Writers Fest 2014

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The Writers' Fest is the festive conclusion of the festival with a programme full of writers and other guests. The line-up consists of among others the Dutch poet Alfred Schaffer, Geert Mak, the South African poet Antjie Krog, Tom Lanoye, literary critic Elsbeth Etty, flute player Ronald Snijders and singer/poet Huub van der Lubbe.

The Writers' Fest includes the award winning ceremony of the Jan Campert Prizes, the literary prizes of the City of The Hague, with the presentation of the Constantijn Huygens Oeuvre Prize. The winner is Tom Lanoye. The South African writer Antjie Krog will do a eulogy on him and we'll hear Lanoye's words of thanks. 

The F. Bordewijk Prize goes to Pier en Oceaan (Jetty and Ocean) by Oek de Jong. The novel will be praised by Jaap Goedegebuure. Composer and poet Micha Hamel is recipient of the Jan Campert Prize for his book of poetry Bewegend doel (Moving Target). Bettine Vriesekoop will recommend the book to us. The Nynke van Hichtum Prize for children's literature goes to Het raadsel van alles wat leeft (The Riddle of Everything Alive) by Jan Paul Schutten. Writer and biologist Tijs Goldschmidt will sing the praise of that book. 

A programme in co-operation with the Dutch Foundation for Literature and the Jan Campert Foundation. The earlier announced performance of Anne Vegter has been cancelled for health reasons.

In Dutch.

Information

Date and time Sunday 19 January 2014 from 14:00 to 16:00 hrs
Location Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1

Line-up

Elsbeth Etty

(Hulshorst, NL, 1951) received the Anne Vondeling Award for political journalism in 2008, owing to her sharp analyses of social problems. She is a journalist in the widest sense of the word. Besides being an editor and columnist with the NRC Handelsblad newspaper, she makes frequent appearances on radio and TV. In 2007 she debuted as a novelist with Maak jezelf maar klaar (Go Get Yourself Off), in which one of the characters from Harry Mulisch's The Discovery of Heaven figures as a main character. Etty obtained her Ph.D. with distinction from Utrecht University with a biography of Henriëtte Roland Holst, Liefde is heel het leven niet (Love Is Not All of Life, 1996). Her newspaper columns appeared in four different books. Her reviews were compiled in Dames gaan voor - Van Hella Haasse to Connie Palmen (Ladies First: From Hella Haasse to Connie Palmen, 1999). Etty is a special lecturer in Literary Criticism at the Free University in Amsterdam, and is now at work on a biography of the late Dutch poet and songwriter Willem Wilmink.
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Aad Meinderts

(1957) is director of the Literatuurmuseum in The Hague and chair of the Jan Campert Foundation. He studied Dutch language in Leiden and, as of 1982, worked for the organisation that looks after the national Dutch literary heritage (formerly the Letterkundig Museum). He organised exhibitions about writers such as Remco Campert, Miep Diekmann, and Cees Nooteboom. From 2002 to 2005 he was director of the Haags Historisch Museum/Museum de Gevangenpoort, and afterwards of Stichting Lezen. In 2009 he returned to the Literatuurmuseum as director. Meinderts has publications to his name on writers Anna Blaman, Emmy van Lokhorst and Sonja Witstein. He also wrote Een literaire roadtrip: in 30 dagen langs 100 schrijversgraven (2010), ‘Uit geil en bloed bestaat dit rotte leven!’: Max Kijzer (1893-1944) (2021) en In gekroonde stoeten (2022).
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Jaap Goedegebuure

(1947) until 2012 was professor of modern Dutch literature at the University of Leyden. Before that he fulfilled teaching commitments at the universities of Berlin, Tilburg and Nijmegen. He has written books and articles on 19th and 20th century literature, among others the study Decadentie en literatuur (1987). His latest publication in bookform is Nederlandse schrijvers en religie 1960-2010 (Dutch Writers and religion 1960-2010; 2010). He is a regular reviewer for Trouw and the Financieele Dagblad.
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Huub van der Lubbe

(Amsterdam, 1953) is a poet and a singer with pop group De Dijk and one of the three members of the poets' society Concordia. In February 2013 Simpel verlangen (Simple longing) appeared, his first solo album based on songs from Iemand als jij (Someone like you) - his first theatre tour in 2012. In 2013 Van der Lubbe again hit the theatres with his successful programme of songs and poetry. The lyrics which he had been writing from 1981 onwards for De Dijk were anthologised in 1995 in Melkboer met de blues (Milkman with the blues). In 2003 Geregeld leven (A settled life) appeared. Followed a year later with the Concordia anthology Versterkte Gedichten (Amplified poems) and in 2010 by Guichelheil (Pimpernel). In it Van der Lubbe combined song texts with new poems and translated poetry. In 2011 he was a member of the jury of the Turing National Poem Contest. In addition to being a singer and poet Van der Lubbe is an actor. In 1986 he performed in the Oscar winning film De Aanslag (The Assault) and recently he acted in the tv series Dokter Deen.
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Geert Mak

