(1958, Colombia) had his international breakthrough in 2006 with The Forgetting that Awaits Us. In this book he depicts the story of his father, Abad senior, who was killed in 1987 by the Colombian paramilitary. In addition to being a portrait of Abad’s father it is a sweeping historical account of Colombia, a country which has been torn apart for decades by civil war. Abad’s father was a wise man, who fought for a peaceful society. He could never have thought that eventually he would have to pay for that struggle with his own life. Abad junior was only twelve years old when he put his first short stories and poems on paper and received the Colombian short story award at age twenty for Piedras de Silencio (Stones of silence), about a mineworker trapped deep into the ground. His first book of short stories, Malos Pensamientos (Bad Thoughts, 1991) describes life in Medellín in the 1980s. It was followed by a number of books in which he experimented with form and content. His most experimental work is Basura (Garbage, 2000) in which he plays with the interaction between reader, writer and storyteller in literature. In 2004 Angosta appeared, one of the best Latin American novels in recent years. In it Abad sketches a kaleidoscopic image of the violent nature of Colombian society. Las Formas de la Pereza y Otros Ensayos (2007) is a book on the origins and expressions of idleness. Abad’s hypothesis is that idleness is not a luxury but the ‘original condition of human existence’ from which all human creation emanates. Héctor Abad studied medicine, philosophy and literature in Mexico, Colombia and Turin, Italy. After his father’s assassination he himself received death threats and fled to Europe, to Spain and Italy, where he lived and worked. In addition to being a writer Abad is a translator and a journalist for Spanish and Latin American newspapers and magazines. His books have been translated into English, Italian, German, Greek, Portuguese, Chinese and Dutch.

(1971, Makassar, Indonesia) as a writer and journalist always tries to work from a female perspective. She published her first book, a novella, when she was still in high school. In her first book of short stories, Makkunrai (2008), the relationship between man and woman, corruption and political conflict are the important themes. When the book appeared she launched the Makkunrai Project with which she draws attention to gender related problems through literature and readings. In her second collection of short stories, Maisaura (2008), she took media news coverage and reports of women’s organisations as the basis for her stories. In 2006 she founded Panyingkul!, the first Indonesian website for ‘civil journalism’ in which she tries to establish a cooperation between professional journalists an internet users/readers who want to report news items. As a journalist she worked for the newspaper Kompas (1996-2000), Radio Australia, Radio Japan and NHK World in Tokyo. Right now she lives in Melbourne, where she works for Radio Australia and does gender studies. Lily Yulianti Farid regularly performs at literary festivals in Asia, Australia and Europe.

(Ethiopia, 1971) debuted in 2010 with the heartbreaking Beneath the Lion’s Gaze. This novel was hailed by The Guardian as one of the ten best recent African books. The story is set in the 1970s and begins with the last days of Emperor Haile Selassie. Mengiste continues with the cruel regime of the socialist Derg, who is etimated to have caused 100,000 deaths: "I wanted to show the humanity and the destruction of the people who suffered under this regime." Central themes of Mengiste's fiction and non-fiction are migration, the Ethiopian revolution, and the life of black African immigrants in Europe. She currently works for various orgranisations that support displaced people and human rights. Several Amerian celebrities like Meryl Streep and Alicia Keys worked on her film project Girl Rising, about the situation of girls around the world. Mengiste lives and works in New York City.

(Egypt, 1977) made her debut in 2010 with Diary of an Old Spinster, which was such a success that it was sold out very soon. In the book – based on the blog of the same name that she wrote – Soliman tells how it is to live as a single woman in Egypt. ‘It is the diary of a liberated woman, seen from the perspective of my generation,’ she says in the introduction. Her aim is primarily to open the eyes of her countrymen, who often condemn single women in word and deed. Elderly single women without children often face problems in Egyptian society. According to official figures, in 2009 2,700 Egyptian women committed suicide because they couldn’t cope any longer. In addition to being a writer Abeer Soliman is a columnist with the newspaper Baladna and a business development manager. Moreover, she is working as a literary agent for Noon Organisation.

(Netherlands, 1967) is a fiction and non-fiction author, documentarian and critic. In 1995 she emigrated to Surinam as a freelance journalist and in 1997 published Reishandboek Suriname, a cultural travel guide. Her first published short story Voor William (For William) won the incentive prize of the Kwakoe literary awards. In 2005 her novel debut de Parbo-blues appeared, followed in 2009 by the novel Solo, een liefde (Solo, a love) about the ambition of two lovers in colonial Surinam who desire a better life. Her non-fictional Fansi's stilte, een grootmoeder en de slavernij (Fansi's Silence, a Grandmother and Slavery, 2015) tells the life of her grandmother. In Plantage Wildlust (2020), she describes life on a Surinamese plantation in the early 20th century, during the period of contract labour, through various characters. De wilde vaart (Tramp Trade, 2022) recounts, in text and image, a boat journey in which Leuwsha and her husband travel Surinamese waters in search of their own core and the resilience of a people. Leuwsha is cultural attaché of the Dutch Embassy in Paramaribo, and writes columns, articles and reviews for various Surinamese media.

(1961, Morocco) acquired fame with his novel Les Clandestins (The Clandestines; (2000), which was translated into Dutch. In this story he gives a face to the Moroccans who in a last desperate effort try to reach Europe and lose their lives. Elalamy belongs to the new crop of young writers who grew up after Moroccan independence from France. The Moroccan identity forms an important leitmotiv in his work. His collection of short stories Tqarqib Ennab (Rumours) from 2004 is the first book fully written in darija, the Moroccan dialect of Arabic. ‘To show it is a real language, alive and creative,’ he said about it in an interview with Trouw. Elalamy has three novels to his name, of which Les Clandestins was awarded the Grand Prix Atlas 2001. In 2004 he published a series of portraits of Moroccans in Morocco (Miniatures). Apart from being a writer Elalamy is a visual artist and a teacher of style and media at the university of Kenitra. In 2009 he made the literary installation Nomad. In Morocco sharp analyses of his literary collages have led to censorship of his visual art. His novels have been translated into Dutch, Arabic, English, Spanish and Italian.

(The Netherlands, 1946) grew up in a family with a past in the Dutch East Indies. He draws on these experiences in several of his works such as My Father's War (1995), Repatriated (2002) and in Naar zachtheid en een warm omhelzen (2023). Van Dis became well known via his literary television programme Here is... Adriaan van Dis (1983-1992). In addition to novels he has written novellas, travelogues, essays and plays. He presented TV documentary series and his podcast Van Dis Ongefilterd. He has received the Constantijn Huygens Award for his entire body of work. Recent publications are the collection Vijf vrolijke verhalen (2021), the novel KliFi, woede in de republiek Nederland (2022) and the essay De kolonie mept terug: over witte arrogantie en voortschrijdend inzicht: een denkoefening en leesreis (2024). During the Writers Unlimited Festival 2026, Van Dis will be the main interview guest on Saturday afternoon, 24 January, following the publication of his new book Alles voor de reis (Everything for the Journey), and on Sunday morning, 25 January, he and interviewer Simon Dikker Hupkes will record a new episode of his podcast series Van Dis Ongefilterd (Van Dis Unfiltered) live with an audience.

Go to website of Adriaan van Dis

(Amsterdam, 1936) is a writer, poet, essay writer and art critic. He has a wide-ranging oeuvre of more than thirty works to his name, of which Waar was je nou (Where were you) was the most successful. This novel, in which Schippers calls into being the Amsterdam and Zandvoort of his youth, was awarded the 2006 Libris literature prize. The novel is characteristic for his work, in which language experiments play an important part. K. Schippers (pen name of Gerard Stigter) was one of the founders of the avant-gardist literary magazine Barbarber, in which he once published a menu. He looks at language the way he looks at art. One of his great heroes is Marcel Duchamp. He followed in the footsteps of the artist who some 100 years ago introduced an autographed lavatory bowl as art. That journey resulted in 2010 in the boek De bruid van Marcel Duchamp (Marcel Duchamp’s bride). Schippers held the 4 May commemoration speech in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, entitled De komst van de jazz (The advent of jazz). In 1996 Schippers received the PC Hooftprijs for his entire oeuvre.

(Boston, 1976) calls his stage his pulpit, his pen his temple, the paper his sanctuary and poems his confession. Omékongo Dibinga grew up in a warm intellectual family that came to the US after having fled Congo. Although he himself had a happy youth, in the US he recently witnessed cruelties against family members and members of the African community. This prompted him to speak out on behalf of ‘all those voiceless people.’ With his poems and performances the poet and rapper wants to promote dialogue, bring together the various population groups and make people think. His performances have taken him to every corner of the world. He also performed in various radio and tv programmes, e.g. CNN and the BBC. Meanwhile he has recorded six CDs with hiphop and poems of his own. His first album, A Young Black Man’s Anthem, in 2003 won the Cambridge Poetry Award. His first collection of poetry, From the Limbs of my Poetree he published independently in 2004. It was followed by another anthology of poetry by students and a guide for young job seekers. In 2009 he launched the GROW Towards Your Greatness project, a CD and book to motivate young people to get the most out of life. He writes and performs in English, French and Swahili and recites some fragments in Wolof. His great examples are Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, Amiri Baraka and Abiodun Oyewole.

