Roland Colastica as writer in residence in Amsterdam

The Curaçaoan author Roland Colastica will stay in the Amsterdam Writers’ Residency from 11 March to 8 April, at the invitation of the Dutch Foundation for Literature. 

Roland Colastica (Curaçao, 1960) is a writer, playwright, teacher and actor. He made his debut in the 1990s and has published several collections of stories and poems in Papiamentu, including Rueda di fe and Djis kant’i Bo (Heel dicht naast mij). He is also the author of several children’s books and has performed at book and theatre festivals worldwide. 

His monologue Ninga bon (Denial) has been staged successfully on many occasions and in six languages. Another of his one-man shows is Fo’i bo kuenta, a tragicomic blend of stories, poems, sketches, music and songs. Colastica has participated in international literature festivals such as Winternachten and Krusa Laman in The Hague, Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire, as well as the Feria del Libro in Colombia, the Festival Iberoamericano de Cuentacuentos in Venezuela and the IDEA Conference in Hong Kong. 

In 2006 he received Curaçao’s highest cultural honour, the Cola Debrot Prize, for his work in theatre and playwriting. His Dutch-language YA novel Vuurwerk in mijn hoofd (Fireworks in My Head) was published in 2012, written under the guidance of his friend and fellow author Sjoerd Kuyper. 

During his residency in Amsterdam, supported by the Dutch Foundation for Literature, Colastica will work on a new novel for adult readers in Dutch, with guidance from writer Nelleke Noordervliet. 

1 April 2026, 8 PM at Theater De Vaillant, The Hague 
Performance: Verlangen (in Dutch), tickets via the website