Writer Mira Feticu will be at Bibliotheek Schilderswijk on Thursday afternoon, 22 January 2026, to speak with visitors about Dutch as a second language, about the language of the body in mourning and about her books.

Mira: ‘I talked about learning a language, but also about the function of language when you are left alone after the death of your partner. As a writer, language is my armour, my weapon. But you no longer have anyone at home to whom you can ask the most normal question: How was your day?'

Mira Feticu is a writer, poet and columnist. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1993, after which she devoted herself to prose. In 2005, she moved from Romania to The Hague with her Dutch husband André. There she decided to write in Dutch rather than Romanian.

Her novels make a big impression with their powerful stories and personal, candid writing style. Her publications include Lief kind van mij (My Dear Child, 2012), De ziekte van Kortjakje (Kortjakje's Illness, 2013), Tascha. De roof uit de Kunsthal (Tascha: The Robbery at the Kunsthal, 2015), Al mijn vaders en Picasso's keerzijde (All My Fathers and Picasso's Other Side, 2019), and Liefdesverklaring aan de Nederlandse taal (Declaration of Love to the Dutch Language, 2021).

After the loss of her husband André, she wrote her latest novel Gewone Hollandse jongens (Ordinary Dutch Boys, 2025) about grief, physical desire and the search for stability in the company of others. Her articles and columns appear in Tirade, De Groene Amsterdammer and Den Haag Centraal, among others.

From 22 to 25 January 2026, Writers Unlimited International Literature Festival The Hague was to be found in theatres, libraries and schools throughout the city: from Theater aan het Spui, Filmhuis Den Haag, GR8 to Theater Dakota, Curaçaohuis, the Laakkwartier, Nieuw Waldeck, Schilderswijk and Ypenburg libraries, the Institute of Social Studies and De Haagse Hogeschool. With over 100 writers, poets, spoken-word artists and musicians from the Netherlands and abroad. With readings, prose, poetry, storytelling, spoken word, author interviews, topical talks, films and music.