(Belgium, 1971) is an author, historian and archaeologist, known for his multifaceted contributions to literature and intellectual discourse. He is currently Philosopher Laureate of the Low Countries. Upon his appointment, he published De wereld en de aarde (The World and the Earth, 2025), in which he makes a groundbreaking proposal to radically broaden our thinking—and our politics. For the greatest security issue of our time is not the world with its mutual conflicts, but the earth, which is becoming increasingly disrupted. His oeuvre covers a range of genres, including historical non-fiction, poetry, and theater. Among his best-known works are Congo (2010), about the country's bewildering history, and Revolusi (2020), which places Indonesia's struggle for independence in a global perspective through eyewitness accounts. In addition to his literary work, Van Reybrouck is known as ‘one of Europe's leading intellectuals’ (Tagesspiegel), whose ideas relate to themes such as democracy, climate, and colonialism. He regularly publishes opinion pieces in international publications. 

Go to the website of David Van Reybrouck
Instagram: @david.vanreybrouck

(Suriname, 1959) had a career in The Netherlands as a visual artist and teacher of intercultural communication when she decided to become a writer in 2000. After the publication of a number of prize-winning short stories she wrote her first novel in 2009, De Zwarte Lord (The Black Lord). In this historical novel Jamaludin describes the turbulent year 1848. The Dutch woman Regina ends up in Suriname as the nanny of the coloured Walther, and embraces love and life. In a compelling literary style, Jamaludin provides a good impression of relations and slavery in 19th century Suriname. Her novel Kuis (Chaste, 2011) is set in Amsterdam, where people from various cultures struggle with the freedom which the city offers and their self-imposed ideal of chastity. She then wrote two young adult novels: Luchtdanser (Air dancer, 2016) also set in Amsterdam and Geheimen van het tuinhuis (Secrets of the garden house, 2021) an adventure-historical novel about the period in Suriname, around 1870 after the abolition of slavery, of contract labour. For Dat wij zongen (That We Sang, 2022), an anthology about and featuring excerpts from the work of Caribbean authors, she wrote a contribution on writer and poet Bea Vianen.

(The Netherlands, 1962) is a Dutch writer, screenwriter and visual artist. She made her debut in 1995 with the collection of short stories Begeerte (Desire), which was nominated for the AKO Literature Prize, the Anton Wachter Prize and the ECI Prize. The title story was awarded the Rabobank Spring Prize for Literature. Her first novel Gemis (1997) was nominated for the Libris Literature Prize. Her most recent book, Vallen is als vliegen (Falling is Like Flying, 2019), was shortlisted for both the 2019 Bookspot Literature Prize and the 2020 Libris Literature Prize. The novel was named the best Dutch-language novel of 2019 by NRC Handelsblad and Humo. Uphoff was editor of the literary magazine De Revisor and board member and president of PEN Netherlands. As a screenwriter, she wrote the feature film screenplay Een Groot Geweld (Topkapi Films).

is a writer, actress and theatre artist. Her 2011 debut novel Zehra features a Turkish girl who is disowned because she is different. All her work poses one central question: how does one relate to those with different opinions without denying oneself? As an actress, Nazmiye Oral performed in Oesters van Nam Kee, Combat, Hertenkamp and Baantjer. She also toured the Netherlands, Belgium and US with Gesluierde Monologen (Veiled Monologues). She wrote one of these monologues, about a wife who loses contact with her husband. In 2010 Retour Hollands Spoor premiered, her second play for the Nationale Theatre, which she wrote with Gerardjan Rijnders. In 2020, she was a featured guest in prominent Dutch TV interview program Zomergasten (Summer Guests).

(Manchester, 1954) grew up in London and studied at Cambridge and Harvard. Since 1981 he has lived in Italy, where he teaches literary translation at IULM university, Milan. He is the author of fourteen novels including Europa (1997) which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. A corrosive exposé of EC hypocrisy, Europa is narrated by savagely unhappy Jerry Marlowe who, together with his former mistress and a bus full of feckless colleagues and students, under­takes a journey to Strasbourg to petition to save a job that Jerry does not believe in. In the 1990s Parks wrote two personal accounts of life in northern Italy, Italian Neighbours and An Italian Education (published in the Netherlands in 2002,), and some years later A Season with Verona, which set out to describe Italy through the way the country engages with football. All three books achieve an exhilarating anthropological precision while the narrative voice oscillates between an insider’s and an outsider’s point of view. His most recent book, Teach Us To Sit Still, is the thought-provoking and highly entertaining story of the author's quest to overcome ill health. Parks has also translated works by Machiavelli, Moravia, Tabucchi, Calvino and Calasso and writes regularly on translation issues. His Translating Style, an analysis of Italian translations of English modernists is used as teaching material in a number of universities. Parks also publishes in the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books.

(Montevideo, 1970) in her novels deals with the big issues of South America, the continent where she was born. Trujillo came to the Netherlands at age six. After the end of military rule she returned to her fatherland at age fifteen. There her first novella in Spanish was published and awarded a prize. She returned to the Netherlands to study at the Amsterdam film school. In 2002 her Dutch debut followed, De Bastaard van Mal Abrigo (The Bastard of Mal Abrigo), about two little boys from a poverty-stricken cocaine village, who eventually become president and minister of defence. This time she won the Marten Toonder/Geertjan Lubberhuizen prize. De terugkeer van Lupe García (The Return of Lupe García, 2009) is about a woman returning to her native country in South America to make a documentary about the guerrilla struggle there. This novel was nominated for the AKO Literature Prize and won the BNG Literature Prize. In 2014 she published De zangbreker, and her latest book Vrije radicalen (Free radicals) will appear January 2017.

(England, 1969) is an English writer with five books to his name. His breakthrough in the Netherlands came with the novel The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (2010). The book is situated in the 19th century and set in Japan, where Mitchell lived for eight years. The novel relates the adventures of some early 19th century East Indiamen. The main character is Jacob de Zoet, a humble clerk struggling with love. Mitchell was inspired by the diaries of the Dutch East Indiaman Hendrik Doeff, who ended up at the small island of Deshima, where he lived for a great number of years. What is striking is the descriptions of the Netherlands of the time, which make it hard to imagine that the book was written by a Briton. Earlier Mitchell wrote among others Cloud Atlas, Black Swan Green and Ghostwritten. These books were much acclaimed, not only in the Netherlands but worldwide.

(Rotterdam 1963 - Haarlem 2016) in 2010 published Grote Verwachtingen. Opgroeien in de letteren in 25 schema’s (Great Expectations. Growing up in Literature in 25 Charts). He did the same in Luisteren & cetera, (Listening etc) about 25 1970s pop albums. Somewhat earlier Macbet heeft echt geleefd (Macbeth Really Existed) appeared, on places where literary heroes used to live. In Verleden in verf (Past in Paint, 2011), Steinz sketches Dutch history in forty paintings. Steinz became an art editor with NRC Handelsblad in 1989. From 2005-2011 he headed the bookpages of that paper. Steinz studied ancient history and English. Earlier he wrote, among other books, Klein ABC van de wereldliteratuur (Concise ABC of world literature; 2008), Het web van de wereldliteratuur (The World Literature Web; 2007) and Lezen op locatie (Reading on Location; 2003), sixty maps on which he identifies where masterpieces of literature are set. In 2010 he published De Duivelskunstenaar (The wizard), a journey through Europe in search of Faust. Since 2012 Steinz has been head of the Dutch Literary Fund. He died in august 2016.

(Hongkong) Her debut, the novel Girl in Translation, almost immediately made it to the New York Times bestseller list. Even Oprah Winfrey called the debut of this Chinese American Dutch woman a must. In the Netherlands too her novel received a great deal of acclaim. In Almost Home Kwok describes the life of Kimberley Chang, a Chinese migrant girl. With her mother, a talented musician, she leaves Hongkong for Brooklyn, where she is exploited from the very start. They live in a slum, work themselves to death in a factory and in the meantime try desperately to master the language. Eventually, Kim succeeds in escaping poverty. As a young child Kwok moved from Hongkong to New York at an early age. She was five and didn’t understand a word of English. In the daytime she went to school, in the evening she worked in a factory. Kwok could escape poverty in the end because she was highly gifted. She got scholarships, which enabled her to study. She chose the sciences, went to work in a laboratory, and got to learn the Dutch poet and scientist Leo Vroman. Love brought her to the Netherlands. Before the publication of her successful debut – which was translated in more than ten languages – she taught English at the University of Leiden and worked as a translator.

