Iida Turpeinen and Frank Westerman take us on voyages of discovery to the Arctic Ocean and beyond the North Cape. The travelogues in their books revive times, people and animals and draw attention to what humanity has destroyed in its ignorance. Ellen Deckwitz will lead the conversation.

On a journey in the wake of Willem Barentsz, Frank Westerman encounters seven magnificent creatures: the narwhal, the lemming, the eel, the brent goose, the polar bear, the reindeer, and the king crab. As we raise the Earth's temperature, they hold up a mirror to us. In his book, Zeven dieren bijten terug, Frank Westerman talks about seven polar animals and Iida Turpeinen adds an eighth: The Steller's sea cow.

Frank Westerman (1964) gained great renown with De graanrepubliek, Ingenieurs van de ziel, El Negro en ik (winner of De Gouden Uil), Ararat, Stikvallei, Een woord een woord (winner of both the Brusseprijs and the Bob den Uyl-prijs) and recently De kosmische komedie and Te waar om mooi te zijn. His work has been published in seventeen languages. Zeven dieren bijten terug (2024) is a contemporary bestiary with biting urgency. Along the way, the reader becomes captivated by the wondrous tales of seven polar animals and what they have to tell us at our latitude.

Iida Turpeinen (1987) lives in Helsinki and researches the relationship between science and literature. Beasts of the sea (Finnish original: Elolliset, translated by David Hackston) is her debut novel and was awarded the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize. On an expedition to the Arctic Ocean, Georg Steller makes a unique discovery: the Steller’s sea cow. Less than thirty years later, this gigantic mammal has vanished from the Earth. Beasts of the sea is a gripping, moving, and overwhelming story about the urge to revive what humankind, in its ignorance, has destroyed.

Ellen Deckwitz (1982) is a poet, columnist, critic and presenter at literary events, including Writers Unlimited. In 2022, Eerste hulp bij poëzie was published, an omnibus containing her collections Olijven moet je leren lezen (2020) and Dit gaat niet over grasmaaien (2021). Deckwitz writes columns for national daily newspaper NRC. In her NPO Luister podcast Poëzie vandaag, she presents a Dutch or translated poem every workday morning. She is one of three critics of podcast Boeken FM.

This Writers Series-program is in English.

Following the event, De Vries Van Stockum will host a book sale, with an opportunity for signing.

Program curated by Ilonka Reintjens (Writers Unlimited).

Writers Series: Over wild waters: voyages of discovery through time and place
Friday March 28th 2025 from 20:30 until 22:00, Podium B - Centrale Bibliotheek The Hague

Writers Unlimited organizes the Writers Unlimited International Literature Festival The Hague annually in January (dates: 22nd-25th of January 2026) and monthly Writers Series programs throughout the year at various locations in The Hague, including the Central Library of The Hague. The festival, with more than a hundred writers, poets, spoken word artists and musicians from home and abroad, takes place over four days in Theater aan het Spui, Filmhuis Den Haag, Paard, Amare, district libraries, The Hague universities and secondary schools.