Winternachten gives audience a bigger voice

International literary festival Winternachten wants to involve the public more in its programmes next year. 'Audiences increasingly want to have a say,' says director Ton van de Langkruis. 'That can be done in all kinds of ways, we are brooding on that now.'

Winternachten attracted some 7300 visitors this year, matching last year's attendance. The theme of the last edition was 'Hello Darkness', and dealt with Evil in man and society. Ton van de Langkruis is pleased with the sharpness of the debate, which already started at the opening of the festival, the PEN Awards ceremony where none of the three winners could be present. 'You heard in the speeches and in the writers' debate on freedom of expression how difficult it has become to imagine in the Netherlands what it means to live in a country where you are tortured because of your statements in public,' she said. Egyptian writer Alaa Al Aswani pointed this out delicately. 'The Netherlands has an exceptional position: here we have unprecedented prosperity, unprecedented freedom, also unprecedented freedom of speech, no matter what writers and journalists say. A fairyland.'

This is precisely why a festival like Winternachten is interesting: it tackles solid themes and gives the audience a chance to hear diverse voices from all parts of the world and engage in conversation with other nationalities and cultures. Although the audience seemed to be predominantly white and over 50, the figures show a different picture, according to Ton van de Langkruis. 'The audience surveys teach us every time that forty per cent of our visitors are of mixed or non-Dutch origin. For the atmosphere during the festival, it is nice if the diversity is large. We also notice this in the audience reactions. A diverse audience, by age and cultural background for instance, also reacts differently to what happens on stage. There is nothing like hearing part of the audience laughing at a remark on stage, while the rest of the audience looks back in amazement, because people don't understand what there is to laugh about. And moments later, the opposite happens. That's how you experience what diversity is and how important it is to feel that there are different perspectives on reality.'

What next year's theme will be is not yet known. What is clear, however, is that the organisation of the festival will look slightly different next edition. Shervin Nekuee succeeds Sigrid Bousset, former director of the Brussels Literature Festival Passa Porta, as programme coordinator. Originally from Iran, Nekuee is a sociologist, writer and publicist. He is assisted for the literature programming by programme makers Maria Vlaar and Jet Steinz. Music programming is in the hands of Francis de Souza, while foyer programming is in the hands of Francis Broekhuijsen. Gerlinda Heywegen is in charge of film programming.

The next edition of International Literature Festival Winternachten will take place from 19 to 22 January 2017 in The Hague.

 

Final impression 2016

'Did I really have breakfast with Slavenka Drakulic? Was Alaa Al Aswani just thanking me for being his "assistant and guardian angel"? Did I just pick up Neel Mukherjee in the train station like it's the most normal thing in the world?

Filled with gratitude I am slowly feeling ready to get back to reality and leave the dreaming be for a while. However, waking up tomorrow morning will feel slightly different, because just as great literature, Winternachten opened up new perspectives.'

• Laura van den Bossche, trainee

'Everything goes differently than expected. Mayor Aboutaleb gives the first Dutch translation to poet Adonis on the opening night and afterwards he walks up to him. I stand ready to photograph a hand or perhaps an embrace, but Aboutaleb gives Adonis a kiss on the forehead. Because of my limited knowledge of other cultures and polite forms, I was surprised.'

• Serge Ligtenberg, photographer

'What is very successful is how Winternachten manages to programme current affairs. Literature as a precursor to our political thinking. Politicians think in the now and Winternachten makes sure the problems of the future are discussed today.'

• Babah Tarawally, visitor and programme coordinator 2012

 

'It felt like The Hague was the socket, the festival the charger and me the 06. As for the writers: veni, vidi, vici. After the festival, I feel stronger, braver, happier.'

• Mira Feticu, writer

'What is special is how world-class writers, through the warm atmosphere of the festival through simple things like gratitude, genuine interest, asking questions and telling stories in the personal sphere, managed to take me into their world. A behind-the-scenes look at great thinkers. They are no different from me and will do anything to bridge any gap between people. A fond discovery.'

• Francis Broekhuijsen, presenter and programme maker Winternachten

'What the Winternachten visitors unfortunately don't get to experience is the always animated afterglow in the hotel with the staff and writers. There I witnessed our young trainees hanging on the lips of the great Egyptian writer Alaa al Aswani, who gave lessons in courtship etiquette with the greatest of ease, courteously and very amusingly. Age difference, famous or just starting out, a different continent - it made no difference, we were "entre nous". This atmosphere of writers and collaborators being at ease with each other is very noticeable to the audience on the stages of the festival and adds to its "workings".'

• Gerda Roest, head of communications Winternachten

'Interesting encounter between two men who experienced the revolution first-hand: Alaa Al Aswani in Cairo's Tahir Square and Andrei Kerkov in Kiev's Maidan Square. Still, more similarities than differences! And Petina Gappah wound everyone around her fingers when she showed the photo of the place where she would take refuge: a villa with veranda in Zimbabwe where anyone would want to live...'

• Maria Vlaar, programme maker

'I enjoyed the dark side of people and human imagination. And the dissatisfaction of having to wait another year for the next Winternachten is partly dissipated by the realisation that I have 365 nights to commit 7 deadly sins...'

• Ronald Hünneman, visitor and philosopher/lecturer at the University of Groningen

'Thought after the opening night, during which the PEN awards for Freedom of Expression were presented: from the over-prosperous and hyper-free Netherlands, can you still imagine what it is like to live in unfreedom and poverty? Egyptian writer Alaa Al Aswani made it clear to his fellow PEN Netherlands panel members in brief words that in Egypt "it's for real". Writers are really imprisoned there. And they are really tortured.'

• Ton van de Langkruis, director Winternachten