Opening Night: Free the Word!

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On the festival's Opening Night, the focus is on freedom of speech. The evening started with Mikhail Shishkin, one of the most prominent representatives of contemporary Russian literature, delivering the Free the Word! speech. Next, the Oxfam Novib PEN Awards were handed out. The debate ''Writing in times of super-diversity' with writers Ian Buruma, Celal Altuntas and Peter Abspoel closed the evening. 

The Opening Night is an English spoken programme organized in collaboration with Oxfam Novib, PEN International and PEN Nederland.

Free the Word!-speech by Mikhail Shishkin
Shishkin is the author of four widely acclaimed novels – Pismovnik (2010), Maidenhair (2005), Taking of Izmail (2000) and Larionov´s Memoirs (1994), Shishkin is admired as a refined stylist whose fiction engages Russian and European literary traditions and forges an equally expansive vision for the future of literature. Shishkin has worked as a teacher and journalist. His novels have earned him the three most prestigious Russian literary awards: the Russian Booker Prize in 2000, the National Bestseller Prize in 2005, and the Bolshaya Kniga (Big Book) Prize in 2006 and 2011. His works have been translated into thirty languages.

Oxfam Novib PEN Awards
Afterward, the presentation of the prestigious Oxfam Novib PEN Awards honoured today's writers who risk their freedom and even their lives to seek out and publish the truth. The winners were be announced: the Palestine poetr Ashraf Fayadh, who is imprisoned in Saudi Arabia, and the Indian journalist  Malini Subramaniam. The latter was able to come over to The Hague to receive the award from Farah Karimi, director of Oxfam Novib.

Debate with Ian Buruma, Celal Altuntas and Peter Abspoel
The debate 'Writing in times of super-diversity' followed, featuring writer and essayist Ian Buruma (New York Times, Guardian, NRC), writer Celal Altuntas (a.o. Het dorp van zeven broers / The Village of Seven Brothers) and anthropologist/writer Peter Abspoel (a.o. Zingeving in het Westen / Giving meaning in the West) as well as moderator Sjoerd de Jong, journalist and ombudsman with NRC Handelsblad newspaper. The subject was "Writing in times of super-diversity."

Host and music
This program was presented by Lex Bohlmeijer, with musical accompaniment by Kamal Hors (oud, voice) and Anass Habib (deff, voice).

Information

Date and time Thursday 19 January 2017 from 20:00 to 22:00 hrs
Location Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1

Line-up

Ian Buruma

(The Hague, NL, 1951) is a sinologist, japanologist, journalist and writer. Asian culture, democracy, religion, politics, Islamic fundamentalism, and the aftermath of World War II are returning subjects in his vast body of work. His essays have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, NRC and The New York Review of Books. Buruma grew up in The Hague, the child of a British mother and a Dutch father. His book Their Promised Land: My grandparents in times of love and war tells the story of his London-born, German-Jewish grandparents. He has been a professor of democracy, human rights and journalism in New York since 2003. He received the Erasmus Prize in 2008.
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Michaïl Sjisjkin

(Moscow, 1961) is one of the most prominent names in contemporary Russian literature. He is the author of widely acclaimed novels Pismovnik (Letter Book. 2010), Maidenhair (2005), Taking of Izmail (2000) and Larionov´s Memoirs (1994). Shishkin is admired as a refined stylist whose fiction engages Russian and European literary traditions and forges an equally expansive vision for the future of literature. Born in Moscow in 1961, Shishkin has worked as a teacher and journalist. His novels have earned him the three most prestigious Russian literary awards: the Russian Booker Prize in 2000, the National Bestseller Prize in 2005, and the Bolshaya Kniga (Big Book) Prize in 2006 and 2011. His works have been translated into thirty languages. In "My Russia" (to be released on April 23, 2024), translated from German by Jan Sietsma, he insightfully exposes the roots of Russia's long-standing problems and its relationship with the West. He passionately speculates about 'his Russia', where the portion of the population that stands for democratic values takes the lead.
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Peter Abspoel

