The World According to Cusk

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On the afternoon of Sunday 12 March, a world-renowned writer came to The Hague: English author Rachel Cusk. She was interviewed by Dutch writer Niña Weijers on her books and themes. The event in Zaal 1 was framed by readings from Cusk's oeuvre by actress Sophie van Winden and musical performances by actor and singer Meral Polat accompanied on piano by Chris Doyle. An after-programme in the foyer included two mini-lectures by authors Ianthe Mosselman and Fleur Speet reflecting on elements of Cusks work, and also book sales and signing.

Rachel Cusk, arguably today's most important English-language writer,  authored the non-fiction books A Life's Work (2001), Aftermath (2012) and Coventry (2019), and the novels Arlington Park (2006), the phenomenal Outline trilogy (Outline, Transit, Kudos, 2014-2018) and Second Place (2021).

Niña Weijers spoke with Rachel Cusk about occupying space: as a writer, a woman, a narrator, a character, and about being sent to 'Coventry.' About being seen, being recognised. About art and its effect on a 'self.' About being a woman in different stages of life. About constantly reinventing yourself as a writer.

After-programme: mini-lectures by Ianthe Mosselman and Fleur Speet
The foyer programme (16:15-16:45 hyours) consisted of two (Dutch spoken, English version projections) mini-lectures. Ianthe Mosselman, author of Al die liefde en woede (2022), will reflect on Cusk's A Life's Work (2001). Fleur Speet gave a mini-lecture on Lorenzo in Taos, the 1932 book by Mabel Dodge Luhan that is the major inspiration behind Cusk's most recent international bestseller Second Place (2021).

Day ticket: also visit the evening programme Literary Focus: Ukraine
The World According to Cusk was followed on Sunday 12 March, as of 19:30h in Theater aan het Spui, by the, also English spoken, Winternachten festival evening programme Literary focus: Ukraine.
A reduced price day ticket for both festival programmes on 12 March was available.

Bookstore De Vries van Stockum was present in the lobby with a stand offering books by participating authors of this programme, among others — including signing opportunities!

Information

Date and time Sunday 12 March 2023 from 14:30 to 17:00 hrs
Location Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1
Price €15
DenHaagPas €12,50 | Up to 30 years / Ooievaarspas: €7,50.

Line-up

Rachel Cusk

(Canada, 1967) has written more than ten novels, including the Outline trilogy (Outline, Transit and Kudos), and four non-fiction works, including Coventry: Essays. In 2021 Second Place was published, a dark, bittersweet novel that was also widely acclaimed and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. "Cusk has emerged as a writer to be afraid of," said Marja Pruis in De Groene Amsterdammer. "As she gets older, she puts both literature and herself on edge." Cusk writes with raw honesty about motherhood, femininity, and her own marriage and divorce. Her work has won many prizes, and in 2003 Granta chose her as one of the Best Young British Novelists. Cusk lives in Londen and Norfolk.
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Niña Weijers

(Netherlands, 1987) is the author of the novels De consequenties (Consequences, 2014) and kamers antikamers (Rooms Anti-Rooms, 2019, nominated for the bng Bank Literature Prize). Her debut was nominated for the 2015 Libris Literature Prize and won the Anton Wachter Prize, the Lucy B. and C.W. van der Hoogt Prize, the Opzij Literature Prize, and the audience award of the Gouden Boekenuil. Translations of her novels have appeared in Germany, France, the Czech Republic and the United States. She has written for the Dutch weekly magazine De Groene Amsterdammer since 2014 and is an editor at Dutch literary magazine De Gids. Her book Zelf doen (Do It Myself, 2022) is a collection of essays written for De Groene. Published in 2023, Cassandra is about how disruptive a never-solved disappearance can be for everyone involved.
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Meral Polat

(Turkey, 1982) is an actress, singer and theatre artist. She has frequently appeared on Dutch stages and television and in Dutch films; she received the 2008 Guido de Moor Prize for her role in the theatre production Hollandse spoor (Dutch Rails). She performed with her own band, Meral's Harem, in the 2015-16 production Ochtendzee (Morning Sea) and appeared in the musical Lost Tango in 2019. After the first Corona-lockdown in 2020, she toured the Netherlands with musicians Chris Doyle and Frank Rosaly as the Meral Polat Trio with Merals Zomer (Meral's Summer): sentimenal ballads of woe, love songs full of longing, and sexy up-tempo numbers in Turkish and Kurdish. On their debut album Ez Kî Me (Who Am I), released in December 2022, Meral performs her own texts as well as poems written by her father, Ali Ihsan Polat.
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Sophie van Winden

(Amsterdam, 1983) is an actress and founded the theatre collective Waal and Wind with Eva Maria de Waal in 2015. They make plays and podcasts on topics they consider important. Their first triptych is about the position of women: Holy-F (2016), Mama Marlene (2020). The final volume titled Eigentlich bin ich ganz anders aber ich komme so selten dazu will be released in October 2023. While studying theatre in Maastricht, she made her debut in her first film role in Leef!, for which she won a Golden Calf for best actress in a supporting role. Since then she has acted in a large number of feature films, television series and, initially with the Noord Nederlands Toneel and later with Het Nationale Theater, in theatre productions including in leading roles in Romeo and Juliet, Tirza, Bed Bound and Faust.
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Ianthe Mosselman

(1989) studied Comparative Dutch Language Sciences in Amsterdam and Berlin. She makes programmes on art, literature and culture and has interviewed several domestic and foreign writers on stage at De Balie in Amsterdam. She also worked for the European Press Prize. She believes that art does not have to be useful, conversations should be allowed to be abrasive and that there should be more room for women in the public debate. She also thinks you have to be frugal about beautiful things and so has for years organised the Gesprek Voor de Dam and programmes on forgotten literary works. Her debut was published in 2022: the literary essay Al die liefde en woede (All that love and anger) in which, after the birth of her child, she wonders why it is that she feels anger alongside joy and love.
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Fleur Speet

(Netherlands, 1971) has been a reviewer for several Dutch daily and weekly newspapers and a jury member of several literary prizes. She is part of the writers' collective Fixdit, which aims to increase diversity in the canon and raise awareness about gender inequality in literature. She is currently researching the life of Dutch poet, singer and glass engraver Maria Tesselschade Roemers Visscher (1594-1649).
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