(1977, New York) made her debut in 2010 with The Possessed, a book about her favourite Russian writers, including Tolstoy, Pushkin, Dostoyevsky and Chekhov. In pursuit of literary truth, Batuman repeats Pushkin’s wanderings in the Caucasus, and travels to Tolstoy’s ancestral estate to investigate whether the great man might in fact have been murdered. The search leads to digressions on a wide range of subjects, from literary mores and translations to questions of love, songs by The Smiths, and the making of the film King Kong. By following the footsteps of her literary heroes, Batuman succeeds in bringing them to life and giving them a place in today’s world. Batuman,born in New York of Turkish parents, received a doctorate in comparative literature from Stanford University. She frequently writes for the New Yorker. Her essays are striking because of their fresh, comical, yet solid style. Her first book appeared in Dutch translation in 2010. She is the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award (2007) and a Whiting Writers’ Award (2010).

(The Netherlands, 1941) is a satirist and writer. Already in his school days he formed a cabaret duo with Wim de Bie, who died in 2023. They gained great fame, influence and popularity as satirists in The Netherlands, first on the radio and, as of 1965, on TV. From the mid-1960s onward, Van Kooten published works such as Treitertrends, short satirical pieces in the Haagse Post, and bestselling short-story collections. The successful collections Modermismen and Meer modermismen followed in the 1980s. In 1998, Van Kooten stopped appearing on television. His children's book Het Schaampaard (The Shameless Horse) was published in 1999. The anthologies Karrevrachten pennevruchten (2017) and Sterk verdund (2018) are describe as "witty and pointed, with an insane pleasure in language, touching and awkward in doses, but above all, irresistibly funny."

(Amsterdam, 1943) his career as a writer and journalist is determined by two big passions: pop music and America. In the late 1960s Donkers belonged to the top of Dutch pop journalism. He was a critic for the Volkskrant and worked for Hitweek. In those days he started making programmes for VPRO radio. First mainly pop programmes but later he worked on the foreign desk as well. He left for America early 1970s to report the elections for VPRO and various magazines and newspapers. Those stories were later collected in Amerika, Amerika. In 1974 he and others formed the first editorial staff of the literary magazine Revisor. The next decade he wrote first and foremost travelogues from Africa, Asia and Latin America. In 2006 Mijn muziek (My music) appeared, an overview of his work as a pop journalist including a cd with recordings of his own.

(1965) is a prominent psychiatrist, neuroscientist, writer and theatre actor. Born in Flanders, he works and lives in The Netherlands. He studied philosophy and medicine in Belgium, graduated in psychiatry from Utrecht University, and worked as head of anxiety disorders of UMC Utrecht. He is a professor at the University of Amsterdam and department head of psychiatry at AMC Amsterdam. Denys developed Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), a method to master compulsive thoughts. In his book Angstparadox (Anxiety Paradox, 2016) he states: "If there is a single word that holds the essence of the world in which we live now, of what guides us and of what holds us back, it is anxiety." Denys writes and acts in theatre monologues, among them Van angst naar vrijheid (From Anxiety to Freedom, 2016), which is "about the sense and nonsense of our contemporary culture of anxiety".

(1983) is the author of a critically acclaimed body of novels and essays, deputy editor of weekly news magazine De Groene Amsterdammer and one of the regular creators of the podcast Boeken FM. He made his debut in 2010 with Clausewitz. De Vries has been on the editorial staff of De Groene Amsterdammer since 2007, first as art editor, then as book editor and, since 2019, as deputy editor-in-chief. His publications include the novel De republiek (The Republic), the essay collection Vechtmemoires (Fight Memoires), the novel Oude meesters (Old Masters, winner Gouden Boekenuil) and the virtuoso Hogere machten (Higher Powers), a novel in which a love affair from the 1930s burns through turbulent decades while the world changes fast. In 2023, De Vries received the Frans Kellendonk Prize for his entire oeuvre.

(The Netherlands, 1959) has been writing about the expectations men and women have of each other and of life since her debut novel Bloem (Flower). Her novel Atoomgeheimen (Nuclear Secrets is about intimacy and the loss of ideals. She has been called the chronicler of contemporary womanhood; she explores her themes further in her novels De vertrouweling (The Confidant) and Zachte riten (Soft Rites). Pruis works at De Groene Amsterdammer weekly as a literary editor and columnist, writing essays on topics as diverse as humour, shyness and greed. She received the Jan Hanlo Prize for her collection of essays Kus me, straf me, and the J. Greshoff Prize for essayism with Genoeg nu over mij. For her columns, collected in Oplossingen (Solutions), she received the J. Heldring Prize. In Boos Meisje. Over vrouwen en frictie (Angry Girl. About Women and Friction), she writes about the split in which girls and women find themselves, including portraits of writers she admires such as Renate Rubinstein and Vivian Gornick. Her recently published confrontational novel Huiswerk (Homework) is about white privilege and the tension between employer and employee.

(Curacao, 1946), born to Surinamese parents, was an editor/newsreader on Dutch TV (1985-2009) and the Dutch World Service (1983-2008). She had roles in theatre productions such as Ajax, Hemel boven Berlijn (Sky Above Berlin), Medea, The Vagina Monologues and De Afscheidsmonologen (The Farewell Monologues) as well as writing plays herself. In addition, she regularly hosts debates and writes columns. In 2009 she received the Cosmic Award for her advocacy for more diversity in Dutch media. A memoir of her youth in Curaçao, De Antillen en ik (The Antilles and Me), was chronicled by John Leerdam. In 2018 she played the role of storyteller in The Passion.

(Bombay, 1981) is a literary jack-of-all-trades. Van der Kwast discovered his writing talent in the first year of gymnasium (grammar school) when he started writing plays. In his final exam year he made his debut with a short story in the literary magazine Passionate, becoming its editor-in-chief three months later. In 2001 he and Jorg Schellekens started the multicultural and interdisciplinary literary stage Nur Literatur, dubbed by Tommy Wieringa ‘the best literary festival in the Netherlands’. As Yusef el Halal he and various fellow writers published the collection of short stories Man zoekt vrouw om hem gelukkig te maken (Man seeks woman to make him happy) in 2003, called ‘the funniest debut’ of 2004 by Het Parool. In February 2005 his own debut followed, under his own name, Soms zijn dingen mooier als er mensen klappen, (Sometimes things are more beautiful when people start clapping) described by NRC Handelsblad as ‘heartrendingly beautiful’. In 2010 the romanticised story of his Indian mother appeared, Mama Tandoori that was nominated for the NS Publieksprijs 2010. Under the pseudonym Stieger Sloot he published the absurdist novel Stand-in in 2007.

(Hoorn, 1968) is a journalist who started his career at local radio station Amsterdam FM; after that he became editor of De Digitale Stad, hosted AT5's newshow and talkshows. Then he returned to making radio: first at BNR Nieuwsradio and afterwards at VPRO's programme De Avonden which he presented every Monday and Friday. Since 2015 Van Kan is radio news show host at national public broadcaster NOS; he also can be heard as voice over during TV news shows. Spring 2016, he hosted literary TV programme Boeken. Next to this, Van Kan is active as editor of literary magazines. Until 2007 he was part of the editorial board of De Tweede Ronde. Afterwards he moved to literary magazine Tirade. Together with Wim Brands he is co-editor of Nederland. Een objectief zelfportret in 51 voorwerpen (The Netherlands. An objective autoportrait in 51 objects), a collection of texts about typically Dutch objects by the same number of writers.

(1959) is a journalist, director and scriptwriter. Right now IJzermans is editor-in-chief of the VPRO radio programme De Avonden (The Evenings). Music lovers have known her for twenty years as programme maker and host with VPRO radio. In programmes like De Wilde Wereld, Villa 65 and Nozems à gogo she shared her love for alternative pop music both enthusiastically and smartly with listeners. She also made various documentaries, depicting the daily life of among others singer Nick Cave soberly yet beautifully. She wrote several scripts, such as Zoet brood (Sweet bread) for tv. For the series Het Geluk Van Nederland (Dutch happiness) she made various episodes on education and child-abuse. Her 2005 script for the tv film Burgers/Reizigers (Citizens/Travellers) was awarded the Geneva Europa prize.

(Nijmegen, NL, 1960) writes essays, short stories and plays, and is a columnist with the daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad. He published the novels Laatste woorden (Last words) and Suez and received the Henriëtte Roland Holst Prize in 2005. In 2011's Moeten wij van elkaar houden, het populisme ontleed (Do We Have to Love One Another? Populism Dissected) Heijne shows how globalisation and individualism pave the way for populism. Angst en schoonheid (Fear and Beauty) was published in 2013, an essay about Dutch writer Louis Couperus, whom Heijne admires. In the same year his documentary about Couperus was broadcast. In 2015 he hosted the five-part documentary De volmaakte mens (The Perfect Human). In 2016 his essay Onbehagen – nieuw licht op de beschaafde mens (Discontent - new light on civilized man) was published. In 2017 Heijne received the P.C. Hooft Award for his essayistic works.

