A country goes to see the doctor! The Netherlands feels fantastic. In 2017, it held sixth place on the list of the happiest countries in the world. Not too bad when you consider, for example, the quality of Dutch health care and education. Or the freedoms enjoyed by its population. On an individual level, the future looks rosy, to say the least.

At the same time, the Netherlands seems to have lost its way. The expectations of society as a whole seem much more sombre. There is growing unrest about the collective identity. The Netherlands is frightened of losing ist norms and values.

What's going on? Writer and theatre Artist Marjolijn van Heemsta, in the role of the Netherlands, interpreted these paradoxical feelings on psychiatrist Damiaan Denys' sofa. Meer details bekijken

Before the screening of the feature film The Young Karl Marx, don't miss a conversation with writer and screenwriter Gustaaf Peek, whose 2017 revolutionary pamphlet Resist! A Plea for Communism calls for a reintroduction of Marx's ideas, such as the fair distribution of knowledge, power and income. Why is this highly necessary? What does Peek share with Peck? Can words and images contribute to this redistribution? Moderator: Gerlinda Heywegen. Meer details bekijken

How do we deal with borders in an era of globalization? Writers Unlimited presents a conversation about the necessity and the impossibility of national borders in an ever-shrinking world.

In his new, contemporary love story Exit West, the successful Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid describes life in a time of global migration. In the book, nominated for the 2017 Man Booker Prize, a young couple flees violence in their country via secret doors that lead to Greece and other places.

Paul Scheffer, author and professor of European Studies at the universities of Tilburg and Amsterdam, published the esssay De vrijheid van de grens (The border's freedom, 2016) in which he states that an open society can only exist by a certain spatial demarcation.

Ghayath Almadhoun read from his work for this event. The poet, a member of a young and engaged generation of Arabic writers, has a Palestinian-Syrian background and has lived in Sweden since 2008. He was a journalist in Damascus and set up a house of poetry there.

The musical contribution to this program was by The Hague oud-player, composer and music teacher Amer Shanati; visual artist and illustrator Gerda Dendooven made live drawings. Meer details bekijken

It's 1844, and 26-year-old Karl Marx meets Friedrich Engels in Paris. Engels adds the last piece of the puzzle to the global vision of the young Marx. Together, amid censorship, police repression and political upheaval, they lead the workers' movement into the modern era.

The Young Karl Marx shows the inventor of Marxist theory during the years when his ideas were crystallizing, when he was confronted with the harsh exploitation of the workers of Europe.

The film is about his lifelong friendship and intellectual alliance with the rich German industrialist Engels, who certainly barely noticed Marx at first. Together they published the Communist Manifesto in 1848.

The Young Karl Marx is a film by Raoul Peck. The filmmaker, political activist, former Haitian Minister of Culture, and current director of the French film academy Le Fémis previously directed the Oscar-nominated I Am Not Your Negro, an ode to the writer James Baldwin. His new film premiered at the film Festival in Berlin; the main roles are played by August Diehl as Marx and Stefan Konarske as Engels.

The Guardian gave the film four stars and wrote: "It shouldn't work, but it does, due to the intelligence of the acting and the stamina and concentration of the writing and directing." Meer details bekijken

Writers talks about their favourite book - the book that inspires or moves them; the book that formed their aristic, moral or intellectual compass; the book that they would recommend to anyone. Meer details bekijken

Francis Broekhuijsen presented students of The Hague high schools reading their own poetry, the result of workshops led by members of the Hague Poets' Guild. Poet and VSB Poëzieprijs 2018-nominee Charlotte Van den Broeck, young poetry slam-talent Sanam Sheriff from India and last year's participating student poet Paula Golunska - Young Campert Prize 2017 winner - kept them company and read from their works as well.

During each Spot on Young Poets event (Friday and Saturday), finalists for the Young Campert Prize 2018 were chosen. Both finalists read their poems during Sunday's Writers' Festival event, ahead of the award ceremony of the Jan Campert Foundation prizes. The public chose one of them as the winner of this prize for best Hague student poet. Come down and witness the literary future! Meer details bekijken

Writers talks about their favourite book - the book that inspires or moves them; the book that formed their aristic, moral or intellectual compass; the book that they would recommend to anyone. Meer details bekijken

During the Gezi-protest of 2013, the streets and squares of Istanbul were places of resistance against authoritarian politics and ruthless market forces. It was an attempt to trigger change in Turkish politics.

Five years on, how does the young poet, essayist and critic Efe Murad see the situation in his country? And what does the literary map of Istanbul look like right now? Murad talks about the city, wanders through it and reads from his work, including poems from Kapital Öldürür!, written with his generational cohorts Sinan Özdemir and Ismail Aslan, which constitutes one of the most direct confrontations with the Turkey of recent years.

