Words Become Meaning - Winternachten Edition

20181129103114 1

During this special Winternachten edition of Woorden Worden Zinnen at Paard we enjoyed performers, poetry, punchlines, music, exhibits, beer & bites in a feel-good setting. The lineup included storyteller and rapper Akwasi; writer and columnist Elfie Tromp; writer and singer-songwriter Aafke Romeijn; actress Roos Dickmann; rapper, radio host and writer HemelBesem from South Africa; and singer Roza Rozica. Plus: verses to take home by Quin Kempees, your favourite host JNM The Naked MC, and tasty tunes by DJ Winter.
Woorden Worden Zinnen is a low-threshold platform and stage night for word art in the broadest sense. It takes place on and at stages and festivals throughout the Randstad and was founded in 2010 by spoken word artist Elten Kiene and literary organizer Wesley Loos.

Information

Date and time Thursday 17 January 2019 from 19:30 to 21:30 hrs
Location Paard Grote zaal

HemelBesem

(South Africa) os the stage name/nom de plume of rapper, writer, poet, actor and activist Simon Witbooi. He grew up impoverished in Capetown, where rap and hiphop became his outlet for the social inequality he saw all around. Although he began in English, Afrikaans quickly took over as his chosen langauge. HemelBesem (Heaven's Broom) calls himself an edutainer or educator because he wants to build bridges between communities and address African social issues. In his 2017 book God praat Afrikaans (God Speaks Afrikaans), he passionately defends the Afrikaans language. He is an ambassador for the Afrikaans Language and Culture Society (ATKV) and visits schools on a yearly basis in collaboration with the University of Stellenbosch for the Woorde Open Wêrelde (WOW) project. He is a descendant of Hendrik Witbooi, one of the greatest 19th-century resistance heroes during the genocide by the German colonizers in Southwestern Africa, now Namibia.


20181008170959 1

Elfie Tromp

(Netherlands, 1985) is a writer, presenter and performer. Following on her debut novel Goeroe (Guru, 2013), Underdog (2016) was nominated for the BNG Literature Prize and the Dioraphte Literature Prize. Her poetry debut Victorieverdriet (Victory Sadness) was published in 2017. Her most recent novel Pieta (2021) is a compelling mosaic-style story about a city under pressure. Tromp has written for various Dutch magazines and newspapers. She can also be found on stage, appearing in her own productions, including Monster Love Play and the musical-theatre horror show Niet vandaag Satan (maar wel vanavond) (Not Today, Satan, but Tonight Is Okay). On Instagram, she presents the weekly Dichter in Drag (Poet in Drag) show, where poetry and glitter, poets and drag queens meet for a half hour of reading and make-up.
20211115165740 1

Mr. Winter

is a DJ and barber who combines different styles of music in surprising ways. His interest in people and art can be heard in his music selection and DJing style. Mr. Winter's career sprung from his passion for music while a student at Rotterdam's SAE Institute in 2006. He performs nationally and internationally and, depending on the concept, lets his expertise in the field of music be heard. As a beat-lover pur sang, he has wide-ranging musical tastes and conveys these to his audience in a controlled manner after making critical selections. His connection with the audience produces surprising performances and collaborations.
20181124171550 1

Jennifer Muntslag

(1983) also known as JNM the Naked MC, is a versatile presenter, actress, MC and performer who has built a strong reputation within the cultural and creative sector. Professionally, she is known for her dynamic and energetic stage presence, bringing events to life with her unique style of presenting and interacting with the audience. As ‘The Naked MC’, Jennifer is known for her “unfiltered” and honest style. ‘Naked’ refers to her urge to speak and act without masks or façades.
20251126102248 2

Quin Kempees

(1984) mainly writes verse that she often illustrates herself. You can read along with her on her blog. Her verses are snapshots of moments that she considers worth capturing. She creates work for both adults and children. As an improvisational author and performer, she captures what's in the air, in the here and now, using as few rhyming worlds as possible. As a result of her work in youth protection, Kempees wrote Wortelen en groeien Kindplan (Rooting and Growing Child Plan) for parents and children of divorce.
20181126141112 1

Roza Lozica

(1990) is a singer and songwriter who became known through her participation in The Voice of Holland in 2016. While still studying at Codarts School of the Arts in Rotterdam, she works as a backup singer for artists like Glennis Grace and René Froger and, after a successful audition, she joined Alain Clark's band. With Clark as producer and composer she released her first EP in 2013, for which she (co-)wrote several songs. Her new song "Till the Rain Falls" has been on Spotify since September 2018.
20181203121033 1

Roos Dickmann

(1996) is an actress and poet. She has appeared in various films and series. She started acting as a child at the Amsterdam Youth Theatre School and is now studying at the Amsterdam Theatre School and Small Arts Academy. She has published poetry in Het Parool newspaper and her first volume of poetry Ik ook van mij will be published by Prometheus Publishers in 2019.
20181126141350 1

Akwasi

(1988) is a rapper, writer, poet, producer, television host and more. He started rapping at fourteen and founded the group Zwart Licht (Black Light). This group released albums including Leeroy Draait Door (Leeroy Goes Crazy, 2012) and Bliksem (Lightening, 2018). As owner of the Dutch record label Neerlands Dope, he offers young musical talents the opportunity to move from the regional to the national stage. He leads workshops in writing, drama, rap and stage presentation in schools, and acts in Dutch theatre and television series. Akwasi is also a writer, scriptwriter, poet and spoken-word artist. He created ReChill, an innovative programme for children about meditation, for SchoolTV. In his short-story debut Laten we het er maar niet over hebben (Let's Not Talk About It, 2018), he proves himself a masterful storyteller.
20181106161901 1

Elzahra Elkawafi

is a talented young poet as well as a strong performer of her own work. In the fall of 2017, she participated in Spot on Young Poets, the educational project of Writers Unlimited, the Hague Writers Guild and Meermanno Museum | House of the Book. This project constitutes poetry workshops at Hague high schools, where students are given lessons in poetry and recitation. Elkawafi presented her poem during the 2018 Winternachten festival and was one of three finalists for the Young Campert Prize.
20181203120232 1

Aafke Romeijn

(Netherlands, 1986) is a successful musician, author and journalist. She debuted as a novelist with Concept M (2018). This well-received sci-fi novel takes place in the Netherlands in 2020. A young woman makes sense in a surprising way of her condition of colourlessness, a chronic disease that has grown to epidemic proportions in Europe. She radicalizes and ends up in an organization that carries out attacks. Romeijn has performed as a pop-music artist at festivals such as Lowlands and Noorderslag. With her beats, razor-sharp lyrics and analog synthesizers, she's the uncrowned queen of Dutch-language electropop. Her album M, the soundtrack to her novel and her first self-produced record, was released in 2019, followed in 2020 by her debut poetry collection Leegstand (Vacancy). In 2021 she released the album Godzilla and published 7B, another sci-fi novel set in the year 2040 in Groningen, where military personnel train in a huge complex for a war over natural resources.
20211101112808 1

Discover

20 May 2026

Get your 2027 tickets!

Get your Early Bird tickets for the big festival nights, Friday & Saturday Night Unlimited!