Writers Unlimited International Literature Festival The Hague and Erasmus University Rotterdam's ISS (International Institute of Social Studies) and IHS (Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies) welcomed students, staff and all interested to this Storytelling afternoon on Thursday afternoon 22 January 2026.

Participants were invited to reflect by telling their own five minute-story on physicality in daily life — how it is experienced, challenged, or reshaped in different sociocultural, generational, and digital contexts.

Festival guests taking part were Curaçaoan writer Elvira Bonafacio and Palestinian-Ukrainian peace ambassador and storyteller Zoya Miari. The event was facilitated by Beatrice Hati Gitundu (ISS) and Pamela Durán Díaz (IHS). KEKE & Nick (singer-songwriter KEKE and pianist Nicolás Quiroga) will perform during the musical intermezzi.

The Storytelling program took place in the Atrium of the Institute of Social Studies, situated on Kortenaerkade in The Hague's city centre opposite the Royal Stables.

Elvira Bonafacio is a Papiamentu teacher and writer. Drawing on her own teaching practice, she develops learning resources that stimulate creativity and help people of all ages find their voice. Elvira is co-author of a language method for primary education and is now exploring storytelling as a bridge between learning, self-expression and rediscovery. Yen'i Brio /Met Pit (2025) is her first bilingual reading and storytelling book in both Papiamentu and Dutch. 

Zoya Miari's life journey has given her a unique perspective, having experienced two wars and becoming a refugee twice. Through these experiences, she discovered the transformative power of storytelling and the ability of individuals to shape their own narratives and the world around them. To share this vision, Zoya founded Waves to Home, a global movement aimed at changing the world through personal & collective stories.

Beatrice Hati Gitundu is a storyteller-scholar whose expertise sits at the crossroads of cities, people, and governance. She is a doctoral researcher at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Trained as an urban development specialist, her work bridges transformative (urban) planning, informality, grassroots innovation, disaster governance, and resilience.

Pamela Durán Díaz is a Senior Planning and Governance Specialist and lecturer at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS), Erasmus University Rotterdam. She is an architect with a PhD in Urbanism focusing on sustainable land and urban governance.

Vibra Latina Duo consists of Keren Paternina (KEKE), a Colombian singer-songwriter and international performer with a passion for Latin rhythms, and Nicolás Quiroga (Nick), an Argentine pianist, percussionist and curious multi-instrumentalist who loves to explore musical styles and compose music ‘that massages the soul’. Together, they blend their roots in a warm and intimate musical experience full of Latin colour and emotion.

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.