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Leila Slimani and Fatma Aydemir: two young writers who are really changing my view of the world. You can meet them at Winternachten 2018

During the upcoming edition of Writers Unlimited/Winternachten in The Hague, two writers who are making exciting news with their work and their success will drop by. Fatma Aydemir, journalist from Berlin, wrote with 'Ellebogen' an abrasive debut about a Turkish girl who is a little less prepared for her future than everyone would like. Parisian author Leila Slimani won in... 

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Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Dutch proverbs, oil on panel, 1559, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

'Playwriting is flourishing,' says the Language Union. Time for an exploration among playwrights.

On 6 December 2017, the Taalunie Toneelschrijfprijs was awarded to poet, writer and playwright Ilja Leonard Pfeiffer. With his play about Bram Moszkowitcz, titled 'The lawyer', he was the preferred original work among 47 submissions. According to the Taalunie, Pfeiffer's play 'balances magisterially on the fine line between tragedy and comedy, realistic drama and meta-thought, slapstick and emotion.... 

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Eindelijk een oplossing voor kerststress! Schrijfster en tv-kok Nigella Lawson zegt: ‘Koken biedt meer troost dan eten’

Ze is net ingevlogen en heeft amper tijd gehad om te lunchen. Na afloop van het interview vist Nigella Lawson (57) daarom snel even een boterhammetje uit een plastic zakje uit haar tas. De succesvolle Britse televisiekok heeft een moordend schema voor de promotie van haar nieuwe kookboek, en meer dan dit zit er tussen de interviews niet in. Een… 

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Jouman Fattal, on TV next year, already seen in Frog's 'Winter Collection'

Called The Winter Collection, it is a five-day mini-festival full of surprises. Utrecht-based Theatre Kikker has now made it a tradition to provide some real surprises every year around Sinterklaas. 10 performances by young creators, from video art, to rowdy dance performance, from a silent monologue to post-dramatic cyberpunk, enough to give any theatre lover a wake-up call.... 

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'Get well.' Grief therapist Julia Samuel on 'Grief work'

How should you grieve? Is there any way to grieve, or are you at the mercy of fate? How do you deal with someone in grief? Grief therapist Julia Samuel has been helping people who have lost a loved one for 25 years. By now, she knows how to and, more importantly, how not to. In March this year, a few days before... 

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Thriller writer Tess Gerritsen: 'Everyone keeps their true self hidden'

I Know a Secret is the twelfth thriller in the series surrounding detective Jane Rizzoli and pathologist-anatomist Maura Isles. Writer Tess Gerritsen reached an audience of millions with it, but longs for more. As the main characters of Tess Gerritsen's thrillers, detective Jane Rizzoli and pathologist Maura Isles have been through quite a bit by now. Yet they are startled by the state of their... 

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Dobrinka Tabakova writes double concerto for Lucas and Arthur Jussen: 'It shimmers with energy'

The AVROTROS Friday Concert cherishes mainstream masterpieces as well as less heard and new repertoire. In the 2017-18 season, no fewer than five (world) premieres are on the programme, three of them composed by a woman. - Come and see that among the national orchestras. Friday 17 November will hear the brand new double concert Together Remember to Dance by British/Bulgarian Dobrinka Tabakova. She composed it on... 

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Klaas de Vries finds neotonic heaven: 'I can't resist composing'

Dutch composer Klaas de Vries (Terneuzen 1944) pairs Stravinskyian clarity with southern sensuality. He nurtures a love for poets like Pablo Neruda and Fernando Pessoa, and his work excels in recognisable melodies and rhythms. 'However innovative, to be communicative, music must always contain a traditional element,' he said. On 28 and 30 November, Asko|Schönberg will play... 

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Rule of Three, Jan Martens/Grip. Photo: Phile Deprez.

Very different or not at all? Jan Martens on his new show Rule of Three

Rule of Three is a piece for three dancers: Steven Michel, Julien Josse and Courtney May Robertson. NAH makes the music live, the lighting is by Jan Fedinger and there are some lyrics by Lydia Davis. Rule of Three was released the previous month at De Singel in Antwerp, and its Dutch premiere is today at the Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam.... 

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Films at ADE: The rock doc as an IKEA package.

On the fringes of Amsterdam Dance Event, I saw two music documentaries that expose why this genre is often problematic for the cinephile. Both films have their fine moments, but ultimately fall short for those who desire more than mere information transfer in television format. A sympathetic Goth Are 'friends' electric? is title and big hit (1979) by British synth-pop pioneer Gary Numan,... 

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Lavalu's nocturnal movement

High up in a posh flat, Lavalu (stage name of Marielle Woltring, Cleveland, Ohio, 1979) recently gave a try-out of her new programme at Eindhoven's FlatFest festival. For the first time now, she will tour without a band, solo with piano, in small venues where there is a good grand piano. On that Sunday afternoon in Brabant, it soon became clear that somewhere, something was... 

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Han Bennink (75) on LGW: "Working hard and hoping the highlight is still to come."

World-renowned Dutch drummer Han Bennink celebrates his 75th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his ICP Orchestra at Utrecht's Le Guess Who? Festival (LGW). Time for a conversation with a diligent worker. All over the world, Han Bennink is famous. And for him, that whole world is his playground, literally. Bennink started drumming at an early age. Pots... 

