Guido Snel is a writer and translator and works as professor of European Literature at the faculty of European Studies (University of Amsterdam). He is the author of De Mirreberg (2018), Huis voor het hiernamaals (2016) and Naar Istanbul (2014).

Guido Snel contributes to European Literature Night 2020 and State of European Literature on 18 September 7:45 pm and 9.00 pm

Henri Julien (Hans) Croiset (1935) is a Dutch theater director, and actor for theater, films and television. Since 2007 he became an author as well and published several autobiographical books.

Henri Croiset contributes to “Smekelingen” on 19&20 September 2:oo pm.

(c) photo Bart Koetsier

Margot Dijkgraaf is a literary critic, working for NRC Handelsblad, and ambassador for French literature in The Netherlands and the other way around. She is author of Franstalige literatuur van nu (2003), Lezen in Frankrijk. Een literaire tour de France (2018) and Zij namen het woord. Rebelse schrijfsters in de Franse letteren (Atlas Contact).

Margot Dijkgraaf contributes to European Literature Night 2020.

Sophie Derkzen is an Amsterdam-based journalist and moderator who spent various phases of her life in Germany and has expertise in international politics. She started her career in Amsterdam as a journalist focusing on domestic politics and socio-economic issues. From 2009 until 2014 she worked as a staff reporter for the Dutch opinion magazine Vrij Nederland and she is currently the host of the daily radio-show ‘Bureau Buitenland’.

Sophie Derkzen is the moderator of the following sessions: ‘Who Gets Europe‘ (September 18, 8.30pm, Grote Zaal, De Balie) and ‘Power to the People‘ (September 18, 5:00pm, Grote Zaal, De Balie).

Philipp Blom (1970, DE) is a German historian, novelist, journalist and translator. After he obtained his PhD Modern History in Oxford, he worked as a journalist, contributing to newspapers,  magazines and radio programmes in Europe and the US. His historical books on European history such as The Vertigo Years (2008) and A Wicked Company (2010) have been awarded with many international prizes. For his current project “At Breaking Point” he is working on a historical overview of culture and life during the inter-War period in Europe and the United States.

Website

Philipp Blom contributes to The State of European Literature – September 18 19.45-20.30, in the Aula, Universiteit van Amsterdam.

Gijs Scholten van Aschat (1959) is one of the most famous actors in the Netherlands, and is part of the ITA ensemble since 2008.
In season 19|20 he will perform in the premiere of The homecoming (director Nanouk Leopold) and in the revivals of The wood, The cherry orchard, The year of cancer (nomination Louis d’Or), After the rehearsal / Persona, Husbands and wives and Roman Tragedies.

Gijs Scholten van Aschat contributes to ‘De Smekelingen‘ September 19th and 20th, 14.00 at Tolhuistuin – Tuin 

Monique Schwitter contributes to European Literature Night on Friday 19 September 9:00 pm at Brakke Grond 

Tomas Vaiseta (born 1984) studied journalism. But as soon as he got his PhD, he entered yet another field, that of fiction. His first collection of short stories is clearly influenced by the material of his academic research into bleak, depressed and oppressed Soviet everyday life. His novel seems to draw more on his personal than his academic experience. It is hard to say which of his two books is better, but they are definitely very different from each other. Surprises are sure to follow in the future.

Thomas Vaiseta contributes to European Literature Night on Friday 19 September 9:00 pm at Brakke Grond 

Pavla Horáková (1974) is a Prague-based author, radio journalist and literary translator. She has translated over 20 books from English and Serbian, worked for the international section for the Czech Radio. In 2018 she published her first novel for adults, Teorie podivnosti [A Theory of Strangeness]. She also hosts a show on Czech Radio’s arts & culture station Vltava for which she co-wrote and co-presented a series marking the centenary of WW1.

Pavla Horáková contributes to European Literature Night on Friday 19 September 9:00 pm at Brakke Grond 

Paulus Hochgatterer (1961) lives as a writer and child therapist in Vienna. He has received various literary prizes and commendations, including 2009 the European Literature Prize for his book The Sweetness of Life (2006). Hochgatterer often writes crime novels, but rather than focusing on the mystery and the chase, his books revolve around the experiences of trauma, violence, and cruelty of the characters, especially the children in his stories. His writing is heavily indebted to his work as child therapist, enabling him to write with keen insights into themes like mental health and trauma.

