The most beautiful Afrikaans language poem of all time!

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Afrikaans poetry has a rich tradition: from Antjie Krog to Ingrid Jonker, from Breyten Breytenbach to Elisabeth Eybers. Much of their poetry has appeared in a Dutch translation, for example in the anthology ‘De Afrikaanse poëzie in 1000 en enige gedichten’, edited by Gerrit Komrij. But what can be more beautiful than hearing the original poems in the melodious and poetic Afrikaans language, recited by South African writers? Etienne van Heerden, Sonja Loots, Kirby van der Merwe and Marita van der Vyver are touring the Netherlands and will read their favourite poem during this evening and explain why they think it’s beautiful. There will also be a representative of the South African government to read president Zuma’s favourite poem.

In addition we have other guests with a predilection for Afrikaans language and poetry. Robert Dorsman translates poetry and prose from Afrikaans into Dutch. The Dutch novelist Richard de Nooy grew up in South Africa. Tineke de Nooij, a radio and television celebrity, is a great fan of the land and the language and will share her favourite poem. Singer and theatre artist Anne van Veen (the daughter of Herman van Veen) sings South African poems. The audience to this event also plays a role. They have the final say when, at the close of the evening, they vote for the most beautiful Afrikaans language poem of all time. The event is hosted by NRC editor and expert on South African literature Toef Jaeger.

Organised by Writers Unlimited in cooperation with the Afrikaans novel (www.weekvandeafrikaanseroman.nl) week.

Language: Afrikaans and Dutch
Books on sale at the Paagman bookshop in the venue.

Centrale Bibliotheek, Spui 68, Studio B (1st floor)

Admission: €10 for members of Bibliotheek Den Haag and €6 for CJP, students, clients with a Paagman cash register slip and Ooievaarspas.
Please book in advance, use the link on the top of this page.

Information

Date and time Friday 26 September 2014 from 20:30 to 22:00 hrs
Location Podium B - Centrale Bibliotheek Den Haag, Spui 68, 5e etage

Line-up

Robert Dorsman

(Utrecht, 1955) is a translator of South African literature. He translated the works of Etienne van Heerden, Breyten Breytenbach and Antjie Krog. With Adriaan van Dis he compiled O wye en droewe land (Oh, wide and sad country), a collection of 101 poems in Afrikaans.
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Etienne van Heerden

(South Africa, 1954) debuted with a juvenile novel (Matoli), using a farm setting as a microcosm of South Africa’s racial tensions in 1978. His first international breakthrough was the novel Ancestral Voices, which was published in ten languages. It won all the major literary awards in South Africa, and established Van Heerden as the leading novelist of his generation. He went on to publish the novels Casspirs and Camparis, Leap Year and Kikuyu, followed with his major novel The Long Silence of Mario Salviati. Van Heerden also wrote and staged satirical cabarets in the Dutch and German tradition, which was a very effective method of protest during the difficult eighties. Van Heerden teaches at the University of Cape Town, where he is Professor in the School of Languages and Literatures, and chairs the Afrikaans and Dutch Studies Section. He regularly reads his fiction at events such as the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, the Winter Nights Festival in The Netherlands, the Time of the Writer Festival in Germany, the Zimbabwe Book Fair and other festivals and events internationally. For his most recent novel, 30 Nagte in Amsterdam, in 2010 he received the Hertzog Award, the most important literary award for Afrikaans literature.
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Toef Jaeger

(Bloemendaal, NL, 1971) is an editor with the daily NRC Handelsblad newspaper. Her book Koning eenoog, en migrantenverhaal (King One-Eye: An immigrant story) about Henk van Woerden was presented during the 2015 festival; the story of ever-seeking immigrant Van Woerden (1947-2005), who was a writer as well as a visal artist. He wrote a trilogy abut South Africa that received national and international attention, and which, in its rootlessness, forever changed Dutch literature about South Africa. In 2014 Het Boekenparadijs. De opkomst en ondergang van de grootste boekhandelsketen in Nederland (Book Paradise: The rise and fall of the biggest bookstore chain in the Netherlands) was published, which he co-wrote with NRC Handelsblad editor Hanneke Chin-A-Fo. It is a revealing and incisive reconstruction of the recent demise of the Polare chain.


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Sonja Loots

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Annari van der Merwe

(South Africa) followed in the seventies a postgraduate study at the De Vooijs-Instituut in Utrecht. After that she returned to Capetown where she became an editor of children's books at Tafelberg Publishers. Nowadays she is a publisher of Kwela Books, a small publishing house in the Nasboek Conglomerate. Since 1994 she publishes work of contemporary South African writers. South African literature is a better reflection of the whole population. Van der Merwe is a member of various boards, amongst others at Book Development Trust of South Africa. In 2003 she was invited for the third time by the Frankfurter Buchmesse, as part of the programme for small publishing houses from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
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Tineke de Nooij

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Anne van Veen

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Marita van der Vyver

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