(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

(Haarlem, 1956) won the NS Publieksprijs in 2008 with his novel Overgave (Surrender, 2007), about the struggle between pioneers and Comanche Indians in 18th century Texas. His novel Vaslav (2010) is also inspired by a true story: the dramatic decision by the legendary ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinski to quit dancing. In 2008 Japins diaries 2000-2007 appeared in book form entitled Zoals dat gaat met wonderen (As it goes with miracles) and his short stories were reprinted as Singel Pocket. In 1997 Japin made his international breakthrough with The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi, a novel about two 19th century Ghanaian princes who were brought up as Dutchmen. It has been translated in over ten languages and adapted for opera, dance and the theatre. For Een schitterend gebrek (translated as In Lucia's Eyes, 2003) he recieved the Libris literature award. Japin studied at the Kleinkunstacademie and was an actor and singer before he started writing. Various of Japin's short stories have been adapted for the screen. Since April 2011 he is one of the makers of a satirical tv programme.

(Suriname, 1947) made her mark with Over de gekte van een vrouw (About the Madness of a Woman), an experimental novel about the complexity of being a woman. In the 1990s she wrote three decolonisation novels that she called her "triplets": Gewaagd leven (Daring Life, 1996), Lijken op liefde (Resembling Love, 1997) and Was getekend (Signed, 1999), now collected as Onmogelijk moederland (Impossible Motherland). Roemer is praised in both Suriname and the Netherlands for her daring and willfulness in her now extensive oeuvre of poetry, prose and theatre texts. She was awarded the 2016 P.C. Hooft Prize, and in 2021, for her entire oeuvre, the Dutch Literary Prize. Her 2018 novel Gebroken wit (Broken White) is an impressive portrait of the Vanta family, in which Surinamese mores and norms leave a legacy. The anthology Ik ga strijden moeder: gekozen gedichten (I'm going to fight mother: chosen poems, 2021) includes work from her first collection from 1970 to poetry she published from 2015 to 2020. Around themes of identity and the contradictions between Suriname and the Netherlands, Roemer sophisticatedly interweaves the lives of five characters in her latest novel DealersDochter (Dealer's Daughter, 2023).

(Suriname, 1936) made her writer's debut with Hoe duur was de suiker? (How Costly Was the Sugar?, 1987), the novel that made her the most famous Surinamese writer overnight and was adapted for film in 2013. She was the first to describe the history, the slaving past and the colonization of her country from a Surinamese perspective. As an expert in the field, she lectures about the history of slavery at US and Canadian universities and organizes educational field and city trips. She has written historic novels, including De Vrije Negerin Elisabeth, gevangene van kleur (The Free Negress Elizabeth, Prisoner of Colour, 1992), as well as studies, children's books and children's musicals. Her No kwik in het bos (No Mercury in the Forest, 2017) is a YA novel about a ten-year-old girl and the dangers of mercury in the gold-mining process. McLeod is a daughter of Johan Ferrier, the first president of Suriname.

(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.

(1934, Batavia - Den Haag 2016). Following the outbreak of the second worldwar the Ruebsamen family came to the Netherlands, only to have to go into hiding when the persecution of the Jews began. Helga Ruebsamen attended grammar school and after that went to work as a journalist. For several years she worked in Paris for the daily newspaper Het Vaderland. In 1964 she made her debut with De kameleon en andere verhalen (The chameleon and other stories). Downfall, impoverishment, hopelessness, death and alcoholisme play an important role in her stories and novels. The autobiographical novel Het lied en de waarheid (The song and the truth) (1997) was nominated for the Gouden Uil as well as the Libris Literature prize. Other important works of hers are: De heksenvriend (The witches friend(1966), Wonderolie (Castor oil)(1970), De ondergang van Makarov (The fall of Makarov (1971), Op Scheveningen (On Scheveningen (1988), De dansende Kater (The dancing tomcat) (1992) en Beer is terug (Bear is back)(1999), De bevrijding (The liberation) (1999), Jonge liefde en oud zeer (Young love and old pain) (2001), De verhalen (The stories) (2001-...). Helga Ruebsamen died in November 2016.

(Marken, 1958-2009) was a poet, a writer and a commentator, with a regular column on the Forum page and the book pages of the Volkskrant. Zeeman was the editor of the arts section of the Volkskrant and from 2006-2007 its Rome correspondent. In 2006 he and the writer Abdelkader Benali published an exchange of letters, exchanging ideas on politics, life, love and literature. In 2002 Zeeman received the Gouden Ganzenveer (Golden Goose Quill) for his merits for Dutch literature. Zeeman became well-known in the 1990s as the host of his monthly book programme 'Late at night after a short walk', later to be renamed 'Zeeman with books'. In 1991 he published his first volume of poetry, Beeldenstorm (Iconoclasm), winning him the C. Buddingh Prize. His second volume Verhoudingen (Relationships) appeared in 1995. In the same year he published short stories entitled De Verduistering (The Darkening). He died in 2009.

(Curaçao, 12 February 1957) is an actress and playwright. She played among others in the tv series Medisch Centrum West and Goede tijden, slechte tijden. She played many roles with Cosmic theatre where she has been artistic leader of the Hollandse Nieuwe playwright festival since 2004. There she wrote among others the plays 'Koorts' (Fever) and 'Catwalk' and co-authored the theatre soaps 'Disco King' and 'Crawler King'. In addition, she likes to dedicate herself to the multicultural society. Her merits in this field were rewarded in 2006 when she received royal honours. Paulette Smit is on the board of the Werkgroep Caraïbische Letteren of the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde in Leyden.

(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.

(Suriname, 1926) has been called the 'poet of the encounter' as he brings together cultures and people in his work. Born Martinus Haridat Lutchman, the teacher at a young age acquainted himself with his Indian roots. He was one of the first poets to write in Sarnami, the mother tongue of the Hindustani in Suriname and the Netherlands. He published some poets in Hindi too, but the larger part of his work is in Dutch. His first poems appeared in 1952 under the pen-name Fernando, but later he adopted the Hindi name for 'citizen of Suriname': Shrinivási. The poet in his work sings the praise of the multicultural population, the climate and nature of his native country. Since his debut Pratiksha (1968) Shrinivási has published various books of poetry and short stories, which stand out for their quality and musical and metaphorical language use. He collaborated in assembling various anthologies of Surinamese literature, including Diversity is power (2007). In 1984 Geert Koefoed collected a major anthology of Shrinavasi's work: Een weinig van het andere (A little of the other). In 2007 he moved back to Curaçao, where he died in 2019.

arrived in The Netherlands in the 1950s. She studied Psychology in Amsterdam, returned to The Netherlands in the 1907s to study Philosophy in Leiden. Got her doctoral degree in Jakarta at the Universitas Indonesia (philosophy). Worked as headmaster at the Academy for the Visual Arts in Jakarta. She has a Chair in philosophy and works the head of a patent bureau. She owns an important gallery for modern visual arts in Jakarta and is a member of the Indonesian committee for human rights.