Alumni Week: What if literature can change the world?
Monday 6 October | 19:30-21:00 | De Brug
- Date
- 6 October 2025
- Time
- 19:30 -21:00
- Room
- De Brug
Please note: this session is in Dutch.
Harm Edens and Persis Bekkering will talk with authors Tobi Lakmaker, Niña Weijers, Lucky Fonz III and Emma van Meyeren. Tobi Lakmaker will also read a column.
Speakers
Harm Edens is a programme maker, writer and has been in search of a better world for thirty years. He studied Dutch Language and Literature at the University of Groningen and Theatre Studies at the University of Amsterdam. Edens wrote sitcoms for television for 23 years, including Laat Maar Zitten, In de Vlaamse Pot and Het Zonnetje in Huis. Since 1996, he has presented Dit Was Het Nieuws and hosts BNR Duurzaam on the radio. In addition, Harm Edens has written books including Volkomen Onnatuurlijk Gedrag (2022) and De Belangrijkste Vragen van je Leven (2025). He is an ambassador for the World Wide Fund for Nature, Just Diggit and the Jane Goodall Institute.
Persis Bekkering studied Literary Studies at the UvA and is a writer. She made her debut with the novel Een heldenleven (2018), which was nominated for the ANV Debutants’ Prize. Her second novel, Exces (2021), was nominated for the BNG Bank Literature Prize. Bekkering writes literary reviews and essays for NRC, publishes regularly in magazines, and teaches creative writing at ArtEZ University of the Arts.
Tobi Lakmaker writes columns for De Volkskrant. After briefly studying Russian and Literary Studies, he completed a degree in Philosophy at the UvA in 2018. In 2021, his debut novel De geschiedenis van mijn seksualiteit (The History of My Sexuality) was published. He is currently working on a new book.
Niña Weijers studied Literary Studies at the UvA and is the author of the novels De consequenties (2014) and Kamers antikamers (2019). In 2022, her essay collection Zelf doen was published, followed by the book-length essay Cassandra (2023). She is currently working on a new novel.
Lucky Fonz III studied English Language and Culture at the UvA and is a singer, composer and lyricist. As a writer, he has published columns, essays and short stories in various newspapers and literary magazines. His debut novel Van de goden vervuld was published in October 2024 by Uitgeverij Pluim.
Emma van Meyeren completed the Research Master’s in Literary Studies at the UvA and is a writer and researcher. In 2020, her essay collection Ook ik ben stukgewaaid: essays over rouw was published by Uitgeverij Chaos. In collaboration with Read My World, she develops the writing workshops Het dagboek als feministisch genre (The Diary as a Feminist Genre). At Leiden University, she is working on her doctoral thesis on linguistic experiments in the prose of Astrid Roemer.
