Surinamese dreams

‘I have a Dream!’ Noraly Beyer presents three Dutch/Surinamese authors (Karin Amatmoekrim, Anil Ramdas, Sheila Sitalsing), who will read a column inspired by the famous speech by the reverend King. What do the writers expect and hope for the future of Surinam? In Dutch.

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Information

Date and time Saturday 21 January 2012 22:45 tot 23:40 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - kleine zaal

‘I have a Dream!’ Noraly Beyer presents three Dutch/Surinamese authors (Karin Amatmoekrim, Anil Ramdas, Sheila Sitalsing), who will read a column inspired by the famous speech by the reverend King. What do the writers expect and hope for the future of Surinam? In Dutch.

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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Anil Ramdas

(Paramaribo, 1958 - Loenen aan de Vecht, 2012) made his debut in 2011 as a novelist with a book describing the life of Badal, a migrant who, like Ramdas himself, is an inspired, committed writer and columnist. Popular among white Dutchmen, but unread by his own people. The multicultural society and the position of the journalist are recurring subjects is his work. A writer, journalist, film, radio and television maker, Ramdas grew up in the Hindustani community in Suriname. At the end of the 1970s he came to the Netherlands to study social geography. He worked among others for De Groene Amsterdammer and as a columnist, essayist and correspondent in India for NRC Handelsblad. Ramdas made various radio and tv programmes like In Mijn Vaders Huis (In my father's house), a series of interviews on the clash between cultures and the role of science and the media. The interviews were published in book form. From 2003-2005 he was director of the debating centre De Balie in Amsterdam. In 2007 he went to live in Suriname for a year and wrote Paramaribo: de vrolijkste stad in de jungle (Paramaribo, the merriest town in the jungle, 2009), in which he takes a critical look at his native country. Since September 2010 he hosted the VPRO opinion programme Z.O.Z.He died on 16 february 2012.
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Sheila Sitalsing

(Suriname, 1968) is a journalist, writer, and economist. She writes books, essays and columns on politics and society. For eleven years, she wrote a widely read column in Dutch national daily newspaper de Volkskrant every other day, for which she was awarded the Heldring Prize for best columnist in the Netherlands. In 2024, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Humanistic Studies. She wrote the political biography Mark, portret van een premier (2017Mark, portrait of a prime minister) and compiled her columns about the COVID pandemic year 2020 in Dagboek van een krankzinnig jaar (Diary of a Mad Year). In 2025, her book Waar ik me voor schaam (What I am ashamed of) was published, a non-fictional, perceptive account of a search for the workings of intergenerational shame and totalitarian temptation.
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