The unfamiliar and the familiar

20050224130318

Information

Date and time Friday 21 January 2005 21:35 tot 22:20 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - grote zaal

Two writerson the unfamiliar and the familiar. In Margriet de Moor's case it is often about the confrontation between her own traditions and detachment. In the case of the Turkish-German Emine Özdamar it is all about movement and the search for stability in new surroundings. One came as a child from Turkey to Germany and playing and writing won for herself a place in a strange society and culture. The other is through and through tied to the Dutch culture, but through music and literature found a way out. Özdamar became well known for her novel Het leven is een karavansarai (Life is a caravan). Since then her reputation as a writer has grown. In November 2004 she was awarded the prestigious Von Kleist prize. Margriet de Moor, athor of an impressive oevre and receiver of many awards, has become one of the most read Dutch writers in Germany. Her novels Op de rug gezien (Seen from behind) (1988), Eerst grijs dan wit dan blauw (First grey then white then blue) (1991) and Kreutzersonate, een liefdesverhaal (Kreutzer sonata, a lovestory) have also appeared in German translation. At the end of this programme the Turkish author Asli Erdogan, who was interviewed earlier in the evening by Margot Dijkgraaf, will give a short recitation.
German spoken

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Emine Sevgi Özdamar

(1946) is a German-Turkish writer. She attended the theatre school in Istanbul and following that joined the Volkbühne (popular theatre) in East Berlin. She has performed in Paris, played in films and developed as an author. In 1991 she received for her literary work the Ingeborg Bachmann Preis. Publising house De Geus published three of her books: Het leven is een karavanserai (Life is a caravan)(1995), Moedertong (Mother tongue)(1996) en De brug van de Gouden hoorn (The bridge of the golden horn) (1998). In November 2004 she was awarded the prestigious Heinrich von Kleist prize. Her novels Seltsame Sterne starren zu Ende en Der Hof im Spiegel have not yet been published in the Netherlands.
WIN 2005
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Asli Erdogan

(Istanbul, 1967) studied computer science and physics at the university of Bogazici. Up until 1992 she worked as a physicist at the European Nuclear Research Centre (CERN). She has also taught English for two years in South America, writes for the magazine Atlas and from 1998 to 2000 had a weekly column in the newspaper Radikal. In 1994 Erdogan made her debut with the novel Kabuk Adam. After that her collection of stories Mucizevi Mandarin (1996) and her very succesful second novel Kirmizi Pelerinli Kent ( City in a red cape) (1998) were published. This stifling novel is situated in Rio de Janeiro. In 1990 Erdogan was awarded the Deutsche Welle Preis for one of her unpublished short stories. The main themes in her works are: violence against women, the situation in prisons and Kurdish rights.
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Margriet de Moor

(Noordwijk, 1941) in her latest book, the volume of essays Als een hond zijn blinde baas (Like a Dog Its Blind Boss; 2007), how she began her writing career. 'Let's see if I can write a story,' she thought one Monday morning. And writing she could. Her first volume of short stories, Op de rug gezien (Seen From the Back; 1988) won her a Gouden Ezelsoor (golden donkey-ear) and her novel debut Eerst grijs dan wit dan blauw (First Grey Then White Then Blue; 1991) won her the AKO Literature Prize. That opened the way to international fame. The book has been published in more than ten languages. Chance and its dramatic consequences and the 'mystery of the Other' play an important role in De Moor's work. History is also an important theme. She devoted a book to the haps and mishaps of the gypsies in 15th century Europe, De hertog van Egypte (The Duke of Egypt) and De Verdonkene (Drowned) deals with the great flood of 1953 in the Netherlands. De Moor studied piano, singing, art history and archeology and made videofilms before she started writing.
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Michaël Zeeman

(Marken, 1958-2009) was a poet, a writer and a commentator, with a regular column on the Forum page and the book pages of the Volkskrant. Zeeman was the editor of the arts section of the Volkskrant and from 2006-2007 its Rome correspondent. In 2006 he and the writer Abdelkader Benali published an exchange of letters, exchanging ideas on politics, life, love and literature. In 2002 Zeeman received the Gouden Ganzenveer (Golden Goose Quill) for his merits for Dutch literature. Zeeman became well-known in the 1990s as the host of his monthly book programme 'Late at night after a short walk', later to be renamed 'Zeeman with books'. In 1991 he published his first volume of poetry, Beeldenstorm (Iconoclasm), winning him the C. Buddingh Prize. His second volume Verhoudingen (Relationships) appeared in 1995. In the same year he published short stories entitled De Verduistering (The Darkening). He died in 2009.
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