From Friday, November 21st to Sunday, November 23rd, the annual Explore the North festival weekend will take place. A three-day journey of discovery filled with stories in many forms. At beautiful locations in Leeuwarden’s historic city center, musicians, theater makers, and poets will take you on a journey through unique stories, performances, concerts, and more.
Literature and poetry lovers can indulge themselves again this year. A selection from the program:
- World-renowned French writer and sociologist Édouard Louis will be at the festival. He will be in conversation with fellow (Dutch) writer and friend Raoul de Jong, among others. Through readings by actors Hans Kesting and Minne Koole, all the important themes from Édouard Louis’s work will be explored.
- De Poezieboys (Joep Hendrickx and Jos Nargy) are regular guests with rock ‘n’ roll & poetry. With Poezienight, they present a program full of Dutch and Flemish poets. They will also perform the Oerol hit “GEESTEN” (SPIRITUALS) with Joost Oomen. Dutch spoken.
- In the 1950s, Ella Wassenaer was one of the few female Frisian poets to experiment. Her iconic collection “Reade Runen” (1959) was translated from Frisian into Dutch for the first time by Zindzi Tillot Owusu. The bilingual collection (supplemented with essays) will be presented on Sunday. The day before, four young writers will revive Ella’s forgotten voice.
- Zea, aka Arnold de Boer, will present his third Frisian-language album, “In Lichem Fol beloften”. He will do so together with the 16 percussionists of Drumband Hallelujah Makkum and poet Tsead Bruinja.
- During the annual residency “De Verwonderkamer” – a collaboration between deBuren and Explore the North – Flemish and Northern Dutch artists collaborate on new work. This year, the participants were inspired by Anne-Goaitske Breteler’s “De laatste dagen van de dorpsgek” (The Last Days of the Village Idiot). You can see the results during the festival. Dutch/Frisian.
- In the live Dutch radio play “Gran Canaria, wie neemt ons mee?”, written by Nicole van den Berg, we follow Gerard and Marcel, two men who meet at a bus stop just outside the devout village of Grafsloot. Cast: Raymond Muller and Douwe Dijkstra, director: Eelco Venema.
- Four young writers (Jonge Schrijvers) between the ages of 15 and 18 each wrote several protest songs. They gave words to things that anger them, scare them, or want to change. Their words are powerfully performed by a four-piece professional band.
- Within the “crawl-through” program, you’ll discover brand-new short talks and performances in unexpected locations throughout the city by (young) writers, musicians, choreographers, and theater makers who will immerse you in what they’re working on. Featuring Erik de Boer, Willemijn van de Walle, Jaimy Hindriks, and Esmé van den Boom, among others.
- On Friday, November 21st, and Saturday, November 22nd, literary creators can meet and ask questions of grant providers such as the Letterenfonds, Literatuur Vlaanderen, het Amarte fonds, Fonds 21, Dioraphte, Het Cultuurfonds and deBuren, during a speed date or Q&A. All discussions will take place at Podium Explore, Bagijnestraat 59, Leeuwarden. Please register via the website.
