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Go see how Romana Peace takes The Nation to the highest level. #HF17

At last. The Nation, the hyperactual theatrical serial with which the revamped Nationale Toneel, sorry Theatre, presents itself to the country, feels like a refreshing splash of water on a soggy day. Newly appointed boss Eric de Vroedt lives up to his reputation by delivering a work that will no doubt draw new audiences into the theatres. An audience spoiled by... 

On botox, nightmares and humour: 8 life questions to Tatiana de Rosnay

The novel Her Name was Sarah (nine million copies sold) made Tatiana de Rosnay world-famous. In Paris, she even wears a wig when she does not want to be recognised. That she struggled with anorexia she kept secret for years. [bol_product_links block_id=”bol_592be29ab4765_selected-products” products=”9200000075700087,1001004010207707,9200000077515228,9200000011255053″ name="a4m" sub_id="de rosnay" link_color="003399″ subtitle_color="000000″ pricetype_color="000000″ price_color="CC3300″ deliverytime_color="009900″ background_color="FFFFFF" border_color="D2D2D2″ width="549″ cols="2″ show_bol_logo="0″ show_price="1″ show_rating="1″ show_deliverytime="1″ link_target="1″ image_size="1″ admin_preview="1″] Eight life questions... 

How Heather Ware's language mistake led to an entire dance work courtesy of Bach

What does it mean for a dancer with an intense career when she decides to choreograph as well? In March, Battle Abbey premiered, Heather Ware's first full-length choreography in collaboration with Swedish cellist Jakob Korányi. Heather Ware, a dancer with LeineRoebana since 2003, embarked on the path to creating her own choreography without a plan.... 

Johan Harstad (l) and Arjen Lubach

Arjen Lubach saves his twin brother Johan Harstad #ILFU17

Writer and television presenter Arjen Lubach has been a fan of Norwegian writer Johan Harstad for years, whose mega-thick Max, Micha & the Tet Offensive has just been published in Dutch. He even visited him in Norway. Lubach: 'I was afraid we were so much alike that we had nothing to say to each other.' That turned out to be giant. Logical, then, that he... 

Jordi Lammers, or: the secret miracle of a Utrecht Literature Festival #ILFU17

And then there turns out to be a festival theme after all. Comes all by itself. Perhaps not thought of beforehand by the management of the International Literature Festival Utrecht (ILFU), but after three days of immersion crystal clear. Writing is about that about which we do not speak. During the last festival night, Saturday 13 May, I immersed myself for the occasion in a section that allows 'Utrecht' to... 

Translator Gerd Busse, Paulien Cornelisse and Arjan Peters

Millennials like to write about 'us' #ILFU17

Whereas at last year's IlFU you were tucked away airtight in the hermetic halls of the former post office on Utrecht's Neude, the expansive view of Tivoli/Vredenburg is a breath of fresh air. It seems to loosen everyone up a bit. The result is more humour and better conversations on the roof of the world. Voskuil's Office does not birthday.... 

Lesson 1 of a Literature Festival: translators are really nice people. #ILFU17

Dutch, ladies and gentlemen, is just about the most difficult language in the world, and any committee that wants to improve it only makes it worse. As a professional language user, I have thought so for years, and it has now been happily confirmed by people who really know about it: translators. The first day of the International Literature Festival Utrecht (ILFU)... 

The Nation at the Holland festival: a theatre addiction in the making #HF17

Netflix and HBO are now purveyors of our conversations with friends, family and colleagues. The ultimate icebreaker at a party with strangers is talking about series, about beloved characters. Is Jon Snow still alive? Where is Barb? Having seen the first two working performances of 'The Nation', I have a strong impression that in Eric de Vroedt I have a fellow lover... 

Ingmar Heytze on Joni Mitchell: 'Crushed at seventeen' #ILFU

'Stop it. The fewer awards people give each other, the better.' Ingmar Heytze, poet, is clear: 'Within every conceivable genre, there are already big enough prizes. If you ask me, they should restrict that Nobel Prize to science from now on.' So on the final evening of the International Literature Festival in Utrecht (ILFU) next Saturday, it will be all about those... 

Why we're losing more and more music thanks to 'digital' #HF17

For new music, the primal performance is often also immediately the last time a piece is played. The scores await the archive or dusty drawer; recordings are nowhere to be found. David Dramm searches for these gems of stilted notes. He presents them at the Holland Festival Orphanage: three evenings of forgotten compositions from the rich... 

