Tell me about Surinam

Surinamese writers Rappa and Henna Goudzand discuss their ways to criticise Surinamese society. Dutch spoken.

20060125133053

Information

Date and time Saturday 21 January 2006 21:35 tot 22:01 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - kleine zaal

In the small community of Surinam it is not easy to be critical. But nevertheless master story teller Rappa does it in a lighthearted, anecdotal way. He shares the stage with his fellow countrywoman Henna Goudzand. Her recently published novel Hele dagen in de regen (Days in the rain) describes the hypocrisy and intrigue in a remote Marron village. Before the writer could bring this story out, it was necessary to put a lot of distance between herself and the subject: only after many years and after moving to Amsterdam was she able to finish the novel. Dutch spoken.

Henna Goudzand

(Henna Goudzand Nahar, Surinam, 1953) studied in Surinam, The Netherlands and Belgium. She felt attracted to the political changes in 1980 in Surinam, but realised that it went off the rails. In 1988 she published the story De goede verwachting (The hopefull expectation), about an election campaign in the interior of Surinam. She contributed to the Surinam edition of the literary magazine De Gids. With Fré Meyer she edited a collection about myths in womens art, entitled Contrapunten: mythen in kunst van vrouwen: een impressie (Counterpoints, myths surrounding women's art: an impression), published by In de Knipscheer. In 1994 and 1996 she published (under pseudonym Amber Nahar) two childrenbooks. Henna Goudzand Nahar lives in Amsterdam and is teacher and freelance journalist. In 2005 she published her novel Hele dagen in de regen.
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Rappa

is the pseudonym for Robby Jonathan Parabirsing (Paramaribo, 1954). He made his debut in 1980 with Friktie Tories, a collection of humorous and socially critical stories. Others works by him are Opa Djannie en andere verhalen (Granddad Djannie and other stories), Een vlek uit het verleden (A stain from the past) (1982), Silvy en Hexa en andere verhalen (Silvy and Hexa and other stories) (1983), Fromoe Archie (1984), De Tapoe (1995), Verdwaald in het bos (Lost in the woods) (1998) and the collection Nieuwe Friktie Tories (New Friktie Tories) (1999). Rappa's publishing house Ralicon acts as an excellent sounding board for many debutants. Ralicon published amongst others the first edition of the well known book Ter dood veroordeeld (Condemned to death) by John de Bye. To stimulate reading, Rappa publishes a reader, entitled De stripbieb (Strip Library) , which contains short stories and critical, humorous and cynical sayings. In daily life Rappa is a teacher of Dutch language and literature.
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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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