(Vlaardingen, NL, 1946) is a lawyer and writer. After a series of books on Dutch and world history he made his 1991 breakthrough with Hoe God verdween uit Jorwerd (How God Disappeared from Jorwerd), about the demise of European peasant culture. Eight years later he published De eeuw van mijn vader (My Father's Era), a 20th-century history of the Netherlands, partly based on his own family history. In 1999 Mak travelled across Europe, writing short daily reports for NRC Handelsblad newspaper. These travels formed the basis for his international best-seller In Europe, which was made into a 35-part TV series; a theatrical interpretation runs at the NTGent theatre until April 2016. In 2013's Reizen zonder John (In America: Travels with John Steinbeck), Mak follows in the late author's footprints to look for remaining bonds between Europe and the US. Mak was an acclaimed journalist, lecturer in constitutional and immigration law, and professor of urban issues. In 2015 he won the Golden Quill award for his engagement with national and international history and current events.
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Francis Broekhuijsen

(The Netherlands, 1970) is a presenter, producer, actor and voice-over artist specializing in music, literature, arts and culture. After graduating as actor from the Toneelschool Amsterdam he was a member, among others, of the ensemble of the Nationale Toneel. He was a presenter at Amsterdam-based broadcaster AT5 and a radio producer with the KRO on national network NPO Radio 1. He narrates audio books, and was shortlisted for the Storytel Award 2019 for Best Audio Book with his reading of Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer's novel Grand Hotel Europa. Until last year, he presented on radio station Sublime the daily morning show Sublime Sunrise, the Instagram poetry programme Sublime Smooth and evening show The Sublime Experience. In 2025 he wrote and hosted the tv-series Kringlopen met Francis on regional Dutch broadcaster NH. Broekhuijsen works for Writers Unlimited as festival curator and presenter.

Go to the website of Francis Broekhuijsen
Instagram: @francisbroekhuijsen
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Tiziano Perez

(Terneuzen, NL 1968) studied Italian and English literature and successively worked at the Universiy of Amsterdam and De Balie, the political and cultural centre in Amsterdam. He is co-founder of the programme Amsterdam Vluchtstad, which offers freedom and space to prosecuted writers. Since 1989 he has organised events and festivals with Dutch writers in many countries for the Dutch Literature Fund, among others the much-discussed guest land programme in Beijing in 2011. For ten years, he was director of the Dutch Foundation for Literature.
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Tom Lanoye

(Belgium, 1958) writes novels, poetry, scenarios, columns and plays. The twelve-hour stage marathon Ten Oorlog (1997), his adaptation in verse of eight plays by Shakespeare, won him international acclaim. He lives and works in Cape Town and Antwerp, where he was the city's poet from 2003-2005. In 1985 he made his debut with Een slagerszoon met een brilletje, which was his instant breakthrough in a Sonja Barend tv show. In 2009 Sprakeloos appeared, about the death of his mother, who lost her capacity to speak owing to a stroke. With his theatre adaptation of this book he performed in Carre in 2012 during the National Book Week. In that year he wrote the national book week present: Heldere Hemel. His latest novel Gelukkige slaven is again typically Lanoye: an ink black tragicomedy with unforgettable characters and dialogues, an ingenious plot and a virtuoso style. At the festival in 2014 Tom Lanoye is recipient of the Constantijn Huygens Prize for his entire oeuvre.
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Jan Paul Schutten

(Vlissingen, NL 1970) writes children's books about a wide range of subjects, from natural phenomena to history. In 1998 his first book was published, De Bralmanak, for and about students. In 2003 he made his debut as a writer of children's books with Ruik eens wat ik zeg, de taal van dieren en planten (Smell what I'm saying, the language of animals and plants). It won him a prize for children's books instantly. After that he has published one or more books every year. Such as Het NOS Journaal (The six o'clock news), in which he describes how a news programme is made. In 2008 he received a prestigious prize for children's books with Kinderen van Amsterdam (Children from Amsterdam), a co-production with illustrator Paul Teng. In 2009 he wrote the special book for the children's book week, De wraak van het spruitje (The revenge of the sprout). In 2013 he published as many as five books, among others Jij bent je brein (You are your brain), together with Dick Swaab. At the festival he will be awarded the Nienke van Hichtum Prize for Het raadsel van alles wat leeft (The riddle of everything alive).
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Oek de Jong

(Breda, 1952) grew up in Dokkum and Goes before studying art history in Amsterdam. He made his debut in 1975 in Hollands Maandblad. Four years later he made his breakthrough with Opwaaiende zomerjurken, a coming of age novel about the main character Edo Mesch: as a child growing up in the countryside in the 1950s, as an adolescent in Zeeland and later as a student going through erotic adventures in Amsterdam. Six years later his novel Cirkel in het Gras appeared. This was followed by a long silence. In that time De Jong taught creative writing to Joost Zwagerman and Marcel Möring, who had not made their debuts yet. In 2002 he published Hokwerda's kind, which was adapted for the stage. In 2012 Pier en oceaan appeared, which won him the Gouden Uil in 2013. This is again a coming of age novel, in which De Jong returns to the provinces of Zeeland and Friesland of his youth. At the festival Oek de Jong will be awarded the F. Bordewijk Prize for Pier en oceaan.
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Micha Hamel

