Opening Night Writers Unlimited International Literature Festival The Hague

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Freedom to speak or write is important but impossible for many. The festival opened with "human voices" (the theme of this edition) from The Netherlands and beyond: a unique lineup of famous writers speaking out. This was one of those evenings of inspiration, creative thoughts and apt words that make a deep impression. Meet the authors who make their voices heard for four delightful days of this Hague festival!

Opening Night 2024 was focused on freedom of speech and the power of literature, with appearances and readings by US author Celeste Ng, internationally one of the most-read authors with Asian roots; the British writer Aminatta Forna (The Hired Man); Adriaan van Dis, whose moving new novel Naar zachtheid en een warm omhelzen was published Fall 2023; Burhan Sönmez, author of Istanbul, Istanbul and chair of the writers organization PEN International.

Young spoken-word artist and writer Daniëlle Zawadi from The Hague and, accompanied by percussionist Hashem Kabreet, writer and novelist Sholeh Rezazadeh gave spoken word performances.

Host Jörgen Tjon A Fong discussed with the US novelist Celeste Ng (Our Missing Hearts) and French writer and photojournalist Emilienne Malfatto (Le Colonel ne dort pas; The Colonel Doesn't Sleep) what "human voices" means to them in relation to freedom of speech. Finally, Hague mayor Jan van Zanen kicked things off by officially opening the festival!

The programme included the short film Monument for murdered writers and journalists 2023, a project by Theatre of Wrong Decisions, Committee To Protect Journalists (CPJ) and PEN International.

Our favourite Hague bookstore De Vries Van Stockum had well-stocked tables of books for sale in the foyer of the Theater aan het Spui throughout the festival (English and Dutch language) by the authors appearing at the festival. Browse to your heart's content, and maybe the author is even present to personally sign your freshly bought book.

Information

Date and time Thursday 18 January 2024 from 20:00 to 21:30 hrs
Location Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1
Price €15
T/m 30 jaar / Ooievaarspas €7,50
DenHaagPas €12,50.

Line-up

Judith Uijterlinde

(The Netherlands, 1962) is a writer, literary journalist, publisher and, since 2023, director of Writers Unlimited. Her autobiographical debut The Baby Void – My Quest for Motherhood (2001) was an international success and has been published in more than 20 countries. De vrouw die zegt dat ze mijn moeder is (The Woman Who Claims She's My Mother, 2010) recounts adoption in a family history set against the backdrop of World War II. Uyterlinde worked as editor and publisher for several literary publishers, including De Bezige Bij and J.M. Meulenhoff. Between 2007 and 2015, she was also associated with Writers Unlimited, first as a producer and later as the festival's event coordinator. Since 2017 she has been publisher/director at World Editions, specializing in English-language translated literature from around the world. For the Amsterdam Public Library, she runs the Literary Salon, and for Women Inc., the literature series Read My Lips. She coordinated the literary part of the Guest of Honour program presenting Dutch and Flemish literature at the 2016 Frankfurt Book Fair.
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Aminatta Forna

(United Kingdom, 1964) focuses in her work on how horrors of war are remembered. Forna spent a part of her childhood in Sierra Leone where her father, a politician, was falsely accused of treason and hanged. These events were the subject of her memoir The Devil that Danced on the Water (2003). Before her debut as a writer, Aminatta Forna worked as a reporter and documentary filmmaker with the BBC, where she wrote and directed several notable documentaries about African history and culture. In her novel Ancestor Stones (2006) four elderly Sierra Leonian aunts tell stories of the past to their niece. And in the novel The Memory of Love (2010) a British psychologist in Freetown attempts to penetrate a collective silence about the past. In The Hired Man (2013) Forna brilliantly paints lingering tensions in one village in postwar Croatia. In Happiness (2018), a Ghanaian psychiatrist visiting London offers a view of Europe through African eyes.
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Adriaan van Dis

(The Netherlands, 1946) grew up in a family with a past in the Dutch East Indies. He draws on these experiences in several of his works such as My Father's War (1995), Repatriated (2002) and in Naar zachtheid en een warm omhelzen (2023). Van Dis became well known via his literary television programme Here is... Adriaan van Dis (1983-1992). In addition to novels he has written novellas, travelogues, essays and plays. He presented TV documentary series and his podcast Van Dis Ongefilterd. He has received the Constantijn Huygens Award for his entire body of work. Recent publications are the collection Vijf vrolijke verhalen (2021), the novel KliFi, woede in de republiek Nederland (2022) and the essay De kolonie mept terug: over witte arrogantie en voortschrijdend inzicht: een denkoefening en leesreis (2024). During the Writers Unlimited Festival 2026, Van Dis will be the main interview guest on Saturday afternoon, 24 January, following the publication of his new book Alles voor de reis (Everything for the Journey), and on Sunday morning, 25 January, he and interviewer Simon Dikker Hupkes will record a new episode of his podcast series Van Dis Ongefilterd (Van Dis Unfiltered) live with an audience.