(Netherlands, 1958) has produced and presented the VPRO radio programme OVT since 2002, a two-hour show about the historical roots of current events as well as newly released historical books, films, commemorations, and anything else related to history. The show features live interviews, reportage, columns and a weekly documentary during the last half hour. He was already linked to OVT since 1992 as a programmer and previously freelanced for other national Dutch broadcasters such as VARA and IKON.

(Hengelo, NL 1962) is a radio journalist and a writer. His most recently published book is De Wadden (The Frisian islands; 2013), a poetic history of the Frisian islands. His book of short stories Brutus heeft honger (Brutus is hungry, 2011) was nominated for the AKO Literature Prize. Eating being the leitmotiv, Deen jumps through world history. The forty-four historical stories are fine miniatures of scarcely one and a half page long. After having studied Dutch in Groningen Deen worked for Radio Noord for some years. His radio columns from those days were collected in two publications. Since 2001 Deen has been programme maker with VPRO radio, hosting the historical radio programme OVT. A number of historical documentaries which he made for VPRO radio has been published as an audiobook. The radio series De lange weg naar Darwin (Long road to Darwin) appeared on cd and as a podcast. Deen was programme coordinator of the Winternachten Festival between 2009 and 2011.

(Amsterdam, 1971) travelled to Egypt at age 24 to do research among Egyptian contemporaries. That not only earned him a degree in religious anthropology, but also his debut, Een goede man slaat soms zijn vrouw (A Good Man Sometimes Hits his Wife). It was an instant success and Volkskrant and Radio 1 Journaal asked him to become a correspondent in the Arab World. Later he also worked for NRC Handelsblad and NOS. During his stay he wrote Een tipje van de sluier (A Corner of the Veil) and after his return to the Netherlands in 2003 Het zijn net mensen (People Like Us), on his experiences as a correspondent. Meanwhile Luyendijk has shifted his attention elsewhere: Dutch politics and sustainability. His latest book, Je hebt het niet van mij, maar…Een maand aan het Binnenhof (Don’t mention my name, but… A Month in Parliament), caused a great deal of controversy in Dutch journalist circles. Joris Luyendijk took a closer look at the bell-jar world of Dutch politics. With some amazement he describes how close the link between journalists, lobbyists, public relations officials and politicians is. In 2006 and 2007 Luyendijk hosted the tv interview programme Zomergasten (Summer Guests) and in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 Wintergasten (Winter Guests). Since March 2010 he is one of the regular hosts of the late night radio current affairs programme Met het oog op morgen (With a View to Tomorrow).

(Netherlands, 1971) wrote six collections of short stories, inluding 2019's Nederzettingen (Settlements), as well as the novels Nest (2010) and Stille grond (Silent Ground, 2017). She won the 2008 BNG New Literature Prize for her early work and the 2013 Anna Blaman Prize for her oevre. Van Hassel also writes non-fiction and is a strong promotor of the short story genre; together with Annelies Verbeke she compiled the short-story anthology Naar de stad (Toward the City, 2012). Both her novels and short stories describe people struggling to get a grip on their lives. Van Hassel studied drama and cultural history, was a dramaturge with theatre company ’t Barre Land from 1996-2006, and is a member of the writers' collective Fixdit, which aims to raise awareness of gender inequality in literature and expand the literary canon with work by important female authors.

Go to website Sanneke van Hassel
Instagram: @sannekevanhassel

(Morocco, 1975) is an award-winning writer, poet, playwright and curator. His 1996 debut, Bruiloft aan zee (Wedding By the Sea), was an immediate success. His second novel, De langverwachte (The Long-awaited) won him the prestigious 2003 Libris Literature Award. Benali's subjects vary, but sports and the migrant who never really feels at home are recurring themes. He has written novels about his great passion of running, about his travels, and about migrants' cultural identity (Bad Boy). His work has been published internationally. Recent books include the novel Paradijsvogel boven Hoge Woerd (Bird of Paradise over Hoge Woerd, 2022) and Het andere verhaal (The Other Story, 2022), an essay about his research into 75 years of modern Moroccan art.

(Hulshorst, NL, 1951) received the Anne Vondeling Award for political journalism in 2008, owing to her sharp analyses of social problems. She is a journalist in the widest sense of the word. Besides being an editor and columnist with the NRC Handelsblad newspaper, she makes frequent appearances on radio and TV. In 2007 she debuted as a novelist with Maak jezelf maar klaar (Go Get Yourself Off), in which one of the characters from Harry Mulisch's The Discovery of Heaven figures as a main character. Etty obtained her Ph.D. with distinction from Utrecht University with a biography of Henriëtte Roland Holst, Liefde is heel het leven niet (Love Is Not All of Life, 1996). Her newspaper columns appeared in four different books. Her reviews were compiled in Dames gaan voor - Van Hella Haasse to Connie Palmen (Ladies First: From Hella Haasse to Connie Palmen, 1999). Etty is a special lecturer in Literary Criticism at the Free University in Amsterdam, and is now at work on a biography of the late Dutch poet and songwriter Willem Wilmink.

(Doetinchem, NL, 1958) is a highly versatile writer who constantly changes up his work. Sometimes his tone is serious, as in Schaduwkind (Shadow Child, 2003), about the death of his young daughter. This bestseller was translated into more than fifteen languages. In 2009's  J. Kessels, The Novel he channels an altogether different voice. A semi-parody of the hard-boiled crime novel, it features one of Thomése’s favourite recurring characters, J. Kessels, living it up a he smokes cigarettes and devours deep-fried meatballs. The book was made into a film in 2015, starring Frank Lammers and Fedja van Huêt. De onderwaterzwemmer (The Underwater Swimmer, 2015) about the life Tin, who as a child loses his father on a dark night in wartime, shows that only man himself can alter his destiny. In 1991 Thomése won the AKO Literature Prize for Zuidland (Southland), and in 2012, the Bob den Uyl Prize for Grillroom Jeruzalem.

(New York, 1970) made an instant name for himself internationally in 2006 with his debut, the novel In the Country of Men, nominated for the Man Booker Prize and the Guardian First Book Award. It is a gripping story about a boy who at an early age gets into contact with the cruel and fearful life in the Libya of Gadaffi. The debut novel was translated into 26 languages and won six international literary awards including the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Matar draws from personal experience. The son of a Libyan diplomat, Matar lived in the US for three years before returning to Tripoli. In 1979 the Gaddafi regime accused his father of subversive activities and the family had to leave Libya. The family lived in exile in Cairo for a number of years, where Matar finished his secondary school. He then left for London to study architecture. In 1990 his father was abducted in Cairo and disappeared without a trace. Essays by Matar have appeared in among others The Independent, The Guardian, The Times and The New York Times. A new novel by Matar, Anatomy of a Disappearance will be published in March 2011 in the UK.

(Nijmegen, 1946) is a renowned columnist for NRC Handelsblad. Many readers start with the back page of the paper, where Abrahams has had his own niche for eleven years, entitled Dag door de weeks (A day in the week). Writers like Maarten ’t Hart, Ronald Giphart and Jan Mulder are fans of his. Abrahams regularly finds his inspiration in what he hears daily on terraces and in restaurants in his beloved Amsterdam. But he also writes emphatically and with self-mockery about personal subjects. In his columns he likes to elaborate on family affairs and has done that so often that for many NRC readers he has almost become a member of the family. His columns have been collected in among others Familie, wat moet je ermee? (Family, what to do with them?) Barre dagen, Liefde en ander leed (Hard days, love and assorted misery) and Mijn vader vond het mooi geweest (My dad had had enough). Other books include Ben je onze trouwdag vergeten? (Have you forgotten our wedding day?) and the successful Katten & ander gespuis (Cats and assorted rabble).

(Nederhorst den Berg, 1958) has been working with VPRO for twenty-five years. In that time she has gained wide experience in the production and presentation of both radio and tv programmes. She was involved in Welingelichte kringen (Well-informed circles), Ischa, Het Gebouw, De Ochtenden, Noorderlicht and the political tv programme Het Buitenhof. Tessel Blok is Dieuwertje Blok’s younger sister. The two sisters were brought up on a love for the trade as their mother Henny Fontaine was editor with KRO, a singer and elocutionist. Their father Dick Blok was professor of medieval history and grandmother Stella Fontaine was a well-known cabaret artiste. At present Tessel Blok hosts the daily radio programme Villa VPRO on Radio I.