Paulus Hochgatterer contributes to European Literature Night on Friday 19 September 9:00 pm at Brakke Grond 

Pierre Jarawan (1985) was born to a Lebanese father and a German mother and moved to Germany with his family at the age of three. He has won international prizes as a slam poet, and in 2016 was named Literature Star of the Year by the daily newspaper Abendzeitung. Jarawan received a literary scholarship from the City of Munich (the Bayerischer Kunstförderpreis) for The Storyteller, which went on to become a bestseller and booksellers’ favorite in Germany and the Netherlands. His new book, A Song for the Missing, will be released in Dutch in May 2020.

Pierre Jarawan contributes to European Literature Night on Friday 19 September 9:00 pm at Brakke Grond 

(c) photo Tom van Nuffel

Margot Vanderstraeten is writer and journalist. After studying to be a translator, she started writing voor De Morgen and De Standaard. She wrote several novels and two interview collections. In 2017 she wrote her first work of non-fiction, Mazzel Tov, winning various prices. The book documents her experience as a tutor in an orthodox jewish family in Antwerp.

Margot Vanderstraeten contributes to European Literature Night on Friday 19 September 9:00 pm at Brakke Grond 

(c) photo LynnSK

Sarah Chiche (1976) is a French writer and psychoanalist. She is author of novels such as Les enténébrés [Shadow People] (2019) and essays including Une histoire érotique de la psychanalyse (2018).

Sarah Chiche contributes to European Literature Night on Friday 19 September 9:00 pm at Brakke Grond 

Juan Gómez Bárcena studied literature, history and philosophy. His short-story collection The Sleeping was hailed as one of the best debuts of the year in 2012 by El Cultural. The Sky Over Lima is his first novel. Next year his second novel will be published in Dutch, Kanada. He lives in Madrid, Spain.

Juan Gómez Bárcena contributes to European Literature Night on Friday 19 September 9:00 pm at Brakke Grond 

Abdelkader Benali (1975) was born in Ighazzazen, Morocco, and has lived in The Netherlands since 1979. He studied history in Leiden and now lives in Amsterdam. His debut novel Wedding by the Sea (1996) immediately propelled him to literary fame, and he has remained among the most prominent Dutch authors ever since. Apart from writing novels Benali has also written several plays and short story collections.

Abdelkader Benali contributes to European Literature Night on Friday 19 September 9:00 pm at Brakke Grond 

After a knee injury ended her professional street football career, Rocky Hehakaija (1984) founded Favela Street, a personal development program training young people to become role models through street football. As a social entrepreneur, she convinces young people all over the globe that they matter and belong here so that they can break away from the image that society projects on them. Rocky works closely with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and as a consultant for large organizations such as Nike and UEFA. More recently, Rocky achieved another milestone as she became the first-ever female street footballer to appear in the massively popular game FIFA20.

Rocky Hehakaija contributes to the programme Football: The People’s Game on 19 September 8:30 pm.

Eric Ngalle Charles is a story-teller par-excellence. A writer, poet, actor and playwright with many tales to tell, a unique theatrical voice. After nearly a decade seeking sanctuary as a refee from Cameroon, he reached Wales where he studies modern history and popular culture. His plays have been performed at London Southbank Centre, Hay Festival, Llandeilo Festival and many more.

Eric Ngalle Charles contributes to European Literature Night on Friday 19 September 9:00 pm at Brakke Grond 

Charl Landvreugd is an artist and researcher who grew up in Rotterdam in an environment and time when many different migrant communities were making the Netherlands their home. Being part of this vibrant space, he advocates for local continental European concepts and language. Using a broad range of artistic disciplines, he applies the results of his research to think about citizenship and belonging and how this is expressed in the visual arts in continental Europe. As a Goldsmiths (BA), Fulbright and Columbia University (MA) alumnus he completed his PhD in Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art in London.