(Haarlem, NL, 1962) is an anthropologist and philosopher. His book Zingeving in het Westen: Traditie, strijdersethos en christendom (Finding Meaning in the West: Tradition, Warrior Ethos and Christianity) was published in 2016, his reworked thesis from the previous year. In it, as a practicing Catholic, he stands up for traditions because he believes them to be a significant aspect of our humanity. Thirty years ago, while Abspoel was researching the music of the Dogon in Mali, he wondered where the gulf between traditional society and our Western attitudes came from. A large portion of his book is dedicated to the history of Western mistrust towards tradition that, he says, can be traced back to the Germanic warriors who lived only to fight. Even now, that warrior ethos is dominant. Christianity, which preached humility, fit perfectly into the agenda of the warriors, and a combination of the two was beneficial for colonialism and other Western displays of power.
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Celal Altuntas

(Diyarbakir, 1972) came to the Netherlands from Turkish Kurdistan as a refugee at age 20. He described his youth in a tiny Kurdish village in his 2007 debut novel, Het dorp van de zeven broers (The Village of the Seven Brothers). At first he was happy there, until he started resisting the systematic discrimination of Kurds and joined the PKK. In 2016's Regen zonder modder (Rain Without Mud), he relates how he transformed into a social worker and writer in the Netherlands. He sketches a confronting picture of refugee life and the struggle to attain a place in our country. In 2015, Het is je zusje! (It's Your Sister!) appeared, eighteen true stories about honour and blood revenge, in which he takes the point of view of both victims and perpetrators. Besides being a writer, Altuntas is a social worker specializing in honour and blood revenge. As well, he is close to being an expert by experience. As a child he was obliged to revenge the murder of two uncles, but thanks to his peace-loving father was able to avoid it.
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Sjoerd de Jong

(Rotterdam, NL, 1960) is the ombudsman of NRC Handelsblad newspaper. He studied philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. From 1983 to 1985 he created the faculty publication Cimedart. In 1990 he started working for NRC Handelsblad, first as copy editor, then as coordinator and assistant editor-in-chief of the national affairs section. He was involved in setting up the paper's website. From 1999 to 2005 he headed the Books section and wrote an opinion column. In 1989 he co-wrote with "student leader" Maarten van Poelgeest the latter's premature memoir, Zo doen we dat dus (That's How We Do It). He also published mini-biographies of Richard Burton, Marcel Proust and Bob Dylan, and illustrated Maarten Doorman's animal stories for the collection Elk beest zijn vet (Every Animal's Stripes). A collection of De Jong's columns was published in 2005 under the title Spijtwraak (Regret-Revenge).
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Lex Bohlmeijer

(Oost-Souburg, NL, 1959) studied Dutch and Literary Theory in Leiden. He spent several years as a professional dancer. Later he developed into a versatile radio-maker at the NCRV broadcaster, including the successful "Casa Luna" programme. He now hosts two programmes on Radio 4: "Passaggio" (weekdays at 7 p.m.) and the talk show "Diskotabel." He also works in theatre as a dramaturge and writer. He is increasingly active as a presenter of concerts, conferences and debates. Every Saturday, he publishes an interview with an inspiring special guest in De Correspondent online daily.
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Farah Karimi

(Iran, 1960) is a member of the Senate of the Dutch Parliament (Eerste Kamer) since June 2019 for GroenLinks. From 2008 to 2018 she chaired the Executive Board of Oxfam Novib. Karimi is highly experienced in the field of international cooperation and human rights, and she is a strategic delevopment coach for leadership and organisational change. She came to Europe as a political refugee in 1983. She studied in the Netherlands and was a member of the Dutch House of Representatives for GroenLinks (Green Left) from 1998 till 2006. In 2007 she helped to establish the Afghan parliament as a consultant with the UN branch UNDP. As an administrator, she was involved with the advisory board of the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World, among other projects. She chairs the Board of Stichting Writers Unlimited since 2018. Karimi has written thee books: Slagveld Afghanistan (Battlefield Afghanistan, 2006), with co-author Chris Keulemans Het geheim van het vuur (The Secret of Fire, 2007) and In naam van de vrijheid: hoe de wereld na 9/11 steeds onvrijer is geworden (In the name of freedom: how our world has become increasingly unfree after 9/11, 2021).
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Ton van de Langkruis