(1958) dares to risk his neck as a Russian film maker with critical documentaries and films on tricky political issues in his native country. His documentary Russian Lessons on the one-sided news coverage of the Russo-Georgian war in 2008 earned him the title Man of the Year 2009 in Georgia. Owing to the sharp criticism expressed on the Russian government and the army the film could only be shown in Russia to friends from the opposition. His film Rebellion, the Litvinenko Case from 2007 is a indictment against the Russian state security service FSB, who have been behind various bomb attacks and hijackings, allegedly carried out in order to keep Putin in the saddle. Nekrasov did various film and cultural studies in Russia, Paris and Bristol. In 1985 he was Andrej Tarkovsky’s right hand man in the shooting and editing of Sacrifice (Offret). Subsequently he made a number of documentaries and tv programmes. His first short from 1993, Springing Lenin, won the UNESCO prize in Cannes. The long feature following it, Love is as Strong as Death, won prizes too. Nekrasov is also a playwright and works as a stage director.

(Amsterdam, 1972) while still a student of Dutch language and literature set up Bunker Hill with some friends. This literary magazine attracted attention because of its pert approach and was incorporated by publishing house Thomas Rap. Henderson is a literary all-rounder. For many years he was active as an editor with De Bezige Bij/Thomas Rap, Nijgh & Van Ditmar and Nieuw Amsterdam Publishers, as well as being an editor of the literary pop magazine WAHWAH. This year he settled as an independent editor and writer. He writes reviews for the daily paper Het Parool and De Poëziekrant and writes for the Dutch weekly De Groene Amsterdammer, among others. In addition he is a literary scout for De Bezige Bij/Thomas Rap and takes charge of the ‘backoffice’ of the Amsterdam City Poet, F. Starik. Henderson regularly hosts literary events.

(Amsterdam, 1981) - writer, poet, and journalist – gained attention in 2009 with her first poetry collection Als Mozes had doorgevraagd. In 2012, her debut novel De laatste Aedema was published. In her work, she explores how we can think differently about ourselves and the world. Since 2019, she has written about how space can help us see the Earth from a new perspective, in a.o. her essay Wat is ruimte waard. The theatre play based on this book, Maankoorts, premiered in June 2024. Since 2019, Van Heemstra has been a space correspondent at De Correspondent. She creates podcasts (including Sør, Stadsastronaut en Als geschiedenis in je opstaat) and recently conducted research on the value of the night. In 2025 she performs her stage play Observaties van een theaterrat.

(Iraq, 1971) fled his country in 1998 after completing architecture studies, was given asylum in the Netherlands and settled there legally in 2007. Since then he has published poetry, novels and collections of his columns. He received the 2000 El Hizjra literature award and the 2011 Literature Prize of the European Union. In 2013 he published Liever niet, antwoordt de liefde (Maybe Not, Was Love's Reply), an anthology of refreshing love poetry. His novel Hoe ik talent voor het leven kreeg (Two Blankets, Three Sheets) tells of his experiences as an asylum seeker in the Netherlands. Al Galidi published the short story collection Duizend-en-een-nachtmerries (A Thousand and One Nightmares) in 2017 and a poem collection Neem de titel serieus (Take the title seriously) in 2018.

(Coevorden, 1957) worked as a correspondent in Paris and Moscow for among others Dutch Radio 1 Journaal and the weekly Elsevier before being elected in 2004 as a Dutch labour party politician in the European Parliament. In 2009 he was Dutch labour party leader in the elections for the European Parliament. In the Euro-parliament he is a member of the development aid and human rights commissions. He chairs the delegation for the relations with Afghanistan. In his career as a politician the former Eastern bloc continues to play a role. In 2007 he was successful in his resistance against the projected construction of the Via Baltica through the Rospuda Valley, a unique nature reserve. In 2004 he was an observer in the presidential elections in Ukraine and in 2010 headed the EU observers’ mission to the elections in Ethiopia. Berman was at drama school in Maastricht before deciding to study psychology in 1983. His maternal grandfather, Marinus van der Goes van Naters, was the first parliamentary leader for the Dutch labour party in the Lower House.

(Morocco, 1973) is a journalist, columnist, translator, researcher and producer. She publishes in various media (including Dutch national daily newspaper NRC and women's magazine Linda); runs her own online magazine for culture lovers, Aicha Qandisha. She compiled a story collection about Arab women, Achter de sluier (Behind the Veil, 1999); 2013 saw the publication of her book Arabieren kijken (Looking at Arabs), about "ordinary" people in the Arab world. She made TV programs for various broadcasters, including the documentary series Seks en de Zonde (Sex and Sin). Together with Michelin-starred chef Soenil Bahadoer, she wrote the culinary books Spicy Chef (2020) and Streetfood (2022). She published two further books in 2022: Een koffer vol citroenen (A Suitcase Full of Lemons), a requiem for and portrait of her mother, and Arbeidsmigranten in Nederland (Migrant Labourers in the Netherlands).

A trio with Peer de Graaf. Peer began in 1978 as ‘Meneertje Peertje’ (Mr Pear) in the theatre. Meneertje Peertje is still active, but meanwhile Peer de Graaf has grown into an adult actor, cabaret artist, musician, host and improviser. De Graaf not only performs in the theatre, but is also active in education and health care. Together with Thijs Borsten he forms the duo Trapperdetrap which applies itself to grown-up songs for children. Every CD features a special guest star, like Mathilde Santing, Wende Snijders and Denise Jannah. The aim of the duo is to make good music which also addresses non-parents. De Graaf is an all-round performer who sings with the greatest ease, cracks jokes and tells stories. He has been doing this for a great number of years in bands, in theatres, during De Parade and neighbourhood parties.

(Wieringerwaard, 1962) is a master in describing Dutch landscapes with grazing sheep and cackling geese. He grew up as a farmer’s son in the northern most part of the province North Holland. In addition to being a historical linguist he is a gardener and a skating coach. In 2006 his debut Boven is het stil (The Twin) was an instant success. This novel about a farmer’s son who waits for the death of his father so that he can lead a life of his own, Bakker received the Gouden Ezelsoor, the Debutantenprijs (prize for new talent) and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Boven is het stil was sold to almost thirty countries, has been adapted for the stage and is now turned into a movie by Nanouk Leopold. Bakker’s second country life novel Juni (June) of 2009 was again an international success. Spring 2010 his third Novel De Omweg (The Detour) appeared, about a woman who leaves her husband and travels to Wales. Columns about animals Bakker wrote for the Dutch weekly De Groene Amsterdammer have been collected, together with some of his weblogs in Ezel, schaap en tureluur (Donkey, sheep and redshank; 2009).

(1946) confesses to a deep-rooted fascination with the Dutch royal family. ‘Our stories are more beautiful than those of the English royals. Certainly those coming from the 19th century, which tend to be forgotten,’ he said when his history play De Troon (The Throne) was televised in March 2010. Beukenkamp has written some one hundred scripts for the theatre, film and television. Most recently Majesteit (Majesty), a feature film with Carine Crutzen as Queen Beatrix. His tv-drama De Kroon (The Crown) about the Zorreguieta affair won him a Golden Calf in 2005. Beukenkamp was recipient of numerous other awards, including the Lira prize, the Prix d’Italia and another four Golden Calf nominations. In 2003 Beukenkamp published De verborgen schrijver (The hidden writer), which was updated and published again in 2009. This handbook goes into writing dialogue, the struggle between form and content and is interspersed with real-life anecdotes. Beukenkamp teaches at the Scriptschool, the Dutch Film Academy, the University of Utrecht and the Theaterschool Amsterdam.

(The Netherlands, 1975) is a writer of novels, poems, stories, essays, and screenplays. His work is characterized by the compelling way in which he brings characters involved in historical injustices to life. His debut novel Armin (2008) is about children adrift after World War II. In Ik was Amerika (I Was America, 2010), a Dutch prisoner of war in World War II befriends a farm worker in a camp in the US. Decades later, he seeks him out again. Peek received the BNG Literature Prize and the F. Bordewijk Prize for this work. Godin, held (Goddess, Hero, 2014) is a candid novel about the mysterious and all-too-human nature of love. In his pamphlet Verzet! Pleidooi voor communisme (Resistance! A Plea for Communism, 2015), he undermines decades of capitalist indoctrination. His novel A.D. (2021) tells about the events and hardships aboard one of the first seaships in the 16th century to present-day Indonesia and the arrival there. In 2025, his poetry collection Orang/oetan was published.

(Odessa, 1966) plays folk music, combining electronics with authentic instruments from all corners of the globe: from the two-string dombra from Kazachstan to the nej, a Turkish flute. In addition he is an accomplished throat singer. OMFO stands for Our Man From Odessa and is the brainchild of German Popov who in 1989 moved from Odessa to Amsterdam in order to enjoy the freedom that was to be found there then. In the quintet he now performs with, Fay Lovsky plays amongst others the musical saw and the theremin, the only musical instrument played without being touched. According to Fay Lovsky Popov’s knowlegde of oriental music is phenomenal. For his CDs he travelled to remote regions in Kazachstan to the Carpathians in order to record indigenous music. OMFO’s repertoire takes tearjerkers from countries around the Black Sea as a point of departure, but enters into cross-overs with Arab influences, pop, jazz and Far Eastern sounds.