Charl Landvreugd contributes to Beeldbepalers: Charles Landvreugd on 19 September 8:00 pm. 

Dilara Bilgic (2002), just graduated from grammar school in the Netherlands, is the author of the book ‘The Black Box Democracy’. In her book, published by Boom uitgevers, she analyses the current Dutch political system and adumbrates an alternative political system. Bilgic also posts articles on her newsblog specula.nl.

Dilara Bilgic contributes to Change is in our Hands at IJburg College

Francio Guadeloupe‘s roots and routes connect the French, Dutch, English, and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. He was born on the Dutch West Indian Island of Aruba, but has lived most of his life in Europe. His principal areas of research have been on the ways in which nationalism, multiculturality, media, and religion continue to be impacted by the long colonial moment and global capital. Currently, Dr. Guadeloupe is researching the culturalisation of citizenship in Europe.

Francio Guadeloupe contributes to Afropean on Friday 18 September at 8:00 pm at Foam

(c) photo Jan Versweyveld

Ivo van Hove (Belgium, 1958) began his career as a theatre director in 1981 with his own productions (Germs, Rumours). Since 2001, he is the director fo International Theater Amsterdam. His often awarded productions have been performed at e.g. the Festival d’Avignon, Edinburgh International Festival, the Venice Biennale, the Holland Festival, Theater der Welt and the Wiener Festwochen.

Ivo van Hove contributes to Opening, We, the People

Celil Toksöz (59), is the Kurdish-Turkish-Dutch director of Theater RAST from Amsterdam, who will adapt Bryan Doerries’ the Suppliants for the Forum. In 1986, he started playing Turkish-language performances in the Netherlands, where he ended up as a refugee and sought to connect with society through theatre. Toksöz comes from a rich Kurdish tradition of storytellers; one of his first works was translating Bredero into Turkish and became a drama teacher in the Netherlands in the 1990s.

Recently, Toksöz focuses on adapting classic operas and plays to Kurdish language and storytelling styles. After creating an adaptation of Hamlet, Puccini’s Tosca was made in Kurdish, shown in Toksöz’s hometown of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey.

Celil Toksöz contributes to The Suppliants on 19 & 20 September at 2:oo pm in Tolhuistuin

Alicja Gescinska (Belgium/Poland, 1981) is a writer, TV-presenter and philosopher. She has written columns for Trouw, De Morgen and Filosofie Magazine, giving philosophical commentary and perspectives on current events. She was the maker and presenter of Wanderlust, a television programme in which she discussed the large questions of life with numerous influential thinkers of our time. She is also the author of numerous books, including ‘Allmensch: Van middelmaat tot meesterschap’, about the nature of humanity and individual development.

Gideon Rachman (United Kingdom, 1963) is a British journalist, author, and commentator. He is the chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times. His main interests include American foreign policy, the European Union, and globalization. Rachman’s books include Zero-Sum World and Easternisation – War and Peace in the Asian Century. The latter argues that the 500 years of Western domination of global politics is coming to an end due to the rise of new powers in Asia.

Gideon Rachman contributes to This is What We Know about your Future on Thursday 17 September at 8:30 pm 

Alessandro Baricco (Italy, 1958) is a writer, director, and performer. His novels have been translated into many languages, and his theater productions and essays gained international recognition. In 2008, he wrote and directed the critically acclaimed film Lecture 21. His essay The Barbarians and his new book The Game (2019) describe the monumental advances of the digital revolution and analyze their impact on Western culture and the way we experience and interact with the world around us.

Noreena Hertz (United Kingdom, 1967) is an English economist, author and broadcaster. Mrs Hertz gained a reputation as a leading thinker due to her impressive track record in predicting global trends and her activities as a strategic advisor to the world’s key figures in business and politics. Her best-selling books, which include The Silent Takeover, IOU:The Debt Threat, and Eyes Wide Open, have been published in 22 languages. Vogue named Mrs Hertz “one of the world’s most inspiring women.” Her upcoming book The Lonely Century argues that the advances of the modern age cause widespread loneliness across the globe.

Noreena Hertz is contributing to A Converstation with Noreena Hertz on 20 September at 7:00 pm.

