Conversations: on Writing as Activism
16.00 - 17.30 uur | Rozet (Kortestraat 16, Arnhem)
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In Conversations on Writing as Activism a panel of international literary experts – publishers, editors, policymakers and writers – discuss writing as activism. How can literature support activist ideals, and what is needed for writers to activate communities and present the connections between people across the world? Plus, what position can/should literary organisations take in order to support the activistic responsibility literary artists are taking? Together with the audience we will talk about the latest developments in the literary field. The program will be conducted in English and can also be followed via livestream. Sign up here to receive the link for the livestream shortly before the event.
Photo © Elske Nissen
Panel 1: Can writers be activists?
How can literature support activist ideals, and what is needed for writers to activate communities and present the connections between people across the world?
Photo © Sharon Jane D
Clarice Gargard
Clarice M.D. Gargard (Philadelphia, 1988) is a journalist, columnist, program maker, writer and documentary maker who combines journalism, art, social justice and philosophy. She worked as an NRC columnist and Correspondent Resistance at The Correspondent. She has also worked as an editor and presenter for AT5, BNNVARA (Joop), Vrij Nederland, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and contributed to Vice, South African 702 Talk Radio and Afropunk. Gargard co-founded the feminist journalism platform Lilith Magazine with Hasna El Maroudi and the management and consultancy bureau Lilith Agency. She is also co-founder of Black Pride NL. Gargard also writes a bi-monthly column for Conflict Management Magazine.
In 2019, Gargard was the Dutch women’s representative and gave a speech on women’s rights and the importance of systemic change at the United Nations General Assembly. As a maker and lover of art and culture, she is also a board member of the Prince Claus Fund. She was also part of the Supervisory Board of the Holland Festival and is on the Advisory Board of the Dutch Association for the United Nations.
Photo © Robin Alysha Clemens
Lisa Weeda
Lisa Weeda is a Dutch-Ukrainian writer, literary programmer, playwright and virtual reality director. She wrote and co-directed the VR installation Rozsypne, which was nominated for an award in the IDFA DOClab competition for Immersive Non-Fiction at IDFA 2019. After the release of her debut novel Aleksandra, she was named literary talent of the year 2022 by the Volkskrant and her novel landed on the shortlist of the Bookstore Prize, Scheltema Book of the Year and the Libris Literature Prize 2022. December 2022 Weeda received the Bronze Owl for best debut. Aleksandra’s translation rights have so far been sold to eight countries. In February 2024, her book Dans Dans Revolutie (Dance Dance Revolution) was released. The translation into German (Tanz Tanz Revolution) was released at the Leipziger Buchmesse. The immersive installation of the same name premiered at Theater Bellevue in May 2024 and is currently touring various festivals, including Nieuwe Types.
Flurina Badel
Flurina Badel is a multilingual author, performer and visual artist. She was initially trained as a journalist before completing her Master of Fine Arts at the Institute Art Gender Nature of the HGK FHNW in Basel, and studying at the Institute for Language Arts at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Since 2014, she has worked as a visual artist in collaboration with Jérémie Sarbach. As part of the Badel/Sarbach duo, she won the Manor Art Prize in 2019. That same year, she published her first volume of poetry tinnitus tropic (editionmevinapuorger, Zurich), which won the 2020 Swiss Literature Prize, and has been widely translated. Flurina Badel often creates and performs in collaboration with musicians and other artists, as for example with Fred Frith and Heike Liss for their Opera Truth is A Four Letter Word (commissioned by Sons d’hiver festival, 2023 Paris). Her first novel Tschiera was published this year (Chasa Editura Rumantscha).
Panel 2: How can literature support activists?
What position can/should literary organizations take in order to support the activistic responsibility literary artists are taking?
Jurgen Maas
Jurgen Maas has been a publisher since 2013. With Publisher Jurgen Maas, based in Amsterdam, he focuses mainly on fiction and non-fiction about and from the Middle East and North Africa, and the refugee issue. He has published works by Adonis, Ghayath Almadhoun, Rodaan Al Galdidi, Mahmoud Jouda, Linda Polman, Sadegh Hedayat, Albert Cossery, Mohamed Choukri, Nazim Hikmet and Tezer Özlu, among others.
Photo © Gaby Jongenelen
Alyssa Saro
Alyssa Saro is team coach and coordinator at TRILL, an arts-educational youth operation in Leuven (BE). She has worked in the Flemish literary sector for years, first as programmer and coordinator of residency work at international literary house Passa Porta, then as talent developer at Flemish Dutch house for culture and debate deBuren. In 2017, she participated in the first edition of CELA as an emerging literary professional.
Richard Kofi
Richard Kofi is een creatieve alleskunner. Zijn werk raakt verschillende thema’s die een luide stem verdienen, en ruimte moeten krijgen in onze maatschappij. Zo promoot hij dekolonisatie, inclusiviteit en diversiteit binnen culturele instellingen. Hij is naast beeldend kunstenaar is Richard ook podcastmaker, theatermaker en programmeur voor het Nationaal Theater Amsterdam.
