From Wednesday the 8th of June until Saturday June 11th, programme directors and presidents of over ten German literature festivals will visit The Netherlands, at the invitation of Flanders Literature and the Dutch Foundation for Literature. This Fellowship takes place in the context of the Leipziger Buchmesse 2024, which will be hosted by the Netherlands and Flanders. During these intensive days, the organisers will get a broad overview of literature from the Low Countries and the opportunity to meet over fifteen writers and illustrators; all of which have upcoming German translations of their work.
The programme takes place in multiple locations in the city of Rotterdam, among which Verhalenhuis Belvédère and the Willem de Kooning Academie. There will be interviews and presentations with writers Lisa Weeda, Anne Eekhout, Gaea Schoeters, Lize Spit, Toine Heijmans, Anneleen Van Offel en Gerbrand Bakker, and makers of children’s books Martijn van der Linden, Maranke Rinck, Pieter Gaudesaboos, Annet Schaap, Mattias De Leeuw, Bette Westera en Mies van Hout. Writer and cultural journalist Wieteke van Zeil and Suzanne Meeuwissen (Dutch Foundation for Literature) will respectively give a lecture about looking at art and digital literature.
Photography: Geert Snoeijer (Lisa Weeda), Keke Keukelaar (Anne Eekhout en Lize Spit), Sébastien Van Malleghem (Gaea Schoeters), Merlijn Doomernik (Toine Heijmans), Koen Broos (Anneleen Van Offel), Roeland Fossen (Gerbrand Bakker), Eveliene Deraedt (Pieter Gaudesaboos), Bonnita Postma (Annet Schaap), Katrijn Van Giel (Mattias De Leeuw), Chris van Houts (Bette Westera), Ineke Oostveen (Mies van Hout), Najib Nafid (Wieteke van Zeil).
Authors Matthijs Ridder, Anneke Brassinga and Carolina Maciel de França will give a sneak-peek into ‘Der Rückzug’, a performance from deBuren which is structured around the last poem from Paul van Ostaijen’s ‘Bezette Stad’.
Next to this programme, the delegation gets to visit the Depot Boijmans van Beuningen and the opening night of the Poetry International Festival.
The following German organisers and directors will attend:
- Literaturhaus Berlin — Janika Gelinek
- Literaturhaus Wiesbaden — Susanne Lewalter
- Literarisches Colloqium Berlin — Lara Gross
- Poetry on the Road — Regina Dyck
- Globale° - Festival für grenzüberschreitende Literatur — Tobias Pollok
- Die Euregio liest — Ina Engelhardt
- Literaturfestival Berlin — Simone Schröder
- Literaturhaus München — Katrin Lange
- Literaturhaus Leipzig — Thorsten Ahrend
- Burg Hülshoff — Farah Heiss
- Kunststiftung NRW — Dagmar Frette
The Fellowship is realized in collaboration with the Dutch Embassy in Berlin and the Poetry International Festival in Rotterdam.
Hosting country 2024
In March 2024, The Netherlands and Flanders together will be the host country of the Leipziger Buchmesse, the largest public book fair of Germany. In preparation for this event, stages all accross Germany will host a series of literary programs. The Dutch Foundation for Literature, Flanders Literature, the Dutch Embassy and the representation of Flanders in Berlin will take care of this broad host programme together.
See also
- Guests of Honour at the Leipziger Buchmesse 2024: The Netherlands and Flanders
- Poetry International Festival, June 10-11-12, 2022