Raising Voices: Sholeh Rezazadeh and Ish Ait Hamou
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A literary evening about origins and identity in collaboration with La Monnaie and the European Union Prize for Literature.
In October La Monnaie/De Munt hosts the second edition of the Raising Voices Festival. One of the most prominent themes is that of ‘mixed identities’. For the festival’s literary component Passa Porta brings together two authors who manage to blend a multiplicity of identities into their work.
‘Mixed identities’
Sholeh Rezazadeh came to the Netherlands from Iran in 2015. Five years later she made her debut in the language of her new home country, with a story of a young Iranian woman who recently moved to the Netherlands. In her second novel a Dutch woman travels to Iran.
In his latest book Ish Ait Hamou delves into his past to understand how his origins have defined him and what the impact was of racism.
Both authors will read from their work and talk in La Monnaie/De Munt about the influence of identity and origins on their creativity.
About the authors
Dutch-Iranian writer Sholeh Rezazadeh released her literary debut De hemel is altijd paars (The Sky Is Always Purple) in Dutch in 2021, and instantly won two literary awards. Her second novel Ik ken een berg die op me wacht (I Know A Mountain Waiting For Me) was published two years later and received a special mention from the European Union Prize for Literature. In September 2024 her first collection of poems will be released.
Belgian dancer and choreographer Ish Ait Hamou made a notable entrance on the literary scene in 2014 with his debut novel Hard hart (Hard Heart). He has published four more successful novels since then, and in 2023 he released De theorie van de 1 of 2 (The Theory of the 1 or 2), a book in which he comes to terms with the demons from his past.
About the moderator
Yasmina El Messaoudi (1983) is a journalist at VRT. She also did freelance work as a radio and TV presenter for BRUZZ, Radio 1 and Q-music, among others, wrote columns for De Standaard, De Morgen, Charlie Magazine and Flair, and made reports for Libelle for many years. Spring 2022 saw the publication of Yasmina's literary debut Straatkat, a gripping and candid story about growing up between two worlds. She is working on a sequel, to be published in autumn 2025, about the death of her father and a hidden family history in Morocco.
Org. Passa Porta, De Munt - La Monnaie, the European Union Prize for Literature.
picture Sholeh Rezazadeh © Frank Ruiter
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