On being Jewish, acceptance and ambition: 8 life questions to Jonathan Safran Foer

He finds himself lazy and under-ambitious, and struggles with acceptance - of himself, of others, of the world. Because his grandparents had lived through the Holocaust, there was a taboo on being unhappy in his youth. Eight life questions to Jewish-American writer Jonathan Safran Foer. 'Between what I could do and actually do, there is a big gap.' 1.... 

Ode to the office man. The brand manager is still a mystery. #ILFU17

Arjan Peters talks 12 May 19.30 during ILFU in Utrecht with Paulien Cornelisse, author of the office novel De verwarde guia, and Gerd Busse, who translated Voskuil's ultimate office novel Het Bureau into German. There, office workers are usually not portrayed too positively. High time to change that. Office worker and writer Suzanne Brink takes... 

How to get 10 million young people reading. The story behind Hooked.

Something is changing considerably in the world of literature. Libraries are closing or turning into flex spaces for poor freelancers. The sold circulation of an average successful novel remains in four figures. Young people no longer watch TV or listen to the radio, but make their own well-watched and generously paid films on YouTube. Or they sit the... 

In Memoriam Mika Vainio 1963-2017: Electronic music loses pioneer in animated ultra-minimalsime

On Tuesday 12 April 2017, Finnish pioneer of avant-garde electronic music Mika Vainio passed away. He was 53 years old. According to Finnish media, Vainio died in an accident while on holiday in France. Shock Mika Vainio is considered a shining example and inspiration. Many artists from the electronic music world are therefore stunned and reacted on social media in disbelief.... 

Mira Feticu interviews Mircea Cărtărescu: 'My readers deserve a medal'

Earlier this year, Mircea Cărtărescu, Romania's greatest writer, was a guest at the Winternachten festival. Writer Mira Feticu, who was born and grew up in Romania and even received lectures from Cărtărescu as a student, interviewed her former compatriot and professor for A Quattro Mani. A beautiful conversation about their homeland, truth, literature and poetry. 'My books are... 

Frieda Mulisch: 'I'm not going to be doubted by what others say about me'

Adultery, lustful sex and desperately dating forty-somethings - these are the spicy ingredients of caSINO, Frieda Mulisch's debut novel. On their quest for true love, her protagonists Polly and Sam scour dating app caSINO, a kind of Tinder. We talk to her about her book, literary aspirations and, of course, her father Harry Mulisch. 'If Tinder had been around fifty years ago,... 

Podcast: Annelies Verbeke on her collection of short stories Halleluja

Annelies Verbeke broke through in literature in 2003 with her debut novel Slaap! She writes plays, scenarios, short story collections, novels and novellas. Her novel Dertig dagen (Thirty Days) won Verbeke the F. Bordewijk Prize, the NRC Book Award and the Opzij Literature Prize. And now there is a new collection of 15 stories entitled Halleluja. In these stories, the characters discover that each... 

Composer Moritz Eggert: 'Caliban turns from victim to perpetrator'

'Many opera productions still assume a nineteenth-century vision of the world,' says German composer Moritz Eggert (1965) in the podcast below. 'But art must be relevant to our own times; the answers of then are not the answers of now. Our current problems are largely rooted in our colonial past, in our exploitation of other countries ... 

Composer Brechtje: 'The musicians are the core of the universe'

'Thanks to a radio presenter, my grandfather found an entrance to classical music. With my new piece, I, in turn, am paving a path to him.' On Thursday 30 March, Elements by Brechtje (1993) will have its world premiere in the fifth episode of An Evening of Today at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. In this series by the Nieuw Ensemble, conservatory students are given ample opportunity.... 

Jan van Mersbergen: 'As thriller writer Frederik Baas, I feel freer'

We know him from such wonderful novels as To the Other Side of the Night and The Last Escape, but Jan van Mersbergen has more to his credit. He recently surprised us with The Rider, written from the perspective of an old horse, and now there is Diary from the River. Not a novel, but his first thriller, published under the pseudonym Frederik Baas.... 

Podcast: Tomas Ross on his thriller The Viceroy of the Indies

'My father was secret agent 007, long before James Bond' Tomas Ross is the Dutch grandmaster of the faction novel, a genre in which fact and fiction intermingle. His first thriller, The Dogs of Betrayal, about the South Moluccans' struggle for freedom, was published in 1980. He now has over 70 titles to his name and also writes scenarios for... 

Finds inside (Misha Mengelberg 1935 - 2017)

There is sound; a notion of impotence; a programme without a head or tail; there is power, chatter, compassion; there is nothing but also a vista, blurred image full of action and opposition. Moreover, the language seems a bit overwrought here and there. Of course, incoherent drivel can be cosy, or moving. Under circumstances, meaningfulness may be possible, but it will not... 

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