(Bloemendaal, 1978) was called “the least boring Dutch travel writer” by the late Kees Fens. And indeed he pulls out all the stops to treat his readers to surprising stories. For his work as a Russia correspondent he travelled across the former Eastern bloc in search of special stories. After his history studies Brandt Corstius worked for the tv talkshow Barend and Van Dorp for two years. Meanwhile he travelled to Russia on a regular basis and in 2005 he decided to settle in Moscow as a correspondent, writing for the Dutch daily Trouw and the Belgian daily De Standaard. In 2008 and 2009 he made two highly acclaimed series about the daily lives of the Russians for VPRO television, From Moscow to Magadan and From Moscow to Murmansk. Brandt Corstius wrote two books, Rusland voor gevorderden (Russia for Advanced Students), on his often absurd life in Moscow and travels through Russia, and Kleine landjes (Small countries), on obscure regions and communities in the Caucasus. In the summer of 2010 he hosted the tv progamme Zomergasten (Summer guests).

(Netherlands, 1955) won much praise for his books about the njai, women in the Dutch East Indies who lived in concubinage and had children with Dutch men. He debuted in 2006 with the semi-autobiographical novel De ogen van Solo (Solo’s Eyes), dealing with the rootlessness of people from the Dutch East Indies. Gebleekte ziel (Bleached Soul, 2012) is a novel based on historical fact about the son of a Balinese nobleman sent to the Netherlands to be "bleached", to erase his indigenous identity. Daar werd wat gruwelijks verricht (Something Horrible Happened There) is a non-fiction book about the unknown history of slavery in the Dutch East Indies. In 2018 he published the documentary novel Het kind met Japanse ogen (The Child with Japanese Eyes), a personal quest and historical investigation into the life of his father.

(Tilburg, 1960) won the Dick Scherpenzeel prize in 2008 with Het Verdriet van Ambon. Een geschiedenis van de Molukken (The sorrow of Ambon. A history of the Moluccas). The jury decided it had seldom seen ‘such a sound example of travel journalism giving meaning. In her acceptance speech Lingsma criticised the media, who are less and less interested in foreign journalism. Later her book was published in English. After having graduated in Dutch language and literature and communication studies Lingsma first worked with Inter Press Sevice and NPS radio. In 1999 she left for Asia to report on the referendum in East Timor and the war on the Moluccas for among others Amnesty International, the Dutch daily paper AD, Elsevier and CNN. From 2001 to 2002 she worked as a public relations official on the constituent assembly of East Timor. In addition to working as a freelance journalist for the BBC, VPRO and the Dutch weekly Vrij Nederland, she now studies criminology at the Free University in Amsterdam.

Erik van Diemen is one of the experts on Latin & Caribbean music in the Netherlands. He loves playing a mix of Caribbean styles. But let him handle a completely Cuban night. ‘As long as the dance floor is full of happy people’, he says. His knowledge of music is staggering. The most widely divergent genres of salsa, zouk, soca, merengue, compas, pambiche to kaseko hold no secrets for him. DJ Erik has been playing in the past ten years on numerous occasions, wherever the ‘urban world groove’ takes him. In De Melkweg and El Centro he is a regular guest, occasionally playing at Club Caribbean in Amsterdam, the Rotterdam Summer Carnival, Café Local Antwerp, Cantinero Amsterdam and in the Amsterdam Tropentheater (Tropics Theatre). Erik is the owner of Most Wanted, an online cd-shop specialised in South American musical styles.

(Amsterdam, 1952) has been a pioneer and expert on danceable world music for 25 years. He regularly plays music at parties, festivals and concerts. If he isn’t touring with his records, he makes radio programmes and is active as a journalist. His expert knowledge ranges from Congolese soukous to Brazilian baile funk and from Ethiopian jazz to Cuban timba. Springer compiles the Dutch Radio 5 programme 'Dichtbij Nederland' (Close to the Netherlands). He also writes music reviews for the third world monthly Onze Wereld and pop magazine Revolver’s Lust for Life.

(Amsterdam, 1963) has been editor-in-chief of the weekly De Groene Amsterdammer since 1 June 2008. Earlier she worked there as a literary editor. From 2000-2004 she headed the board of editors of the weekly Vrij Nederland and was a publisher with Meulenhoff publishers. She contributed regularly to the magazine Opinio and the daily newspaper Trouw. Xandra Schutte did communication studies and Dutch language and literature in Amsterdam. In 1999 she published Maskerade (Masquerade), a collection of eleven essays on the fading borders of the male and the female in culture and society. In 2008 Weg uit Nederland (Getting out of the Netherlands) appeared, a correspondence with Sarah Verroen on life in the French countryside. For some years Schutte was on the panel of the tv programme Zeeman met boeken and OBA live.

(Beemster, 1964) as a child listened spellbound to the stories of adults about World War II. It didn’t come as a surprise that he decided to become a war correspondent after his journalism study. Since then he has visited some thirty places of conflict. Karskens never goes as an ‘embedded’ journalist but insists on his independence. That’s why he received the honorary prize “Journalist for Peace” of the Humanistisch Vredesberaad (Humanist Peace Council). The jury praised him for being ‘one of the few’ in the news coverage on Iraq and Afghanistan who declines to see everything through western eyes but shows how the actions of the west form the breeding ground for embitterment in the Islamic world against the West. In addition he was recipient in 2008 of the Clara Meijer-Wichmann medal of the League for Human Rights and J’Accuse. Karskens wrote several books, Reizen langs de frontlijn (travelling along the frontline), “A handbook for journalists, relief workers and adventurers”. In his latest book Rebellen met een reden (Rebels with a cause) he probes what it is that people inspires in choosing the life of a rebel – from deserter Poncke Princen to FARC-rebel Tanja Nijmeijer. Karskens worked as a freelancer for fifteen years, worked part-time for Nieuwe Revu and now works with daily newspaper De Pers.

(Libanon, 1956) broke through internationally in 2004 with her debut novel B as in Beirut. The story is told by four different women, who have to learn to cope with the consequences of the civil war. The most penetrating is the story of Warda, who goes crazy with grief and guilt-feelings because her father dies in a bomb attack and she loses her little daughter on top of that. In her second book Wild Mulberries (2008) Iman Humaydan describes life in a small Lebanese village in the 1930s. The main character Sarah is a young girl dreaming of a better future and a meeting with her mother, who fled the village and its patriarchal rules when Sarah was small. Iman Humaydan likewise grew up in a small Lebanese village, but in a tolerant family. Her third novel Hayawat Okhra (Other Lives) came out in 2010. It recounts the life of a woman coming back home after so many years of exile to rediscover her city and past. Hayawat Okhra will be published in English and French by the end of 2011. She studied sociology in Beirut and works as a researcher, journalist, and in launching and implementing development projects in Lebanese rural areas.

(Zeist, NL, 1973) was a comedian and worked in advertising before writing his 2003 debut De Duiker (The Diver), which recreates a striking portrait of an era through the distinctive speech of three students. The romantic tragedy Aphinar followed in 2007, in which Knol alternates between angry interior monologues and a sensual and tarnished love story. His major novel Alles kan kapot (Everything Kaputt) was published in 2011, about the fates of three generations of a family. The book owes a literary debt to Céline, Woolf, and David Foster Wallace (among others), but above all it shows off an authentic and innovative voice. Anything is possible in Knol's work. The dead can rise from their ashes and demand to regain their position in a book. Knol also likes to play with language and style. The Dutch Literary Fund chose Alles kan kapot as one of the best Dutch books of 2011. Besides novels, Knol writes short stories, essays, blogs, and criticism, and is an editor with the literary magazine Tirade. He's currently at work on a new novel.

(1942) according to the Dutch weekly Vrij Nederland belongs to the ‘the twelve greatest thinkers of the Netherlands’. The emeritus philosophy professor has always combined scientific work with social debate. In his voluminous oeuvre Achterhuis highlights themes like economic scarcity, development aid, the environment and technology. He likes to call his work current affairs analysis as he links philosophy to an extensive research into dossiers, reports and newspaper articles. In 2003 Achterhuis won the Pierre Bayle prize for cultural criticism and in 2009 the Socrates Challenge Cup for Met alle geweld (With all possible violence) in which he looks into the role of violence in our society. One of his most celebrated works is De markt van welzijn en geluk (The market of welfare and happiness; 1979) in which he posits that welfare aid does not necessary lead to progress as it creates dependence. His last book, Utopie van de vrije markt (Utopia of the free market), appeared in 2010. With the credit crisis as immediate cause, Achterhuis shows that there is indeed an ideology behind free market thought.

