Surinam, land of my dreams

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Information

Date and time Saturday 17 January 2004 20:15 tot 21:10 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - kleine zaal

After growing up in Surinam the poets Antoine de Kom and Raj Ramdas chose a future in the Netherlands. However the Surinamese author Tessa Leuwsha - her debut novel wil appear in 2004 - grew up in the Netherlands, and chose a future in the country of her parents, Surinam. Three authors discuss the role that the Netherlands and Surinam play in their work. What are the dreams and ideals that are important for them?

Raj Ramdas

(British Guyana, 1953) left for Surinam at an early age. In 1974 he moved to The Netherlands to study English and Comparative Literature at the Free University in Amsterdam. He works as a teacher, teaching Dutch as a second language. He writes his poems in Sarnami (Surinam-Hindustan language), but he writes his prose in Dutch. He has been published in various magazines and anthologies. In the spring of 2003 his bilingual poetry collection Kahán hai u (Where is she) appeared, published by Maya in Rotterdam.
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Tessa Leuwsha

(Netherlands, 1967) is a fiction and non-fiction author, documentarian and critic. In 1995 she emigrated to Surinam as a freelance journalist and in 1997 published Reishandboek Suriname, a cultural travel guide. Her first published short story Voor William (For William) won the incentive prize of the Kwakoe literary awards. In 2005 her novel debut de Parbo-blues appeared, followed in 2009 by the novel Solo, een liefde (Solo, a love) about the ambition of two lovers in colonial Surinam who desire a better life. Her non-fictional Fansi's stilte, een grootmoeder en de slavernij (Fansi's Silence, a Grandmother and Slavery, 2015) tells the life of her grandmother. In Plantage Wildlust (2020), she describes life on a Surinamese plantation in the early 20th century, during the period of contract labour, through various characters. De wilde vaart (Tramp Trade, 2022) recounts, in text and image, a boat journey in which Leuwsha and her husband travel Surinamese waters in search of their own core and the resilience of a people. Leuwsha is cultural attaché of the Dutch Embassy in Paramaribo, and writes columns, articles and reviews for various Surinamese media.
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Antoine de Kom

(Netherlands, 1956) is a psychiatrist, writer and poet. He is a grandson of the Surinamese anti-colonialist, nationalist and resistance fighter Anton de Kom. He has published the poetry volumes Tropen (Tropics, 1991), De kilte in Brasilia (The Chill in Brasilia, 1995), Zebrahoeven (Zebra Hooves, 2001), Chocoladetranen (Chocolate Tears, 2014) and De lieve geur van zijn of haar (The Sweet Smell of Him or Her, 2008). For years De Kom worked as a psychiatrist at the Pieter Baan Centrum. In 2012 he published Het misdadige brein (The Criminal Brain), in which he employs fictitious conversations with historical criminals to show how reports of suspects are drawn up. He won the VSB Poetry Award for  Ritmisch zonder string (Rhythmically without String, 2013).
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Nicole Terborg

(1976, Nijmegen) is a journalist and presenter. She has worked for television and radio programmes of NTR, VPRO, the Dutch World Service and Radio West. In addition to her work in broadcasting Nicole hosts and leads varying meetings: from debates and congresses to literary festivals and other cultural events. She completed three studies: Journalism at the Hogeschool van Utrecht, Religion and the Philosophy of Life at the Free University in Amsterdam and a Master's Degree in Journalism in a Crossmedial News Surroundings at the Media Academie.
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