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Adriaan van Dis

'If you touch just one person, it can change the world' "Desperate optimist" Adriaan van Dis wrote a book full of joyful anger

It is a fresh and lively book, the new novel by Adriaan van Dis (74). In his characteristic humorous tone, Van Dis broaches the big themes of our time in KliFi: climate change, the refugee crisis, political populism, (im)freedom. When, in the republic of the Netherlands, a crushingly hot summer turns into a hurricane and a village of refugees is wiped out, silence... 

Winternachten Festival offers the best chance to see great writers up close. And Francis Broekhuijsen.

From 18 January, The Hague is all about Winternachten. In our opinion, this is the most fun literature festival in the west of the Netherlands. This year, it is about Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood, the motto of the French Revolution, among other things. But also about Karl Marx. Under the motto 'we the people', Winternachten is therefore about populism and secession,... 

Festival BRU-TAAL: 5 reasons to travel to Bruges now

See, the Belgians do that well. When a new literary festival comes along, it immediately lasts more than a whole week instead of two days. Today marks the start of the first edition of the International Literature Festival BRU-TAAL. Five reasons to travel to 'the Venice of the North' in the coming days: Bruges. 9 days, 2 weekends, almost 59 writers,... 

Connie Palmen wint als derde vrouw Libris Literatuur Prijs 2016

Connie Palmen heeft maandagavond 9 mei de Libris Literatuur Prijs 2016 gewonnen met haar roman Jij zegt het. In de lange geschiedenis van deze literaire onderscheiding, die in 1994 voor het eerst werd uitgereikt, is Palmen pas de derde vrouw die het geldbedrag van € 50.000 en een bronzen legpenning in ontvangst mocht nemen. Eerdere winnaressen waren Frieda Vogels (1994) en D. Hooijer (2008).

connie palms

A Saturday night with Connie Palmen, Adriaan van Dis and Socrates. #wu16, #wn16

Next time, there will be 10 people queuing for a hotseat, 100 online viewers and dozens of live spectators in the foyer. At least I hope so, because only then will experimenting with new forms, apps and devices make sense, of course. At the second Winternachten night, Saturday 16 January at the Theater aan het Spui, we had slightly fewer viewers than... 

Queues to the door for Knausgård at Winternachten #wu16 #wn16

Veel publiek en prachtige verhalen maakten de zaterdag van het literaire festival Winternachten tot een feestje. Voor het bezoek van de Noorse schrijver Karl Ove Knausgård ’s middags stonden de rijen van de zaal tot aan het voordeur van het Theater aan het Spui. Dichter en schrijven Rodaan al Galidi las voor over zijn jarenlange verblijf in een asielzoekerscentrum. ©Marc… 

Winternachten is about something

Hello Darkness is the theme of the international literary festival Winternachten, this coming weekend in The Hague. It takes guts, in a time when everything has to be fun and cosy and we prefer not to spend our free time dealing with misery or 'heavy topics'. That is why we love Winternachten, because that festival really goes... 

Susan Neiman chief guest at Winternachten 2016: Why the atomic bomb really fell on Hiroshima

Propaganda is not just something that occurs in, say, Russia, but also in the West - more so than we ourselves realise. For example, is it widely believed today that the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to force Japan to capitulate and thus end World War II, nothing could be further from the truth. In that respect, Germany goes... 

Indian dream shattered during Writers Unlimited

Radbraken. This is how it works: you tie someone to a sturdy cartwheel, then break all his or her bones by beating them country-wide with clubs, after which you braid the mangled limbs around the spokes of the wheel. It is essential that the punished person undergoes all this alive and conscious. After the treatment, you bring the wheel with... 

From world politics to the most intimate story: in search of what touches at Writers Unlimited '15

Writers Unlimited's Friday night kicked off with an Islam debate. In no uncertain terms, religious historian Karen Armstrong argued that Islam and jihad are not the same thing. There are only 41 jihads in the entire Quran, most of which are the peaceful struggle to help the poor when one is destitute oneself. But after the Paris attacks... 

Solid Battle over multicultural society marks new era for Writers Unlimited #wu15

20 years of Writers Unlimited's existence, and the anniversary, now in The Hague, comes at a time when free writing worldwide is under heavier pressure than ever. Perhaps that is also why the audience is more numerous than previous editions. All nights are rigidly sold out, making for a rather sweltering atmosphere at the Theater aan het Spui. Apt opening of... 

'For me, only the text exists' - Alberto Manguel & Hans Goedkoop on black pages #wu13

Met een bomvol programma zoals Writers Unlimited 2013 wil het wel eens gebeuren dat je, ook als professioneel journalist, ondanks alles toch ergens té laat komt binnenvallen, en dan nog net een glimp opvangt van iets heel moois. In dit geval, na de krachttoer van Amos Oz en Adriaan van Dis, was dat het spoken word optreden van de Keniaanse Ngwatilo Mawiyoo. Mea culpa daarvoor.

Mawiyoo leidde het programmaonderdeel Forget It! in. Een gesprek met Hans Goedkoop (bekend van het zeldzaam interessant...

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A lot of Oz & a little Van Dis on impossible dreams and ideals #wu13

Tijdens de aftrap van Winternacht 1 bracht publicist Bas Heijne de twee literaire giganten Amos Oz en Adriaan van Dis nader tot elkaar. Wat is er van hun vroegere idealisme overgebleven? Oz' spervuur van prachtige oneliners bleek lastig te temmen en zorgde voor een hilarisch, maar beetje onevenwichtig gesprek.
Als recalcitrante tiener liep de Israëlische Amos Oz op 15-jarige leeftijd weg van huis en sloot zich aan bij een kibboets. Hij woonde er jarenlang. Ook Adriaan van Dis bracht ooit als geë...

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