(1979) is a philosopher, lawyer, writer, trainer and programme maker. In his latest book Welkom in Youtopia (Welcome in Youtopia; 2010) he sketches the fading away of the borders between the real and virtual worlds by the ever increasing technological possibilities. People collect identities by the dozen as career tiger, sportsman, lover and what have you. Van der Veen wonders how many identities one person can take on. In this book he examines if the use of the various identities adds excess value to real life. In 2009 Van der Veen got his Ph.D. in Delft with a thesis on the relationship between project developers in New York, Amsterdam and London. He also organised debating programmess for De Balie and the Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam, hosting most of them himself. Van der Veen regularly contributes to daily newspapers such as NRC Handelsblad and De Volkskrant.

(1979) is a musical jack-of-all-trades, who has been singing and playing her own songs since she was eleven years old. She accompanies herself on such varied instruments as the piano, banjo, ukelele and guitar. One of her latest big projects is Muzikaal Verhaal (Musical Story), a series of family shows in the Rotterdam Doelen concert hall. She composed the music, played by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, but wrote the stories as well, read by Anneke Blok and Wilfried de Jong, among others. In September 2010 her first solo album Lege plaatsen in de stad (Empty places in town) appeared, with seemingly innocent songs about daily life. Together with Ellen Kromhout she made PrivéCarré, a mini performance in a self-constructed theatre on wheels. With it she performed at Oerol and the Amsterdam Fringefestival in the summer of 2010. One part of the duo Kirke she won the big prize of the Netherlands in 1997 in the category singer-songwriter. Lotte van Dijck composed film music for amongst others Sextet by Eddy Terstal and Jongens zijn we (We are boys) by Tomas Kaan.

is convincing proof that swinging Afrojazz can also come from the Netherlands. Only in 2009, six years after its foundation, the band made its debut on CD with Afro What!? Afrobeat, jazz, griot-music from Mali and funk melt here into a delicious massive sound. The Gambian Dutchman Ebou Gaye Mada, of Ifang Bondi, plays percussion and raps. Michiel Bel’s and Frank Gones’ guitar-playing is enormously propelling on the one hand but at the same time you hear beautifully screeching solos. But the sound of this band is first and foremost defined by the three-strong mighty wind section who form the frontline of the band. Tenor sax David Beukers, Job Chajes of the Amsterdam Klezmer Band on baritone sax and founder Thijs van Milligen himself on alto, make for a deliciously swinging gang. Drummer Benoit Martiny, percussionist Ruben Montes and Merijn van Wijdeven on double bass take care of the finishing touch. The band have played on many stages and festivals in the past year. It is impossible to stand still or remain sitting, there’s a party everywhere.

EPI (1968, Ulaanbaatar) with his singing and music sustains the traditions of his native country Mongolia in a modern fashion. As a virtuoso throat singer and player of the morin khur, a typically Mongolian two-string horsehair instrument, Epi, born Enk Jargai, is extremely versatile. He cherishes the age-old nomad songs from his fatherland, but doesn’t mind sharing the stage with jazz musicians or hiphoppers. Epi grew up in a small village with Mongolian nomads, but because of his penchant for music he ended up at the conservatory. In 1993 he played in Germany for the first time, which is now his adopted country. Epi performs worldwide as a soloist or with other musicians. So far he has released one solo-cd, entitled Hoirr Öngö, which means ‘between two worlds’.

(Amsterdam, 1972) was already known as a poet-performer before a syllable letter of hers had been published. In 1997 she became well-known nationally through her performances at big literary festivals. Her debut Genoeg gedicht over de liefde vandaag (Done enough love poetry for today) followed only two years later and was nominated instantly for the NPS-Cultuurprijs. Her second collection of poems, Koffers Zeelucht (Trunks full of sea air; 2003) was awarded twice. By the end of 2008 Loper van Licht (Light walker) appeared. Peeters aspires to give poetry a bigger role in society. Early 2009 she participated in the election of Dutch Poet Laureate. Her new collection of poems Wasdom (Growth) was published in 2011. In 2016 her first novel was published, 'Malva'. It tells the story of the daughter of poet and Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda.

(The Netherlands, 1970) is a presenter, producer, actor and voice-over artist specializing in music, literature, arts and culture. After graduating as actor from the Toneelschool Amsterdam he was a member, among others, of the ensemble of the Nationale Toneel. He was a presenter at Amsterdam-based broadcaster AT5 and a radio producer with the KRO on national network NPO Radio 1. He narrates audio books, and was shortlisted for the Storytel Award 2019 for Best Audio Book with his reading of Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer's novel Grand Hotel Europa. Until last year, he presented on radio station Sublime the daily morning show Sublime Sunrise, the Instagram poetry programme Sublime Smooth and evening show The Sublime Experience. In 2025 he wrote and hosted the tv-series Kringlopen met Francis on regional Dutch broadcaster NH. Broekhuijsen works for Writers Unlimited as festival curator and presenter.

Go to the website of Francis Broekhuijsen
Instagram: @francisbroekhuijsen

(1975) in his poetry shows a fascination for the unknown and the impalpable. The title of his debut De vloeibare jongen (The liquid boy; 2005) is revealing in that respect. Nothing is what it seems, characters melt into one another, a boy dissolves into water and washes away with the river. In his second volume Kranen open (Taps open; 2009) too, Möhlmann allows his fantasy to run free. Strikingly, turns of phrase or motives of one poem sometimes literally return in another. Möhlmann studied Dutch language and literature, organised readings in the literary theatre Perdu and was co-founder of the poetry magazine Zanzibar and the literature site www.literairnedeland.nl. Right now he works with the Dutch Literature Fund as a policy advisor for poetry and is on the board of the poetry magazine Awater. Möhlmann edited several volumes with work by other poets, most notably Dit zijn de daden waar ik mens voor was – De mooiste gedichten van Martinus Nijhoff (These are the deeds I was a human being for – the most beautiful poems of Martinus Nijhoff; 2008). In 2007 the anthology Geboorte in meer dan 50 gedichten (Birth in more than 50 poems) appeared with Uitgeverij Van Gennep.

(1978) after the publication of her first book Kittens in the boiler was baptised by English critics as ‘a female Charles Bukowski’. Lecompte lives to write and indulge in fantasies. ‘I just don’t seem to be able to structure my days with meat and chips. Writing always comes first. Before eating and washing. Her admission into a psychiatric hospital was right up her alley. She really liked letting her imagination run its free course and take the people in charge of her case on a free ride. Her first Dutch-language collection De dieren in mij (The animals within me; 2009) won the C. Buddingh prize for new poetic talent. In it Lecompte describes her often morbid existence. ‘Lies exclusively, so personal that it gets embarrassing,’ she said about it herself. In her poems and in her life animals, magic and fairy tales play an important role. Subsequently she published the succesful collections Blinde gedichten (Blind poems, 2012), Schachten en amuletten (Shafts and amulets, 2013) and Dichter, bokser, koningsdochter (Poet, boxer, princess, 2015) that has been nominated for the VSB Poëzieprijs.

Together with Luc van Loo, Petra Ardai forms the artistic core of TG Space. She develops the concepts for the keyhole surgery, directs, and in the course of time has also aimed herself at writing texts. Petra Ardai graduated from the mime-department of the Amsterdam School for the Arts and followed DasArts, the post-academic school for performing artists. Space makes theatre without false illusions and with commitment. They see theatre as a conversation with the audience, an on the spot exchange of thoughts, contained in a highly detailed script in which sound and image play an important role. The theatre documentaries take drastic action in social subjects and turn the political into something personal. The unexpected and imaginative perspectives lead to new insights in tricky themes.

Together with Petra Ardai Luc van Loo forms the artistic core of TG Space. He is responsable for the soundscapes and technical development of all the concepts for the keyhole surgery. Luc van Loo graduated from the mime-department of the Amsterdam School for the Arts and followed DasArts, the post-academic school for performing artists. Space makes theatre without false illusions and with commitment. Petra Ardai and Luc van Loo’s troupe see theatre as a conversation with the audience, an on the spot exchange of thoughts, contained in a highly detailed script in which sound and image play an important role. The theatre documentaries take drastic action in social subjects and turn the political into something personal. The unexpected and imaginative perspectives lead to new insights in tricky themes.

(Sassenheim, NL, 1942) initially wanted to be an actor but left theatre school after only one year. He then dedicated himself to studying Dutch and founded the literary youth magazine Fase. At the same time, he published his poetry in various other literary magazines and translated drama. He eventually ended up in arts journalism via various odd jobs that paid the bills. He worked (among others) for the newspapers AD, De Haagsche Courant and Het Binnenhof. He also created radio commentaries for Radio West. Although initially hired to cover film and theatre, another great passion became his specialty: jazz. Jansma retired in 2005 but remains active as a journalist for the websites jazzmasters, denhaagjazz and jazzpodium, among others.

