British Library online, Wed 17 Mar 2021, 7pm – 8:30pm; free but book here
You can now watch the video from the event for a limited time here
A high-impact literary cabaret of Dutch readings, discussion, live drawing and music.
Several Dutch writers have won acclaim in the UK – Herman Koch and Geert Mak among them – but many new writers are ready to burst onto your bookshelves, inspired by the success of Marieke Lucas Rijneveld. Gender, post-colonialism, racism, Europe and COVID-19 are hot topics not just in the UK but in the Netherlands too. Marking the launch of The Dutch Riveter magazine are three outstanding Dutch writers, Simone Atangana Bekono, Karin Amatmoekrim and Jaap Robben, and translator Sam Garrett.
Hosted by Rosie Goldsmith and with live music from singer-songwriter VanWyck, and live drawing by illustrator and political cartoonist Henny Beaumont. Part of New Dutch Writing, supported by The Dutch Foundation for Literature.
Karin Amatmoekrim is an award-winning Surinamese-Dutch writer with Indonesian, Chinese, African and Native American ancestry. She is the author of six novels, a memoir, numerous essays and short stories.
Simone Atangana Bekono‘s award-winning first poetry collection in 2017 was published in English by Emma Press: how the first sparks became visible, trans. David Colmer. Her debut novel was Confrontaties (2020).
Sam Garrett is a prolific translator of Dutch literature, twice winner of the Society of Authors’ Vondel Prize for Dutch-English translation. His 2012 translation of The Dinner by Herman Koch became the most popular Dutch novel ever translated into English.
Jaap Robben is a poet, playwright, performer, and acclaimed children’s author. You Have Me to Love, his first novel for adults, received international glowing reviews. His latest novel is Summer Brother (trans. David Doherty).
Rosie Goldsmith was a BBC journalist for 20 years. Today she is (among many things) editor-in-chief of The Riveter and director of the European Literature Network.