<strong>What happens when the water comes?</strong>

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What happens when the water comes? What if the Netherlands really does flood? A welcome topic for climate novels, but perhaps a cliché by now. Do we still get scared by such messages? How do you write about climate change in a way that really grabs the reader's attention?

On the basis of two recently published books - Zee nu by Eva Meijer and Jona zonder walvis by Mounir Samuel - we will discuss this on Tuesday 19 April. Both authors proclaim, in their own way, the 'inconvenient truth' about the climate that just doesn't seem to get through to us. Whereas Eva Meijer wanted to write 'a book for the Netherlands' through fiction, Jona zonder walvis is a more essayistic, personal approach to the climate crisis. Both books are wonderful examples of how writers can capture the urgent reality with pen and paper.

With Eva Meijer, Mounir Samuel and Mirthe Frese (moderator). Afterwards there will be book sales and signings.

What if the water comes?
Date: Tuesday 19 April 2022
Starts: 20:30, doors open at 20:00
Tickets: €11 (regular), €8 (library card, CJP and Ooievaarspas), free admission for students, schoolchildren and We Are Public-members.
Location: Studio B, Central Library, Spui 68, The Hague.
Dutch language program.

Program compiled by Joëlle Koorneef (Writers Unlimited). Book sale by De Vries Van Stockum Books.

Information

Date and time Tuesday 19 April 2022 from 20:30 to 22:00 hrs
Location Podium B - Centrale Bibliotheek Den Haag, Spui 68, 5e etage

Line-up

Eva Meijer

(Netherlands, 1980) is a visual artist, philosopher, writer and singer-songwriter. After publishing short stories and poetry in Dutch literary magazines, her debut novel Het schuwste dier (The Shiest Animal), about coping with a sudden death, appeared in 2011. In Dagpauwoog (Day Peacock Eye, 2013), the protagonist lands in a grey area between idealism and terror due to a love of animals. Het vogelhuis (The Birdhouse, 2016) portrays the profound passion for birds of the British Gwendolen Howard. De soldaat was een dolfijn (The Soldier was a Dolphin), an essay about political animals, came out in 2017. In 2018, Meijer was awarded the Halewijn Prize for her oeuvre. After a philosophical treatise on depression, De grenzen van mijn taal (The Limits of my Language), the novel Voorwaarts (Onward), and the academic study When Animals Speak: Towards an Interspecies Democracy (all 2019), she published the 2020 novel De nieuwe rivier (The New River), a magical-realist murder mystery.
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Mirthe Frese

is a moderator, writer and theatre professional. She created successful program series for De Balie in Amsterdam, such as De Vrijheidslezing (The Freedom Lecture), Grote Denkers (Great Thinkers) and Generatie IK (Generation ME). In 2018, she wrote and performed her first solo performance, Retourtje Polen (Return to Poland), for Theater Na de Dam. She's currently writing a historical family novel about her Jewish-Moluccan roots (expected in 2021, Nijgh & Van Ditmar publishers). Whether writing, creating theatre, hosting a debate or curating a program, her starting point is always bringing together a diversity of stories, histories and opinions.
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Mounir Samuel

Mounir Samuel (Amersfoort, September 30, 1989) works at the intersections of media, politics, art and culture. He is a political analyst, multiple award-winning journalist, author of twelve books, performance artist, theater maker, dramaturge, coach, documentary maker, diversity manager, exhibition maker and cultural entrepreneur. On February 22, 2022 Mounir's latest book "Jonah without a whale - a prophecy for the Netherlands" was published. In this book he not only shows the nature and extent of the current climate disaster and the role of the Netherlands in it, but also how to survive it with as many people and animals as possible.
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