Poet Çaglar Köseoglu looks at Istanbul from The Netherlands thus enlarging the map. His poetry alters the history of the Republic of Turkey and the situation in The Netherlands towards something new, showing how violence, language and geography alternate.

During this short performance, Irina Baldini follows an improvised dance trajectory across the map of Istanbul across streets, along skyscrapers and luxury condominium towers; while moving, she reminisces about the search for clearings in a city where the state has taken over the public space. Meer details bekijken

A unique opportunity to meet two international literary stars and hear about their books, which have recently become available in the Netherlands. Lisa Weeda, writer and professor at ArtEZ School for the Arts, goes one on one for a half hour each with Nino Haratischwili (Germany/Georgia) and Alain Mabanckou (Republic of Congo) about their motivation to write, the source of their characters, and the worldwide success of their books.

Haratischwili had an international breakthrough in 2014 with The Eighth Life (for Brilka). In this award-winning, 1300-page epic, the Hamburg-based Georgian writer tells the story of the fictitious Georgian Jasji family.

The lastest book by Congolese novelist Mabanckou is Petit Piment,  translated into English in 2017 with the title Black Moses. It humorously describes the life of a boy who escapes the strict regime of an orphanage to move to the coastal city of Pointe-Noire, where he lives among thieves and whores. Meer details bekijken

The foyer of the Theater aan het Spui is the beating heart of the festival. At the Friday Night Wintercafé, you will meet each other and the writers. Host and festival guide Francis Broekhuijsen guides your way through the program. Together with his guests he creates an inviting, homey atmosphere.

Listen to up-and-coming local poetic talent at the Wintercafé during the Spot on Young Poets program in collaboration with the Haags Dichtersgilde (The Hague Poets' Guild). The young poets are accompanied by professional poet Joost Baars, nominated for the VSB Poëzieprijs 2018, and young poetry slam-talent Sanam Sheriff from India. The winner of the Young Campert Prize will also be chosen.

Of course you can just relax and chat in the Wintercafé over a drink and a bite (a rich choice of biological-vegetarian delicacies made by ‘s-Peer Catering is on offer). Music is provided by DJ Socrates.

Throughout the evening, Van Stockum Bookshop offers a rich choice of books and poetry collections from the authors participating in the Winternachten festival: look out for and buy their latest books as well as older works, if available in Dutch and English language versions.

Booksigning sessions at Van Stockum Bookshop in the foyer:
20:30-21:00: David Van Reybrouck, Rodaan Al Galidi, Fatma Aydemir
21:00-21:30: Grazyna Plebanek, Mohsin Hamid, Ghayath Almadhoun en Anne Vegter
22:00-22:30: Nino Haratischwili, Alain Mabanckou
23:00-23:30: Peter van Dongen

The Saturday Night Wintercafé is the place to plan out your evening, either with Francis Broekhuijsen as your guide or all by yourself.

At the end of the evening, DJ Socrates lowers your thoughts to the level of your dancing shoes as he kicks off the night in true festival tradition and gets you ready for another festival day. Meer details bekijken

Writers talks about their favourite book - the book that inspires or moves them; the book that formed their aristic, moral or intellectual compass; the book that they would recommend to anyone. Meer details bekijken

Writers talks about their favourite book - the book that inspires or moves them; the book that formed their aristic, moral or intellectual compass; the book that they would recommend to anyone. Meer details bekijken

Three Hague authors - Max Lerou, Mira Feticu and Hizir Cengiz - have written a new story or poem especially for Writers Unlimited, inspired by what remains hidden in their city. This evening they came to read their new works. What a party!

But what is actually hidden? "The Hague is a segregated city," says Festival curator Shervin Nekuee. He's been living in the Netherlands for thirty years, including the last ten in The Hague. "Poor and rich, young and old, native-born and foreign-born live alongside one another. That's why it's high time to show the city to one another with new stories."

Lerou is a wonderful performer of his own work: as a full-blooded  performance poet, he enjoys getting inspired by music and his city. In 2017 he hit the stage during the opening of Parkpop and at the Embassy Festival on the Lange Voorhout.

Feticu writes poetry and prose. Her work has been published in Tirade and De Groene Amsterdammer; she writes a weekly column in Den Haag Centraal newspaper and is a programmer of B-Unlimited.

At age 18, Cengiz won the first Jan Paul Bresser Prize (2017) for his essay "The World Is a Bucket of Mud", published in De Groene Amsterdammer. In it, he describes how he moved to the Netherlands and ended up in the Schilderswijk. In the meantime he has been writing regular columns for De Groene Amsterdammer and working on a novel.

