We are very excited to announce the latest additions to the programme of Crossing Border 2024.
Poster image: Rinus van de Velde
'I float a meter and a half above the surface,...'
2024, oil pastel on paper, 110 x 73 cm, courtesy Tim Van Laere Gallery
Programme festival evenings and day programme complete
The evening festival programme in the Royal Theater on 1 and 2 November is now complete as well as the literary day programme on 2 November with separate events in various venues.
New names added to the line up:
Paul Lynch, David Mitchell, Sana Valiulina, Stefan Hertmans, Julia Schoch, Daria Serenko, Malachy Tallack, Carolina Trujillo, Vanessa Kisuule, Bernardo Zannoni, Moon Unit Zappa, Andrej Koerkov, Lucky Fonz III, Eva Baltasar, Nikki Dekker, Sheherazaad, MRCY.
Winners European Literature Prize announced
The day programme on 2 November will finish in style with the European Literature Prize award ceremony in Kunstmuseum Den Haag. The winners have just been announced and they are incredible: Nobel Prize laureate Olga Tokarczuk and Karol Lesman with the book Empusion.
Kids programme complete
In this newsletter also the final additions of international writers and illustrators for the Kids’ programme on 2 November in Theater Vaillant. This is going to be a very exciting day for young readers with readings and workshops (0-12 yrs)
Tickets are on sale now. View the full programme and read more about the programme per day here.
Literature & music programme
A selection from the newly added names to the programme can be found below. To view the full lineup, including previously confirmed names and the rest of the new names, click here.
Literature programme
Malachy Tallack is one of the most acclaimed Scottish writers of the past decade. His latest book, That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz, is about the power of music and the feeling of connection. He is also a gifted musician and has written lyrics to each chapter, some of which he will play. Acclaimed German author Julia Schoch outlines the highs and lows of a broken love affair in her latest book The Couple of the Century. David Mitchell, author of number9dream and Cloud Atlas (both nominated for the Man Booker Prize), will also join us. He will be speaking about his latest novel, Utopia Avenue, which tells the story of the rise and fall of a quirky British rock band set against a backdrop of the psychedelic fumes of London. Irish novelist Paul Lynch will be joining us, who won the prestigious Booker Prize for his most recent novel, Prophet Song, a heartbreaking tale of a country at war and a human portrait of mother trying to hold her family together. Moon Unit Zappa - daughter of musician Frank Zappa - appeared in her father’s career-defining song Valley Girl at age 14. Since then, she has established herself as a writer, actress, comedian, artist, podcaster and tea merchant. She will be joining us to discuss her memoir Earth to Moon. Sana Valiulina covers her forthcoming book, Waar alle wegen ophouden, which will be published late October. In it, she follows the fourteen-year journey of her father. His path takes him from Western Russia to Brittany and Normandy, then through England and back to his homeland, where he was imprisoned for ten years in the Gulag as a traitor.
Music programme
American composer and vocalist Sheherazaad will present her forthcoming mini-album, Qasr, (produced by Arooj Aftab) that was engendered during a time of family estrangement, grief over a lost elder, and the racial polarisation of her country as she knew it. Translating to “castle” or “fortress” in Urdu, Qasr is indeed a monument —like encapsulation of the real strains of displacement, the push and pull of diaspora, and the depravity of erasure and forgotten roots. MRCY consists of producer Barney Lister and vocalist Kojo Degraft-Johnson. Although they hail from different corners of England, their influences merge to form a unique, warm soul sound. Both were already established names in the music world. Barney is one of the UK’s most sought-after producers, with collaborations with Obongjayar, Joy Crookes and Olivia Dean, among others. Kojo, who found his musical roots in church in South London, previously sang with artists such as Cleo Sol and Little Simz.
Winners announced for the European Literature Prize 2024
The time has come! The winners of the European Literature Prize 2024 have been announced. The winning book is Empusion by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Karol Lesman (De Geus Publishers). The award ceremony will take place on Saturday 2 November from 16:30 during Crossing Border. The location of the ceremony is the Kunstmuseum Den Haag. There, Tokarczuk (who previously won the Nobel Prize for Literature) and Lesman will receive the prize from jury chair Niña Weijers. The writer and translator will then discuss the book with a moderator.
Books will be for sale in our Other World Bookshop and Olga Tokarczuk will be signing afterwards. This programme is free of charge (you must reserve a free ticket in the Crossing Border ticket shop).
The European Literature Prize awards the best contemporary European novel that has been published in Dutch translation in the previous year. Both the author and translator of the winning novel will be honoured and will each receive €10,000 in prize money. The European Literature Prize will be awarded for the 14th time this year.
More about the winners and the European Literature Prize can be found here.
Kids’ Programme
The Crossing Border kids' programme is back this year. The second edition will take place on November 2 in several rooms of Theater Vaillant. The programme has writers and illustrators from different countries who have earned their spurs internationally. We present a diverse selection of voices, languages and life experiences.
The writers read their own stories in their native languages and there is also a Dutch translator reading along. There are interviews about the creative and artistic processes behind the stories, followed by interactive workshops. There are separate events for different age groups. Each event lasts +/- one hour. The books are for babies and toddlers (0-4), beginning readers (4-8) and advanced readers (8-12+). The age categories are an estimate.
We welcome Gianumberto Accinelli (for ages 8-12), an Italian biologist and writer. He will tell us about his book Deep in the Blue Sea. This special book takes you down, deeper and deeper into the sea. The ruler on the left side of each page is your support on the way to the deepest, darkest bottom of the sea. You will travel through zones where life is abundant and visit places that are eerily quiet and lonely. What will you encounter? From penguins and fish, submarines and massive giant squids, to the strange creatures that live in the 11 kilometer deep Mariana Trench.
Mohana van den Kroonenberg (for ages 4-8): a sculptor and writer. She made her debut with the collection of stories Moorddiner. In 2022, her debut for children, Dodo, about a child who does not speak, was published.
Reg Desard and Vale (for ages 0-4): Two the Hague-based artists, who are passionate about technology, electronic music production, visual programming and sound reactive installations, will host a workshop that will serve as an introduction to making a simple music piece derived from common sounds.
Asaf Luzon and Leila Boukarim (for ages 8-12 years): Asaf Luzon was born in Jerusalem and moved to Berlin about ten years ago. Illustrating is his greatest passion and pastime. In his work, he explores love and everything that comes with it. Leila Boukarim was born in Lebanon, traveled the world over the course of her life and now lives in Berlin. She has published several children's books, including Lost Words: An Armenian Story of Survival and Hope, about the Armenian genocide. Leila's stories are heavily influenced by her upbringing in the Middle East and raising two young boys. Together Asaf and Leila have compiled and illustrated “A Million kites: testimonies and poems from the children of Gaza” This little book is a collection of poems and testimonies from the children of Gaza, compiled between October 2023 and March 2024.
For more information about the Kids’ Programme, click here.
