An interview with columnist Hassnae Bouazza and the Palestinian Sayed Kashua (language: English). A conversation on the upside and downside of authorship in between two worlds. He presents the Dutch edition of his novel 'Second person singular'. Click here to see the video.

Sayed Kashua (Tiga, 1975) is one of the most prominent and promising young Palestinians of the moment. A novelist, journalist and TV critic, he also writes a weekly column for the newspaper Ha’aretz. In 2003, Sayed published his debut novel Dansende Arabieren [Dancing Arabs] (publishers Vassalucci). In 2011, he won the prestigious Bernstein Prize for Tweede persoon enkelvoud [Second person singular] About the work of Sayed Kashua: ‘Dancing in two worlds filled with prejudice, racism and hate does not make for enjoyment. The clever thing about Kashua is his ability to portray both worlds, and his own confusion, in such a frank way.’ Trouw

Hassnae Bouazza
Bouazza is a columnist for Vrij Nederland and Frontaal Naakt, among others, and writes editorials in various media. She has conducted research for the VPRO and produced programmes for various broadcasters. In her editorials, she criticises both the Dutch who stigmatise Muslims and Muslims who do nothing to respond to Wilders and his associates.

On 'Second person singular'
The first narrator is a nameless, dedicated Palestinian criminal lawyer living in East Jerusalem. One day, he comes across a letter written by his wife in an antiquarian copy of Tolstoy’s The Kreutzer Sonata. In this letter, she thanks someone for a wonderful evening. The lawyer becomes crazed with jealousy and embarks on a desperate search for the truth.