For the sake of love - Surinamese and Aruban female writers in the Netherlands

Sranantongo poet Celestine Raalte, writers Giselle Ecury and Karin Amatmoekrim (When We are Together) speak with Noraly Beyer. Dutch spoken.

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Information

Date and time Saturday 13 January 2007 23:05 tot 23:55 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - kleine zaal

Family ties, migration as an exploratory expedition, and the quest for love. These are the themes in the work of three Caribbean writers in the Netherlands. They write about the search for a new existence overseas. In the Sranantongo poems of the Utrecht-based Celestine Raalte the strong family ties between Creole women play an important part. The Aruban-Dutch Giselle Ecury, wroter of the novel Erfdeel (Inheritance) and the Surinamese-Javanese author Karin Amatmoekrim (Wanneer wij samen zijn; When We are Together) write about migration as an expedition to a new place of their own. Dutch spoken.

Celestine Raalte

(Paramaribo, 1948) is a poet, writer, reciter and does school theatre. She has published two volumes of poetry: Akwenda Streven en Ma Awitya. 'My biggest inspiration are the grandma's from the working-class area I used to live when I was a kid. Furthermore all the single mothers who have to work hard to raise their children.' She was honoured on several occasions, for instance when she got the Kwakoe Award for her contribution to Surinamese art. She gives workshops at primary and secondary schools. She is a contributor to the Studium Generale of the Hogeschool in Rotterdam. In Amsterdam she is busy with the workshop Life Lines. Here themes are: the power of women, apartheid, hope, love and everything that moves her.
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Giselle Ecury

was born in 1953 on the island of Aruba. Early 1960 the family moved to the Netherlands, her mother's country. Although Ecury was brought up very much a Dutch girl she couldn't escape the Antillean influences of her Aruban father. In May 2005 she published the collection of poetry Terug die tijd - Herinneringen aan dementie (Give Back those Days - Memories of Dementia). Poems and thoughts about the last living phase of her demented mother and memories of a shared past both here and on Aruba. In April 2006 her debut novel Erfdeel (Heritage) appeared. From her work it becomes apparent that her life is inextricably associated with the two cultures she carries within her.
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Karin Amatmoekrim

(Suriname, 1976) debuted with Knipperleven (2004), followed by Wanneer wij samen zijn (When We Are Together, 2006), based on the history of her Javanese-Surinamese family. Her novel Het gym (The Gymnasium, 2011) describes Sandra, a Surinamese outsider, holding her own among preppy white girls. De man van veel (The Man of Much, 2013) is based on the life of the Surinamese national hero and writer Anton de Kom, and was followed by her memoir Tenzij de vader (Unless the Father, 2016), a painfully honest report of getting to know her father at age 22. Her PhD thesis on the late author Anil Ramdas (University of Utrecht) was published as the biography In welk land leef ik eigenlijk? (What Kind of Country Do I Actually Live in?, 2023). She regularly publishes stories, columns and opinion pieces.
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Noraly Beyer

(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), MedeaThe 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.
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