Go to website of Adriaan van Dis
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Sholeh Rezazadeh

(Iran, 1989) -- writer, poet and columnist -- received much praise and many prizes for her debut novel De hemel is altijd paars (The Sky is Always Purple, 2021). Readers were moved by the story of a young woman working in a charity shop, who falls in love with a musician and reflects on her homeland of Iran with mixed feelings. Rezazadeh, who studied medicine, came to The Netherlands in 2015. Her second novel, Ik ken een berg die op me wacht (I Know a Mountain Waiting for Me) appeared in 2023. In her characteristic poetic style, she writes about a woman who upends her life and travels from Amsterdam to Iran to join a nomadic family -- a story about yearning for quiet and space, told from the perspective of a river. Her first poetry collection, Neem ruim zei de zee, was published in 2024.
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Jörgen Tjon A Fong

(1974) is a theatre producer, actor, curator and moderator, and since 2021 the director of De Kleine Komedie in Amsterdam. As founder and director of the theatre company Urban Myth, Tjon A Fong produces many (musical theatre) performances, talk shows and special programs in which the diversity and identity of The Netherlands and the Dutch population is a recurring theme.
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Celeste Ng

(USA, 1980) is coming to the Netherlands for the first time to appear at the 2024 Writers Unlimited festival. Her three novels are true page-turners. At this time, Ng is the most internationally read author with Asian roots. Her debut novel, Everything I Never Told You (2014), is a sensitive portait of a family of several cultures. Little Fires Everywhere (2017), an even bigger hit, was filmed featuring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington (available on Prime). Her third novel, Our Missing Hearts (2022), is about the love between mother and child and humanity in dark times, but also about the discrimination of people with an Asian background. Ng grew up in Pittsburgh and Shaker Heights (Ohio) and studied at Harvard University. Her stories and essays have appeared in publications such as The New York Times and The Guardian.
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Jan van Zanen

(1961) is Mayor of The Hague since 1 July 2020. He spent his youth in Edam-Volendam in the Netherlands and completed his Law studies at the Free University of Amsterdam and Cornell Law School in Ithaca, New York, USA. He then went to work as board and executive secretary for a national business association, among other positions, until 1998. Van Zanen started as a city counciler in Utrecht in 1990, then became alderman for finance, economic affairs, public space and monuments in 1998. From 2003 to 2008, he served as national chairman of the VVD Dutch political party. From July 2005 to December 2013, Van Zanen was Mayor of Amstelveen and as of January 1, 2014, Mayor of Utrecht. From June 2015 to June 2023, he was chairman of the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG).
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Daniëlle Zawadi

(1999) is a writer of prose, spoken word, theatre pieces and columns. She performs throughout the Netherlands, publishes in literary magazines, and made her theatrical debut with the one-woman show Alstublieft, Zawadi (Please, Zawadi), followed by Ondervonden (Filed Under, 2023). Her stories are often about what it means to be a a second-generation bicultural GenZ-er, her Congolese roots, and friendship. In 2025, she published Ik kan eigenlijk niet op deze manier werken (I Can't Really Work This Way), a collection of recitation texts dedicated to the FreePalestine, FreeSudan, and FreeCongo movements. She is also a curator of literary programmes. In her home town The Hague, she founded Het Zwarte Schaap (The Black Sheep), a platform for word art and spoken literature that participated in the 2025 Writers Unlimited Festival with presentations and spoken-word performances.

Go to the website of Daniëlle Zawadi
Instagram: @daniellezawadi
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Burhan Sönmez

(Turkey, 1965) is a writer and, since 2021, chair of the writers' organisation PEN International. He is a Senior Member of Hughes Hall College and Trinity College, University of Cambridge. His novels have been translated into more than 40 languages and won international awards. He wrote the novels Kuzey (North), Masumlar (published in English as Sins & Innocents, 2014), Istanbul Istanbul (published in English under the same title, 2016), Labyrinth (under the same title published in English, 2019) en Taş ve Gölge (published in English as Stone and Shadow, 2023), among others. Sönmez was born in Turkey and grew up speaking Turkish and Kurdish. He worked as a lawyer in Istanbul before moving to Britain for political reasons and living there in exile for several years. He publishes in news media such as La Repubblica, Der Spiegel and The Guardian. He translated William Blake's poetry collection The Marriage of Heaven and Hell into Turkish.
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Emilienne Malfatto

(France, 1989) is an award-winning photographer, journalist and writer. Through intimate stories, her work revolves around social, feminist and post-conflict issues in the Middle East, Latin America and Europe. Her photos have been featured in publications like The New York Times, The Washington Post and Le Monde and exhibited internationally. Her novel Que sur toi se lamente le Tigre (May the Tigris Grieve For You, 2020), which won the 2021 Prix Goncourt for a debut, is about a family tragedy in Southern Iraq. Her non-fiction book Les serpents viendront pour toi (The Serpents Will Come for You, 2021) about the murder of social leaders in Colombia, won the Albert Londres book prize. Her second novel Le colonel ne dort pas (The Colonel Doesn't Sleep, 2021) brings to life three characters struggling with a war they cannot win. It has been translated into several languages.
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Hashem Kabreet

(Syria) is a percussionist, trainer and workshop leader. He plays various oriental and world percussion instruments (frame drum, darbouka, djembe, cajon, handpan) in bands such as Étoiles Electriques and HAN Here & Now, in a variety of musical styles. For organisations like Sounds of Change, Raw Resonance, Art Root Collective, Orchestre Partout and Fort van de Verbeelding, he leads music workshops and creative trainings.
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