Árpád Schilling (Hungary, 1974) is a theater director. He began staging productions at the age of 19, and is now the artistic director of the Krétakör center for contemporary arts based in Budapest. With the center, he runs education programs and produces works of performing and media arts in an effort to address social issues, both in Hungary and abroad.

Wong Yik Mo is an activist from Hong Kong. He is one of the faces of the pro-democracy political party Demosisto and organised major demonstrations and assemblies in Hong Kong in the last years, including those with over 1.2 and 1.7 million participants.

Wong Yik Mo contributes to Power to the People on 18 September on 5:00 pm.

Lisette Ma Neza is a  slam poet. In 2017 she won the National Poetry Slam Championship in Belgium. She received various prizes for her poetry that she describes as “a quest for identity.” She lives in Brussels and studies at the Luca School of Arts.

Lisette Ma Neza contributes to Afropean on 18 September at 8:00 pm.

Priscilla Ludosky (1985) is an activist and one of the founders of the yellow vest movement. In 2018 she published an online petition about the need for ‘lower taxes on essential goods, the implemenation of citizens’ initiative referendum, lower pensions and salaries of senior officials and election officials.’ Although some political parties’ MP contacted her to see if she was interested in joining them, she refuses to participate in political parties.

Priscilla Ludosky is contributing to Power to the People on 18 September at 5:oo pm.

Jochum ten Haaf (Netherlands, 1978) is a Dutch actor and writer, notable for stage, film and television work including Vincent in Brixton, Nightwatching (2008), Bankier van het verzet (2018) and Dunkirk (2017).

Jochum ten Haaf is contributing to The Suppliants on 19 & 20 September at 2:00 pm.

Kishore Mahbubani (Singapore, 1948) is a political scientist, writer, and former diplomat. He is a Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore, and served as Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. His books, Has the West Lost It? (2018) and Has China Won? (2020) discuss the decline of European and US power and the rise of China and India on the world stage.

Kishore Mahbubani is contributing to An Outsider’s Perspective on 20 September at 3:00 pm.

Eniola Aluko (United Kingdom, 1987) is an English former professional footballer, lawyer, philanthropist, author and Aston Villa Women’s current sporting director. She last played as a forward for Serie A club Juventus. She regularly writes for the Guardian and also appears for television commentary on football, for both men’s and women’s World Cups. “Women are using their voices and their feet to break barriers all over the world. I would say that women have never been in a more empowered position, and I am proud to have been part of the generation that has made that happen.”

Eniola Aluko contributes to Football: The People’s Game on 19 September at 8:30 pm.

Mattia Santori (1987) is the founder and “face” of the Sardine movement in Italy. The grassroots movement has enjoyed incredible momentum in late 2019, when the Sardines mobilized in huge numbers to speak up against the growing polarization and xenophobia brought on by the political presence and the discourse of Matteo Salvini’s Lega and other far-right groups. Despite exerting sizeable influence on public debate, Santori wishes to remain free from direct political affiliations:

“Our strength is to have no flag, that is enough for us: we are independent and free from any power game”.

Johny Pitts (United Kingdom) is an author, presenter, poet, photographer, and musician, performing music with the Bare Knuckle Soul Collective. He recently wrote the book ‘Afropean: Notes from Black Europe’, part of the larger Afropean project which attempts to explore the interaction between black and European cultures in diverse ways including photography, performance and film. In the book, Pitts travels through a number of European cities, searching for a culture that embraces blackness and is yet fundamentally of Europe.

Johny Pitts is contributing to Afropean on 18 September at 8:00 pm at Foam.

Bryan Doerries (United States, 1976) is a writer and director. He is the founder of Theater of War, a project which uses readings of Greek tragedies as a starting point and basis for discussions about social issues. While initially focused on veterans, service members and their families, the project now addresses a wide variety of social issues including domestic violence, racism & social justice, addiction and sexual violence. His work shows how theater can be used to discuss and address social issues.

Bryan Doerries contributes to The Suppliants on 19 & 20 September at 2:00 pm at Tolhuistuin.