(Amsterdam, 1970) is a poet, director and composer. He studied at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague and studied philosophy for a year in Amsterdam. In 2004 he made his debut as a poet with Alle enen opgeteld (All the ones added up). In his poetry Hamel always takes on a great number of topics. In Nu je het vraagt (Now that you ask; 2010) he alternated striking reminiscences of youth with melancholic reflections. In Bewegend doel (moving target; 2013) he wrote about depression, an Egyptian goddess, the word sultry and the Italian national character. The poet continuously changes roles. He is an artist, a bourgeois, a popstar, a judge and an actor, investigating how these characters transform him. Almost casually he writes about the friction between love, lust, art and trivialities. Hamel also wrote music for among others the Schönberg Ensemble. In addition he was director of the Noord-Hollands Philharmonisch Orkest and the RAI orchestra in Turin. At the festival Hamel is recipient of the Jan Campert Prize for his fourth collection of poetry Bewegend doel.
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Tijs Goldschmidt

(Amsterdam, NL 1953) is an evolutionary biologist and a writer. In his essays he presents himself as the missing link between the arts and the sciences. Again and again he places science in a broader cultural framework. In his collections of essays Vis in Bad (Fish in the Bath, 2014) and Kloten van de engel (Angels' Balls; 2007) he shows that culture is often much more natural than we think. In september 2016 a collection of his essays, The Other Left Side will be published by Seven Stories Press in New York. After graduation Goldschmidt left for Tanzania for five years to study cichlids (Percidae) in Lake Victoria. That study resulted in a Ph.D. thesis and a book combining his scientific findings with personal experiences: Darwin's Dreampond (1994). This debut was translated in English, French, German, Japanese and Chinese, among others. In 1993 Goldschmidt decided to give up his academic career to become a fulltime writer. In 2007 he delivered the Huizinga Lecture in Leiden entitled Pretending to pretend. Since 2009, Tijs Goldschmidt is advisor to the State Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam.
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Antjie Krog

(South Africa, 1952) is a poet, writer, academic and a cherished reciter. Her book Country of My Skull (2000, adapted for film in 2004) is a personal account of the proceedings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She published her autobiographical memoirs as A Change of Tongue (2003). Krog has won many prizes, including the Hertzog prize in South Africa and the 2018 Gouden Ganzenveer in the Netherlands. An anthology of her poetry was published in Dutch in 2010, titled Hoe zeg je dat (How Do You Say That), and Begging to be Black, the sequel to Country of My Skull and A Change of Tongue.
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Bettine Vriesekoop

(1961) became a journalist, writer and made radio programmes after a highly successful career as a table tennis player. Among other things she wrote a series of interviews for the weeklies Revu and Sportweek, wrote books, had a column in Algemeen Dagblad and worked as a radio editor for the programme Simek ’s nachts. She worked three years in Beijing as the correspondent for NRC Handelsblad. She published Heimwee naar Peking (1994), Bij de Chinees (2006), Jaar van de Rat (2007) and Duizend dagen in China (2011).
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Marjolein de Jong

(Emmen, Netherlands, 1959) until May 2014 was Deputy Mayor and The Hague's alderman for Culture, City Centre and International Affairs as well as the City Centre district. She has had a long career in tourism and the restaurant and catering industry, which took her to Limburg, Spain and back to the Netherlands. Marjolein has been living in The Hague since 1999 and has been a member of The Hague Municipal Council since 2002. In 2005 she became leader of the D66 party in the Municipal Council.
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Ronald Snijders

(Paramaribo, 1951) is the most swinging flautist in the Netherlands at present. Snijders started to play the flute at the age of seven, inspired by his father who was a professional musician. Despite studying civil technology in Delft in 1970, five years later Snijders became a professional musician. Over the years Snijders has produced twenty cd's and records with his own innovative compositions, varying in style from North American jazz and fusion to new African Caribbean jazz. Snijders is the creator of the Afro Surinam kawina-jazz. As a musician Snijders is in great demand and is very succesful with his Ronald Snijders Extended band, which has toured and played throughout the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Surinam, the United States, Cuba and Curaçao.
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Alfred Schaffer

(Leidschendam, 1973) is a poet, translator and lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. He made his debut in 2000 with the poetry collection Zijn opkomst in de voorstad (His Rise in the Suburb). Over the years, his poetry collections were often awarded or nominated for several important prizes, and translations appeared in English, Afrikaans, French, Chinese, Indonesian, Swedish and other languages. For the collection Kooi he received the Jan Campert Prize and the Ida Gerhardt Poetry Prize in 2008. His work is sometimes humorous, sometimes matter-of-fact and at the same time full of absurd inventions. In 2014, he published his, again critically acclaimed collection Mens Dier Ding. In 2021, he published the personal collection Wie was ik?, for which he received the Herman De Coninck Prize. That same year, Alfred Schaffer was awarded the P.C. Hooft Prize, the largest annual oeuvre prize in Dutch literature.
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