(Netherlands, 1957) was, for 25 years, director and programmer of Writers Unlimited which he founded in 1995. After studying English Language at Leiden University and Theatre Sciences at Utrecht University, he worked in theatres as a dramaturge, director, critic and tour organiser. In 1992 he organised the Samuel Beckett Festival in The Hague, a collaboration of the city's arts organizations. In 1995 he organised the Indië/Indonesië Festival (Dutch East Indies/Indonesia Festival), which brought together the arts of Indonesia and the Netherlands to celebrate the Republic of Indonesia's 50th anniversary. This event, ending with the Indische Winternacht (East-Indies Winternight), was the start of the Winternachten international literary festival The Hague. Under his guidance, Writers Unlimited and Winternachten festival grew out to become a both nationally and internationally reputed platform where writers, poets, scientists and journalists from all over the world met their audiences for conversations, recitations and performances about culturally diverse, social, literary, scientific and other topical themes.
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Malini Subramaniam

(India) is an award-winning Indian investigative journalist and contributor to the independent news website scroll.in.
Until recently, Subramaniam was based in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, where she sought to shine a light on the plight of those living in a region rocked by insecurity and Maoist insurgency, reporting on the alleged torture of journalists, allegations of sexual violence committed by the security forces in Bijapur, and on alleged human trafficking, among other topics. In February of this year, after a vigilante group began protesting outside her home, demanding, “Death to Malini Subramaniam” and attempted to incite her neighbours to attack her home. Later the same evening unidentified assailants threw stones at her house. Subramaniam and her family were forced to leave their home after the local authorities not only failed to defend her, but intimidated her maid and put pressure on her landlord to evict her. Subramaniam’s experience has exposed the situation in the state to international scrutiny. Journalists in Chhattisgarh are under sustained pressure from the authorities and rebels alike. A recent fact-finding mission by the Editors Guild of India reports that not one journalist feels safe. At least two other journalists have fled the state, while four have been detained by the authorities. Subramaniam is the recipient of CPJ (Committee to protect journalists) 2016 International Press Freedom Award.
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Kamal Hors

is a singer, composer, oud-player (Arabic lute) and co-founder of the musical ensemble Weshm, which has toured Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Morocco. Through the years he composed music for theatre and dance performances, produced CDs, and organized workshops and lectures about Moroccan and Arabic music. He also composed  musical scores.  Currently, Hors is working on the project Flamenco & Tamazight and Safar Andalous with the Nafas Quartet in Switzerland.
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Anass Habib

(Morocco, 1980) is a singer and musician who plays the def, a Persian drum often used in popular as well as classical music. In Syria he studied early and pre-medieval Middle Eastern music in Aleppo and Damascus. Habib has performed in countries such as Morocco, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, France, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa and Tunisia. He sings in many Arabic dialects, in Syriac (Aramese), in ancient Greek, and in French, Hebrew, Spanish and English.
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Vonne van der Meer

(Eindhoven, 1952) attended a theatre director in Amsterdam and after that worked ten years for various theatre companies as a director. During that decade she wrote her first short stories. In 1985 she made her debut with the collection of stories Het limonadegevoel en andere verhalen (The lemonade feeling and other stories). She was awarded the Geertjan Lubberhuizen prize for this. Van der Meer became well known through her novel-in-stories Eilandgasten (Island guests). Her books have been translated in, among others, French, German and Spanish. Next to writing, she teaches at the Ritcs (film and television academy) in Brussels, Belgium. Since her writers' debut she is a PEN Nederland member and is a board member since 2016. She recently succeeded Manon Uphoff as PEN Nederland President.
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Jennifer Clement

(USA, 1960) is President of PEN International. She has authored five novels, including Prayers for the Stolen. It was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice and appeared internationally on many book-of-the-year lists. In 2018, Gun Love was published, a topical novel about homelessness, the America love for weapons and the despair of people living on the edge of society. She has published various volumes of poetry, including The Next Stranger. Clement also wrote cult classic Widow Basquiat about painter and street artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and life in New York City in the early '80s. She is a member of the prestigious Mexican 'Sistema Nacional de Creadores' and received an NEA Fellowship, an award of the American National Endowment for the Arts.
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