David Goldblatt (United Kingdom, 1965) is a journalist, author and broadcaster writing on the history, sociology and influence of football in society. He has authored a number of books, including  ‘The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football’ and ‘The Age of Football: The Global Game in the Twenty-first Century’. He won the European Press Prize in 2019 for his unique interview with Viktor Orbán about football. “Football creates solidarities, identities and the possibility of opposition.”

David Goldblatt is contributing to Football: The People’s Game on 19 September at 8:30 pm

Taslima Nasrin (Bangladesh, 1962) is an international author, feminist, human rights activist, and Islam critic. Originally a physicist, Nasrin switched to writing poetry and prose. Her unflinching criticism of female oppression and Islam led to forced exile and multiple fatwas calling for her death.

Taslima Nasrin is contributing to An Outsider’s Perspective on 20 September at 3:00 pm

Francesca Melandri (Italy, 1964) is an Italian author, screenwriter, and documentary filmmaker. Her novels, such as her award-winning debut Eva Sleeps (2010) and Sangue giusto (2017, translated into Dutch under the name De lange weg naar Rome), deal with themes such as regional identity, Italy’s national identity, and its amnesia with respect to its fascist and colonial past.

Francesca Melandri is contributing to This is What We Know about Your Future on 17 September at 8:30

Fernando Sánchez Castillo (1970, Spain), the artist behind the iconic Tank Man (2013) explores the relationships between history and politics, art and power, public space and collective memory and their manifestations in the form of monuments. He is among today’s most prominent Spanish artists.

Fernandeo Sánchez Castillo is contributing to Figures of Freedom 

Clare Farrell (United Kingdom) is the co-founder of the environmental action group Extinction Rebellion. This global environmental movement uses nonviolent civil disobedience to raise widespread awareness for climate change as an existential threat and to compel governments to immediately act on this. As a fashion designer and visual artist, she leads the XR Art team, which is responsible for the action group’s successful branding.

Clare Farrell contributes to Power to the People on September 18 at 5:00 pm

Benjamin Roll (Czech, 1985) is the co-founder of the movement Million Moments for Democracy. Benjamin Roll helped to draw over a quarter of a million people to a demonstration against Prime Minister Babis in June 2019. Those were the largest since the Velvet Revolution. But the aims of the Czech activist are larger: “If more and more people will find a moment for democracy — a small gesture — it will change something in society.”

Douglas Murray (United Kingdom, 1979) is a British conservative author, journalist, and political commentator. He works as editor for The Spectator and wrote multiple books, such as Neoconservatism: Why We Need It (2005), The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race, and Identity (2019) and The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam (2017). The latter argues that Europe civilisation is complicit in its own demise, allowing mass migration into its continent and lacking confidence in its “beliefs, traditions, and legitimacy.”

Flavia Kleiner (Switzerland, 1990) is the founder of Operation Libero, which in 2016 managed to defeat a proposal by the right-wing populist party SVP to deport immigrants who had committed any criminal offence, regardless of severity. Since then, she has continued her work with Operation Libero, defeating a number of populist initiatives and formulating strategies for opposing populist arguments and methods in Switzerland and throughout Europe.

Simon Kuper (United Kingdom, 1969) has written extensively on the history, sociology and economics of football. He is a general correspondent at Financial Times and has written for Het Financieele Dagblad, De Pers, and the literary football magazine Hard Gras. “Some people draw a rigid line between “low” and “high” culture. They regard sport as profane or stupid and opera or politics as sacred or adult. But I’m with the critic Walter Benjamin, who went from reading Goethe to reading popular culture.”

Lucas De Man (Belgium) is a Flemish artist, director, and TV-presenter who specializes in performance pieces. In his work, he tries to transform public space to facilitate openness and vulnerability. He was selected as the first artist in residence of the Rabobank in 2017-2018, and was guest curator for Theater aan Zee in 2019.

Orlando Figes (United Kingdom, 1959) is a professor of history at Birbeck College, University of London. He has written extensively on ninetieth and early twentieth-century Russian history, and recently published the book The Europeans: Three Lives and the Making of a Cosmopolitan Culture (2019). In the book, “… a reminder of the unifying force of European civilisation…” he traces the origin of a European identity, expressed and experienced through the arts.