(Paramaribo) debuted in 2008 as director with the documentary Trefossa Mi a No Mi, about the Surinamese poet Trefossa (1916-1975), pioneer in the use of Sranantongo in poetry. The documentary was the opening film of the film festival The Backlot in Suriname and won the audience award at the Africa in the Picture Film Festival in Amsterdam (2010). Does has a long career behind her as editor-in-chief and journalist for various media in the Netherlands, Suriname and Aruba. In the 1990s she was editor-in-chief of Mutyama, a Surinamese magazine for culture and history. She also published in De Journalist, het Algemeen Dagblad, Vrij Nederland, De West and Mokro. In Aruba she headed the editorial staff of the daily Amigoe Aruba. In addition she worked for VPRO radio (De Avonden) and was a correspondent for Wereldnet (radio). For years she worked with Omroep West as an editor-in-chief of various television programmes. For some years now she has been a self-employed film maker and producer.

(Amsterdam, 1956) is a film and tv documentary maker with a penchant for the Caribbean, where she spent part of her childhood. Recently she made a documentary about the development of Willemstad. In it she warns that the town mustn’t surrender to outsiders and project developers. Her first long documentary was Water the Drop of Life, on worldwide water management, for which she filmed in sixteen different countries. It was followed by among others films about the West Bank, female child soldiers from Sierra Leone and Liberia and patriotism in Israel. In 2003 she founded EMF Films with which she made the international tv series A Dollar a Day, about life below the poverty line. Alexandra Jansse worked for various film festivals in the Caribbean and for the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The aim of all her projects is to connect people and get them moving. Jansse studied political and social geography in Amsterdam, specialising in the Third World.

(1970) makes radio and television programmes about subjects that touch her personally. Such as Drona & ik (Drona & Me), a film portrait of a nine year old autistic boy, seen through the eyes of his elder brother of twelve. Often children play a role in her work. Van Campen succeeds in building a lot of tension, as she did in Van de Wolven. Tsjetsjeens fotoalbum in geluid (Of Wolves, Chechnian Photo Album in Sound) in which a sniper keeps aiming his gun at a mother and child for a long time. The director likes to shift her boundaries, but sometimes chooses subjects which are very close to herself. An example of this is Terreur in de kerk (Terror in the Church) on the intricacies in a monastery where he father retires for a while. With Eeuwige Moes (Eternal Mash), a portrait of a Dutch vegetable grower who decides to emigrate to Sweden internationally had a lot of success. Van Campen studied history and worked for several Dutch networks duch as NMO, NPS, Radio Noord-Holland and VPRO. Since 2003 she has been part of Desmet, a radio collective founded by herself, among others. Her work has received various prizes at home and abroad.

makes easy-going yet penetrating folk pop music. This cheerful quintet blends Balkan, Arabic, Latin and Dutch brass band influences into a very catchy whole. Front woman Amarins Romkema is a young Frisian singer and guitarist, who has performed albums by Lucky Fonz III. Amarins’ lack of inhibition reminds one of Fay Lovsky. The quintet comprises ukelele, violin, accordion, guitar and double bass.The numerous gigs at home and abroad have given the band a mature sound without their music losing any of its spontaneity.

(1972, Curaçao) Corsen is a pianist, composer and arranger. He comes from a family who have played an important role in the development of Antillean music and literature. He composed and arranged music for a wide range of people and projects: from Izaline Calister to the Metropole Orchestra. With his own formations he performed from Colombia to Lithuania. With the young Aruban classical guitarist Marlon Titre he now pays tribute to Julian Coco. Born on Curaçao in 1924, this guitarist and bass-player is one of the most important sources of inspiration for Antillean and Aruban musicians. Like no other he embodies the Caribbean style in which both European and African elements can be recognized. At the same time he was a classical guitarist playing bass in the Utrechts Symfonieorkest, while making excursions to jazz. Corsen and Titre together arranged various of Coco’s compositions. The two are accompanied by the Randal Corsen Quartet and the New European Ensemble, conducted by Christian Carlsen, with four wind instruments and four strings.

(Trinidad) writer and film producer, has won five awards on three continents in 2009-2010 for his direction and production of Masman. Based on Mas Man Peter Minshall, the Carnival artist from Trinidad, who, for three decades has been presenting provocative themes about man’s incompleteness as street theatre in the annual festival, drew global attention as an artistic director for the Opening Ceremonies at Olympic Games in Barcelona, Atlanta and Salt Lake City. Masman picked up Best Documentary awards in Trinidad and Tobago, and at the New York and South Africa International Film Festivals. The film also garnered Best Cinematography at Chagrin Falls Documentary Festival and Honorable Mention Best Documentary (as a work in progress) at the Greater Columbus International Film Festival, both in the United States.Narine has written for the Village Voice (New York); served as a features editor at The Miami Herald, an editor at Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and associate editor at Ebony magazine. He received awards for feature writing at Ebony and The Miami Herald.

(Netherlands, 1945) writes novels, stories, essays, lectures and columns with a strong historical bent. She debuted with 1987's Tine of de dalen waar het leven woont (Tine, or the Valleys Where Life Lives), a fictitious biography of 19th-century Dutch writer Multatuli's first wife. Her book De naam van de vader (The Name of the Father) won the 1994 Multatuli Prize. In 2002 she wrote Pelican Bay, about slavery in the Caribbean and the Netherlands. Her essay collection Schatplicht (Tribute) appeared in 2013, and her 2016 novel Aan het eind van de dag (At the End of the Day) is simultaneously a portrait of a career woman and a snapshot of the second half of the 20th century. De val van Thomas G. (The fall of Thomas G.) tells about the publisher of a controversial book. Noordervliet's body of work was awarded the 2018 Constantijn Huygens Prize.

(Aruba) is one of the most versatile guitar players and composers of his generation. He studied guitar and composition at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. At he age of eightteen he became A Junior Composer in Residence of the Residentie Orkest (The Hague). A few years later he won the first prize a the prestigious Michele Pittaluga international guitar contest in Italy.

(Luxemburg, 1956) is involved in the festival since 2007, as a producer and as an advisor for Arabic literature. She completed her Master’s degree in Arabic and Turkish literature at the University of Amsterdam and stayed in the Arab world for several years. In the 80’s she started translating Arabic novels into Dutch. Since then she has translated more than thirty titles among which several novels by the Egtyptian Nobelprize-winner Nagib Mahfuz and the complete works of the Lebanese author Hanan al-Shaykh. In autumn 2010 Gate of the sun by Ilyas Khuri and Wanna be a bride by Ghada Abd El-Aal were published in Dutch translation. In 2005 she received (with Richard van Leeuwen) the ‘Fonds voor de Letteren Vertaalprijs’.

is a visual artist. At first he worked as an assitant photographer for newspapers in Argentina and the U.S.A.. He became a photo journalist when he moved to Houston, Texas. His work was exposed in galeries and musea in the U.S.. From 1999 he has been transforming cars into diverse mobile works of art. He called them The Y2 Kaka, The Illegal Immigrant Trypod, The Anti-Christ Ninth Mobile and Mobile Warning Global Warming. His most recent work is called The Weapon of Mass Instruction (Womi).

(Arnhem, 1954) has been the Dutch ambassador for Human Rights since 2010. He studied philosophy at the University of Amsterdam and worked as an assistant research fellow in the deparmtent of cultural philosophy and aesthetics. He has been working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1984. Veer has worked in the policy fields of European affairs, asylum and migration and international cultural policy. In recent years he has been ambassador in Zagreb and consul general in München. The job of human rights ambassador is intended to provide the theme of human rights in international relations with a recognisable, visible and idiosyncratic profile. The human rights ambassador is dedicated to making Dutch human rights policy more coherent.

(Haarlem, NL, 1980) studied philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. Aynan, the son of Moroccan immigrants, is an active advocate of Berber culture. His debut Veldslag en Andere Herinneringen (Battle and Other Memories) was published in 2007, about his youth or, as he calls it, his "Catholic-Islamic-Berber background". Aynan is the creator of the Berber Library, a series of classics from Berber countries translated into Dutch. He further wrote Ik, Driss  (I, Driss, together with Hassan Bahara), the short-story collection Gebed zonder eind (Endless Prayer, 2014) and Linoleumkoorts (Linoleum Fever, 2019). Aynan works as a teacher at Hogeschool van Amsterdam; his articles have appeared in the NRC, Het Parool, Folia and Trouw.

(The Hague, NL 1987) wrote her first compositions at age fifteen. First classical pieces for piano, which were soon followed by songs of her own with piano accompaniment. She received singing lessons from Astrid Seriese. In her first performances she accompanied herself on the piano. She also often played acoustic sets with guitar accompaniment. In 2009 she released her first single, 'Beautiful day'. With Astrid Seriese she conducts the Prachtmeidenkoor (Beautiful Girls' Choir) and sings in various other projects.

(1965) is manager campaigns of Oxfam Novib in The Hague. From 1993 to 2009 he was political coördinator of the Groen Links party in the Dutch House of Commons. He studied political science, and specialized in international relations.