(Paramaribo, 1958 - Loenen aan de Vecht, 2012) made his debut in 2011 as a novelist with a book describing the life of Badal, a migrant who, like Ramdas himself, is an inspired, committed writer and columnist. Popular among white Dutchmen, but unread by his own people. The multicultural society and the position of the journalist are recurring subjects is his work. A writer, journalist, film, radio and television maker, Ramdas grew up in the Hindustani community in Suriname. At the end of the 1970s he came to the Netherlands to study social geography. He worked among others for De Groene Amsterdammer and as a columnist, essayist and correspondent in India for NRC Handelsblad. Ramdas made various radio and tv programmes like In Mijn Vaders Huis (In my father's house), a series of interviews on the clash between cultures and the role of science and the media. The interviews were published in book form. From 2003-2005 he was director of the debating centre De Balie in Amsterdam. In 2007 he went to live in Suriname for a year and wrote Paramaribo: de vrolijkste stad in de jungle (Paramaribo, the merriest town in the jungle, 2009), in which he takes a critical look at his native country. Since September 2010 he hosted the VPRO opinion programme Z.O.Z.He died on 16 february 2012.

(Haarlem, 1956) won the NS Publieksprijs in 2008 with his novel Overgave (Surrender, 2007), about the struggle between pioneers and Comanche Indians in 18th century Texas. His novel Vaslav (2010) is also inspired by a true story: the dramatic decision by the legendary ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinski to quit dancing. In 2008 Japins diaries 2000-2007 appeared in book form entitled Zoals dat gaat met wonderen (As it goes with miracles) and his short stories were reprinted as Singel Pocket. In 1997 Japin made his international breakthrough with The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi, a novel about two 19th century Ghanaian princes who were brought up as Dutchmen. It has been translated in over ten languages and adapted for opera, dance and the theatre. For Een schitterend gebrek (translated as In Lucia's Eyes, 2003) he recieved the Libris literature award. Japin studied at the Kleinkunstacademie and was an actor and singer before he started writing. Various of Japin's short stories have been adapted for the screen. Since April 2011 he is one of the makers of a satirical tv programme.

(Paramaribo, Surinam, 1948) moved as a teenager, together with her family, to Amsterdam where she attended secondary school and afterwards studied social sciences. Working in mental healthcare provided her with inspiration for her books. At the age of 44 Ellen Ombre made her debut with the much praised book Maalstroom (Maelstrom) (1992). In this collection of short stories she reflects on her early years in the Netherlands. She also wrote Wie goed bedoelt (Who means well) (1996), an autobiographical travel journal, in which she sketches a picture of the triangular slave trading route between Surinam, the Netherlands and Benin. In 2000 she published the novel Valse verlangens (False desires), where she touches on the prejudices between the Surinamese and the Dutch. In 2004 she published Negerjood in Moederland (Negro-jew in the motherland). Ombre is a member of the international advice committee of the Prins Claus Fund. In 2005 she returned to Surinam.

(Bali, 1944) after completing his law study in Yogyakarta followed his artistic vocation and became a writer, dramatist, scriptwriter, journalist and essayist. He gained a lot of experience abroad. From 1985 to 1988 he worked as writer and director for various universities in the U.S.A and he taught modern Indonesian literature and theater. He has his own theater group Mandiri, which he founded at the beginning of the 1970's. In his short stories Putu Wijaya likes to shock and desorientate his readers; according to him he places 'mental time bomb's' in the ordinairy life of ordinairy people. Surrealism and absurdism, humor and violence form the foundations of his stories. Putu Wijaya avoids analysing and moralizing; he leaves the end open and the reader confused.
WIN2003