Captor and Captive

Burhan Sönmez and Emilienne Malfatto read from their works and discussed power and power relationships. Moderator: Sophie Derkzen

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Information

Date and time Friday 19 January 2024 22:05 tot 22:55 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 2
Price Early bird price until 26 December €25
Regular €30 | All up to 30 years / Ooievaarspas €15
DenHaagPas €27,50

Power and powerlessness are rewarding themes in literature, drawn from extreme situations in history and real life. Emilienne Malfatto wrote the confrontational novel Le colonel ne dort pas (The Colonel Doesn't Sleep), about the power imbalance between a soldier and a prisoner, from the colonel's perspective. Burhan Sömnez wrote his novel Istanbul, Istanbul from the prisoner's perspective.

How do they portray this power imbalance, a per definition unequal situation of prisoner and guard? Both authors read an excerpt from their work and discussed power and powerlessness with Sophie Derkzen, host of a daily Radio 1 program for the VPRO broadcasting company.

Emilienne Malfatto is an award-winning photographer, journalist and writer. Her work deals with social, feminist and post-conflict issues in the Middle East, Latin Ameria and Europe. Her novel Le colonel ne dort pas (The Colonel Doesn't Sleep, 2021) brings to life three characters struggling with a war they cannot win.

Burhan Sönmez is a writer and board member of PEN International. His novels have been translated into 40 languages and won many awards. He became internationally known with his novel Istanbul, Istanbul, in which prisoners tell one another stories full of compassion and humour that are gradually more and more about life outside, in the city.

Festival tip: Emilienne Malfatto and Burhan Sönmez also appeared during Opening Night on 18 January 2024, and Malfatto again, together with Sacha Bronwasser, in the event Picture This during Saturday Night Unlimited (20 January 2024).

Line-up

Burhan Sönmez

(Turkey, 1965) is a writer and, since 2021, chair of the writers' organisation PEN International. He is a Senior Member of Hughes Hall College and Trinity College, University of Cambridge. His novels have been translated into more than 40 languages and won international awards. He wrote the novels Kuzey (North), Masumlar (published in English as Sins & Innocents, 2014), Istanbul Istanbul (published in English under the same title, 2016), Labyrinth (under the same title published in English, 2019) en Taş ve Gölge (published in English as Stone and Shadow, 2023), among others. Sönmez was born in Turkey and grew up speaking Turkish and Kurdish. He worked as a lawyer in Istanbul before moving to Britain for political reasons and living there in exile for several years. He publishes in news media such as La Repubblica, Der Spiegel and The Guardian. He translated William Blake's poetry collection The Marriage of Heaven and Hell into Turkish.
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Emilienne Malfatto

(France, 1989) is an award-winning photographer, journalist and writer. Through intimate stories, her work revolves around social, feminist and post-conflict issues in the Middle East, Latin America and Europe. Her photos have been featured in publications like The New York Times, The Washington Post and Le Monde and exhibited internationally. Her novel Que sur toi se lamente le Tigre (May the Tigris Grieve For You, 2020), which won the 2021 Prix Goncourt for a debut, is about a family tragedy in Southern Iraq. Her non-fiction book Les serpents viendront pour toi (The Serpents Will Come for You, 2021) about the murder of social leaders in Colombia, won the Albert Londres book prize. Her second novel Le colonel ne dort pas (The Colonel Doesn't Sleep, 2021) brings to life three characters struggling with a war they cannot win. It has been translated into several languages.
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Sophie Derkzen

(The Netherlands, 1984) is a journalist and presenter with a fascination for international politics and culture. On Dutch national broadcaster NPO Radio 1 she presents Bureau Buitenland for VPRO, awarded the prestigious Silver Reiss Microphone for best radio programme of the year in 2022. She made the podcasts Stad in Oorlog: Charkiv een jaar onder vuur (City at War: Kharkiv one year under fire; winner Silver Reiss Microphone 2023) and Generatie Merkel (4**** in de Volkskrant).She previously wrote for major Dutch publications, was a guest editor at the German newspaper Die Zeit, and worked in the political section of the Dutch Embassy in Berlin.
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