Meer details bekijken

Rage is wafting around Europe. Rage in many forms and voices, but perhaps also from a common source. Led by author and cultural historian David Van Reybrouck, writers from various European cities delineate and interpret this rage from their own environments and perspectives.

Some Europeans think that our continent is denying its origins and heading towards cultural suicide by opening itself to the culture of strangers. Others believe that Europe is mired in colonial reflexes and prejudices, and falls short in terms of welcoming new citizens. Yet others see only a Europe of interference and technocracy, bereft of passion, imagination and democratic vitality.

Multitalented author and playwright Van Reybrouck wrote high-profile books such as Congo: A history, and essays such as "A Plea for Populism" and "Against Elections". Fatma Aydemir's debut novel Ellbogen (Elbow), about escalating violence in the U-Bahn, recently divided critics and readers in Germany. Grazyna Plebanek, originally from Warsaw, lived in Stockholm for a few years and in Brussels since 2005, where she works as a journalist and writer of short stories and novels. Until 1989, art historian, poet and essayist Magda Carneci published under a pseudonym in Bucharest; these days, she is, among others, Editor of Revista ARTA.

As counterpoints, Rodaan Al Galidi recites some of his poems, Gerda Dendooven creates illustrations and Stefka and Amer Shanati play their music. Meer details bekijken

Writers talks about their favourite book - the book that inspires or moves them; the book that formed their aristic, moral or intellectual compass; the book that they would recommend to anyone. Meer details bekijken

Peter van Dongen has turned Familieziek (Family Disease), the autobiographical novel by Adriaan van Dis, into a graphic novel. It is a story told in scenes about an Indonesian family affected by the war, which tries to land on their feet in the Netherlands of the 1950s.

Van Dongen worked closely with Van Dis on the project. During Writers Unlimited, the graphic novelist looks back on this collaboration, including the exciting relationship between the words of the writer and the images of the artist and the story that binds it all together.

It's not surprising that the two authors understand one another. In 1998, Van Dongen - child of an Indonesian mother and Dutch-German father - caused a stir with Rampokan: Java, a historical and psychological graphic novel in clear-line style that takes place during the colonial war fought by the Netherlands in the former Dutch Indies. Part two, Rampokan: Celebes, was published in 2004.

The former Dutch Indies are also central to Familieziek. The 2002 novel is about a family from the colonies that builds a new life in the Netherlands. Meer details bekijken

Writers talks about their favourite book - the book that inspires or moves them; the book that formed their aristic, moral or intellectual compass; the book that they would recommend to anyone. Meer details bekijken

Time after time, superhero(in)es save the world. Strangely enough, they aren't always thanked for it. The dutiful bad guy and the people remain dissatisfied. Especially Batman keeps having a hard time.

Batman is special among superheroes because, other than a lot of money, he has no real superpowers. Depending on what the writers, cartoonists or film directors come up with, Batman seems to sometimes ruffle the feathers of the Gotham citizens. And he also regularly gets in his own way. In this wonderful Batman-program, our hero is figuratively lying on the sofa.

Fenno Werkman, famed collector of music and imagery, screens appropriate fragments from his enormous film archive. For Winternachten festival, he opens his treasure trove of Dark Knight-materials.

And heads up, there's something to be won: comic-strip artist Romano Molenaar will create a special Batman drawing for the festival, which goes to the winner of the Speed-Batman-Quiz at the end of the program. Meer details bekijken

Writers talks about their favourite book - the book that inspires or moves them; the book that formed their aristic, moral or intellectual compass; the book that they would recommend to anyone. Meer details bekijken

In spring 2017 the joint poetry collection Me Here You There by Palestinian-Syrian poet Ghayath Almadhoun and the former Poet of the Fatherland Anne Vegter was published. For Writers Unlimited, they have collaborated with two exceptional musical talents: the Hague-Syrian-Palestinian oud-player and music professor Amer Shanati and singer-songwriter Stefka.

Vegter wrote the following about the creation of Me Here You There: "I first heard Ghayath Almadhoun during an interview with his translator Djûke Poppinga. He said that he fled Syria before the civil war broke out. He asked for asylum in Sweden and wrote the Poem 'I Cannot Be Present' in Stockholm, which articulates his discomfort at the distance between himself and the war in his native country.

As someone born and living in a safe country, my situation is of course much different. The world is burning and I refuse to look the other way. It's easy to do so with a roof over my head. My own discomfort led me to write poetry about war. My war is not his war. Ghayath and I decided to collaborate on a volume of poetry: his voice, my voice, my poems, his poems." Meer details bekijken

Moving between the popular and the adventurous, DJ Socrates finds links between the music of different countries, giving top priority to roots and inspiration. Energizing Afro beat and tropical funk, reggae, sultry cumbia grooves and a dash of electro-swing make sure that we can dance through the night after an evening of words. Meer details bekijken