-up comedian in South Africa. He performs as a presenter in television and radio shows and in the theatre. Had a lot of success during his Winternachten 1998 performance. He gives a sharp and humorous comment on the situation in his country.