13th ALCS International Conference 2019, UCL

Henriette Louwerse
Schermafbeelding 2020-01-14 om 20.09.04
The 13th ALCS International Conference took place at UCL from 6 to 8 November 2019.

We welcomed over 70 colleagues from across Europe and a sizeable contingent from the US, resulting in 15 panel sessions, 42 papers, as well as four keynotes that were open to a wider audience and shed a light on Worlding the Low Countries from the perspective of history, literature, culture and translation. You can find the full conference programme here.

This year’s keynote speakers were Dagomar Degroot (Georgetown University), Saskia Pieterse (Utrecht University), Theo Hermans (UCL) and Bambi Ceuppens (Africa Museum Brussels).

Click and listen to Dagomar Degroot’s keynote on the Frigid Golden Age

We are very grateful to Flanders House for their very warm reception and exceptional conference dinner, to the Taalunie for their continuous and generous support, and to the Dutch Centre for the collaboration with their film festival.

Schermafbeelding 2019-10-09 om 12.46.22

ALCS ‘Cabinet Reshuffle’

Henriette Louwerse

There have been a few changes in the ALCS executive committee.

We welcome Filip De Ceuster (University of Sheffield) as our new director, and Christine Sas (University College London) as the new ALCS Chair!

Many thanks to the outgoing director, Anna Geurts, and chair, Henriette Louwerse, for their dedication, inspirational leadership and enthusiasm. Henriette Louwerse will remain a vital member of the ALCS Executive Committee.

 

 

An evening with Cees Nooteboom

Henriette Louwerse

https---cdn.evbuc.com-images-68329829-386921624-1-original.20190812-134837

This is an event not be be missed by anybody with an interest in Dutch Literature.

The evening will celebrate the many novels, stories, travel books and poetry written by Cees Nooteboom. Professor Jane Fenoulhet, Emeritus Professor of the Department of Dutch, and author of Nomadic Literature: Cees Nooteboom and his Writing (Peter Lang, 2013), will interview the author about his work.

Nooteboom will read poems from the 2014 anthology Light Everywhere and from his most recent collection, Monk’s Eye (2016). The conversation will range across the author’s many works in English. There will be an opportunity for members of the audience to ask questions, followed by the opportunity to buy books and have them signed by the author, and a wine reception.

Tuesday 3 September, 6pm at UCL  Cees Nooteboom will receive an honourary doctorate from UCL and this is the public event attached to that momentous occasion.

Register for this free event.

Ons Erfdeel launches new website

Henriette Louwerse

The Flemish-Dutch cultural institution Ons Erfdeel vzw has launched a new websites for the English speaking world:  www.the-low-countries.com. Ons Erfdeel aims to provide even more context on culture from the Low Countries.

ONSEFDEEL

Ons Erfdeel says:

At Ons Erfdeel vzw we’ve been telling stories about Flanders and the Netherlands in three languages for years, with sharp-witted pens representing trustworthy voices. Those stories deserve a bigger, broader, younger audience. That’s why on 1 April we’re launching as many as three websites, in English, French and Dutch. Websites with a unified style but offering different content.

As you have been accustomed to from us for many years, on this platform too you will be able to read in-depth articles on art, language, literature, history and society in the Low Countries. For this purpose we are appealing to established names and young talent, from the Dutch-speaking region and far beyond. They supply the cultural context, in contemplative stories, columns and interviews, but also in photo reports, podcasts and videos.

To name just a few of our new columnists: Peter Vandermeersch (soon to be former editor in chief of NRC), Gaston Durnez (icon of Flemish journalism), Hind Fraihi (research journalist), Thomas Heerma van Voss (author) and Fieke Van der Gucht (linguist).

The ALCS says:

We congratulate Ons Erfdeel with this fantastic initiative. We are looking forward to working together to raise the international profile of Dutch Studies. And we’d like to add that one of the contributors will be our own Anna Geurts.