winter nights
Writers Unlimited successful thanks to tight direction
Writers like to talk, and people like to talk about, with and through writers. As much as that may be reason to organise a literature festival, it is also why
'Oh, it's being torn apart a bit' #wu13
At 1 strip or 1,000 words blogger and columnist Peter Breedveld spoke to three influential illustrators, Barbara Stok, Peter van Dongen and Thé Tjong-Khing using projected images from their beautiful work. The relaxed conversation was a breath of fresh air among the other ferocious debating violence at the festival.
Blogging vs demons #wu13
"We don't use social media because it's cool," says Tunisian internet activist Sami Ben Gharbia. "But in a dictatorship, it is the only way to inform people about what is really going on. To fight the demons in society. I am not a techny Became because it's fun. I just needed useful knowledge about internet codes, to improve my civic activism possible."
Really free poetry can be learned #wu13
We spoke briefly at Writers Unlimited 2013 with the woman who has been giving workshops in poetry to schoolchildren for a few years now. And we wondered again if rap wasn't enough for them, those kids. No. So it turns out. And she explains it clearly. ... You can now log in to continue reading! Welcome to the archive of...
Does it luckily still involve sex on #wu13
How many male genitals Yasmine Allas had weighed in her hand. For a while, that was the question during Writers Unlimited's most shameless programme to date. This latenight talk show addressed the question of how shameless writers actually dare to be these days. Kristien Hemmerechts, always good for a few firm statements, met her peers in
Free: Festival diary Writers Unlimited 2012
They were great days, the four days we reported on Writers Unlimited (v/h Winternachten) in The Hague. We saw a new self-aware generation of writers from Africa, experienced debates and played - in the foyer of The Hague's Theater a/h Spui - for VJ during the salsa dancing class. Daniël Bertina and Wijbrand Schaap did their best to attend as many...
Versatile and elusive Writers Unlimited closes with tribute to Hella S Haasse and rain of awards
It is remarkable how a writer's sentences, once highlighted, can be given echoing interpretations after his death. Gustaaf Peek in particular, if he really wants to do justice to Haasse, must do something about his rather chest-thumping piety, but even a seasoned artist like Kees 't Hart may moderate the tone while quoting.
From insane Moroccan drum 'n bass to alienating dream sounds: Dakka al Marrakchia, Zoumana Diarra & Basile Maneka #WU12
It is incredible what an energy the men of Manar can generate. These six - dressed in djellabas - percussionists play Dekka al Marrakchia: an insanely rousing form of traditional Moroccan drum 'n bass party music and religious Gnawa. After a solemn, almost ritualistic beginning - in which the band comes jogging onto the stage of the Theater aan het Spui in a goose-step, accompanied by the menacing sounds of two huge horns - the drums erupt and the dance floor is full of swinging visitors.
In How to be a dictator in Africa, writers Helon Habila and Dinaw Mengestu are remarkably positive about the future of their continent, despite the reservations of David van Reybrouck and moderator Andrew Makkinga.
about dctatorsDinaw Mengestu shares his surname with the first name of one of Ethiopia's former dictators. "For now, I am a writer, but aspire to a career as a dictator," he says. Dictators do not arise in a vacuum, Mengestu argues. "We as citizens create our leaders," he says. In his recited story, citizens hand over all their dreams. They shift all their responsibility towards those in power....
Dutch pot for world writers
Sweet and quite tasty, although some of the guests said they were less enamoured with the hutspot with gravy that the Haagse Hapjes had prepared for them. Most guests would have preferred a bit more spice with their welcome meal. Tonight, Africa is on the menu. The local pepper farmer must be having a party because of increased sales, we suspect. ......
Big plus for the writer who can also narrate #wu12
Helon Habila His voice is low, and when he talks, he does so calmly and thoughtfully. He regards his humour - very British - as a side effect that is more accidental, than intended. This makes Helon Habila a perfect guest for the opening night of Writers Unlimited, the Hague literature festival better known as 'Winternachten'. The Nigerian can...
Henk Pröpper: 'Writers Unlimited has always opposed panting and short-term ambition.'
He is now a publisher, and the man who was director of the Dutch Foundation for Literature until last year will be quite happy with that. As director of the Bezige Bij, one of the country's largest publishing houses, he will surely never again have to submissively toast the sarcastic State Secretary for Culture Halbe Zijlstra. At least the relief was audible in Pröpper's...
PEN Award for Iranian founder 'Stop Stoning Forever' campaign #wu12
Asieh Amini She now lives in Norway, after she had to leave her homeland Iran because of her own opinion. She was detained for five days, and in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, that is an eternity. Now Asieh Amini is free in a foreign land, and Oxfam-Novib is presenting her with the PEN Award. A great opening for the Writers Unlimited Winternachten Festival, which with...
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