Writers Unlimited Festival Café

Talks & tunes by Francis Broekhuijsen, poetry on demand by Gerda Blees, bookshop and drinks. Only tonight: get a free haircut by barber and 'mattenkoning' Youri.

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Information

Date and time Friday 19 January 2024 21:15 tot 00:20 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - foyer
Price Early bird price until 26 December €25
Regular €30 | All up to 30 years / Ooievaarspas €15
DenHaagPas €27,50

Here, at the beating heart of the Writers Unlimited festival, you could encounter one another over a drink. Or meet authors for a chat or a book signing. At the Radio Writers Unlimited-table, host and DJ Francis Broekhuijsen played tunes and gets into conversations on air. In the Poetry Poly, Gerda Blees wrote poem for you on the spot. The bookshop of De Vries Van Stockum, fully stocked with books by festival authors, was open all evening.

Extra, and only tonight: barber Youri Straatman AKA The Hague's 'mattenkoning' (re)cut your mat for free: side and top short, ears free and backside nicely long and flowing. The rebellious Hague hairstyle is experiencing a come-back, and Youri - salon manager and allurnd hair stylist at Kinki Kappers on Noordeinde - is cutting well-known The Hague, including members of pop groups Goldband and Son Mieux.

Meet & Greet at the bookshop:
Meeting with authors for a chat or book signing!

Line-up

Francis Broekhuijsen

(The Netherlands, 1970) is a presenter, producer, actor and voice-over artist specializing in music, literature, arts and culture. After graduating as actor from the Toneelschool Amsterdam he was a member, among others, of the ensemble of the Nationale Toneel. He was a presenter at Amsterdam-based broadcaster AT5 and a radio producer with the KRO on national network NPO Radio 1. He narrates audio books, and was shortlisted for the Storytel Award 2019 for Best Audio Book with his reading of Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer's novel Grand Hotel Europa. Until last year, he presented on radio station Sublime the daily morning show Sublime Sunrise, the Instagram poetry programme Sublime Smooth and evening show The Sublime Experience. In 2025 he wrote and hosted the tv-series Kringlopen met Francis on regional Dutch broadcaster NH. Broekhuijsen works for Writers Unlimited as festival curator and presenter.

Go to the website of Francis Broekhuijsen
Instagram: @francisbroekhuijsen
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Gerda Blees

(The Netherlands, 1985) made her debut with the short-story collection Aan doodgaan dachten we niet (We Didn't Think of Dying, 2017) and then published the poetry collection Dwaallichten (Wandering Lights, 2018), nominated for the C. Buddingh' Prize. In 2020, she publishes her debut novel Wij zijn licht (We Are Light), which was awarded the Boekhandelsprijs and the European Union Prize for Literature, and nominated for the Libris Literature Prize. Translation rights to her novel have been sold to nine countries and tens of thousands of copies have been sold in the Netherlands. Week (2022) is a pregnancy in poetry; with wonder and self-assessment, Blees depicts how expectant motherhood changes her body and life.
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Youri Straatman

is a hairdresser and better known as De Mattenkoning (King of the Mat, the archetypical Hague hair style). 'Friesland, Zeeland, Germany, you name it': from far and wide, people come to Kinki Kappers Noordeinde in The Hague to have their mat taken care of by Youri. 'It's just a natural talent that's in me.' The sides and top short, the ears free and at the back 'let it freely flutter': Youri knows better than anyone how to cut the mat.
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