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'Had Couperus been born 10 years later, he wouldn't have needed all that packaging'

Director Ivo van Hove chose the 'books of little souls' cycle as the conclusion of the Couperus triptych at Toneelgroep Amsterdam. He previously directed 'Silent Power' (2015) and 'The things that pass' (2016). Dramaturg Koen Tachelet adapted Couperus' Magnum Opus for the theatre. The books 'The Little Souls', 'The Late Life', 'Twilight of Souls' and 'The Sacred Knowing' together form the cycle 'The Books of... 

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João Ricardo Pedro on living on after missing: 'I want to repay my debt'

On 11 September 1985, the biggest train disaster in Portuguese history occurred. Near Alcafache, an international express train collided with a local boom train. Nothing was ever recovered from dozens of passengers. They were totally charred in the scorching inferno. Portuguese writer João Ricardo Pedro, in his stunning novel Underway, reconstructs how one of those missing ended up in that place where... 

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Culture Council doesn't have plans ready yet

This summer, all was well. In Theatererkrant, house organ of the performing arts, an article appeared, apparently also on behalf of the Council for Culture. It showed how a hitherto unknown company called The Transition Office had pretty much completed the new sector plan, employed by the Council for Culture. Many people had been spoken to and now there were still... 

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ELIA

Artists are averse to entrepreneurship. 3 reasons why that is wrong

Most young artists only find out after their studies that they lack important entrepreneurial skills. That is why ELIA, the network organisation for colleges of arts in Europe, is organising the conference: Making a Living From the Arts. On 14 and 15 September, academics, cultural entrepreneurs and artists from different countries will gather in Amsterdam. Together, they will discuss creative solutions for... 

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No man can escape Nottrots Thundering Time. (Theatre with built-in escaperoom)

'Can I ask you: do you know what time is?' Greg Nottrot's question could not be more straightforward, as I am the only spectator. MIjn spot is uncomfortable: a chair sinking into fresh gravel on the curious Utrecht plain christened 'Berlinplein' by city developers. I witness an early rehearsal of De Denderende Tijd. In that... 

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Nog minder inkomen voor schrijvers. (wat je niet weet over de bezuinigende bieb)

Dat het slecht gaat met de bibliotheken, was al bekend. Maar in het nieuws daarover, op 27 juli openbaar gemaakt door RTL, zit nog iets verborgen dat de redactie zelf onderbelicht laat. Want wie betaalt het werkelijke gelag in de bezuinigingsoperatie? Inderdaad, de schrijvers. Dat regelen de bibliotheken met een simpele truc. Ze zeggen de huur op van hun eigen… 

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It has been researched: culture sector almost succumbs to work pressure (Solution: go cycling in the library)

'I would love to have a human resources manager on staff, but yes, quite a shame.' Dixit the director of a medium-sized arts institution. As in the rest of the Dutch SME sector, in the arts sector personnel policy, or HR policy, is something that is at most done on the side. Anyone who has ever got it wrong can tell great stories about... 

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Thriller writer Jo Nesbø: 'Harry Hole is a very intense character'

Hij is een getormenteerde, eenzelvige en tegendraadse kerel, maar ook een van de beste rechercheurs die het politiecorps van Oslo rijk is. En: een zeer geliefd personage. Harry Hole is terug, in de nieuwe thriller De dorst van Jo Nesbø. Of het interview een paar uur later kan, want hij heeft last van een jetlag. De populaire Noorse bestsellerauteur Jo… 

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Julia Wolfe: 'Anthracite Fields is a poetic reflection on the lives of miners'

American composer Julia Wolfe (1958) has a thing for the social history of her homeland. Steel Hammer reflects on the unequal struggle of man versus machine, as described in the folk ballad John Henry. Anthracite Fields zooms in on the hard life of miners in Pennsylvania. She won a Pulitzer Prize with it in 2015. The full-length oratorio is experiencing two July... 

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Anna Woltz: ‘Ik vind normale mensen saai’

Op woensdag 21 juni worden de Zilveren Griffels, Zilveren Penselen en Paletten en de Vlag en Wimpels uitgereikt – de opmaat voor de de uitreiking van Het Gouden Penseel en Het Gulden Palet in september en de Gouden Griffel in oktober. Interview met de Gouden Griffel-winnares van vorig jaar, Anna Woltz, over schrijven, volwassen worden en de Griffels natuurlijk. Door Tijmen… 

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'The Green Hand was a super-secret club'. Susan van 't Hullenaar on her children's book series

Later, when I grow up... Lawyer Susan van 't Hullenaar (1970) always dreamed of becoming a writer. As her 12.5-year work anniversary approached, she realised: I have to take the plunge now, otherwise it won't happen. She quit her job, became her own boss as a copywriter and picked up her pen - well, the computer. 'I gave... 

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This is what devastation looks like: The Gabriels is the perfect mirror for stumpers like us. #HF17

Endless chatting at the kitchen table. While cooking. That's all they do, the brother, the sister, the ex, the two daughters-in-law and the mother of the Gabriel family. About recipes, about the old piano. About Thomas, the brother who died of parkinson's, about his wife, who due to informal care had no time to renew her doctor's degree. All very casually, without... 

Read More "This is what devastation looks like: The Gabriels is the perfect mirror for stumpers like us. #HF17

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