Writers Unlimited

In the first Writers Unlimited podcast, philosopher and writer Simon(e) van Saarloos invites the internationally-beloved storyteller and Professor of Creative Writing Nalo Hopkinson for an Asterisk conversation – “een sterretjesgesprek”. Asterik conversations expand and overlap, trusting that different themes and threads interweave and cross, influencing each other. The asterisk resists the idea of core business, of a single issue struggle (Audre Lorde) or truth with a capital T. As Jack Halberstam writes in Trans*: the asterisk refuses to “situate transition in relation to destination, a final form, a specific shape, or an established configuration of desire and identity”.

The Asterisk Conversations features each episode a writer overseas and invites a maker based in The Netherlands to create a new work in response. This way, each podcast ends with the beginning of a new conversation. And this time it was very obvious that we should invite Tirsa With to respond. Tirsa With is an audio-storyteller, and she builds on the traditions of her Maroon Surinamese heritage which taught her the importance of multiplicity of voice and the way audio creates space for this. Tirsa has decided to respond with her story on the questions that Nalo and I share on non-linear time.

Credits The Asterisk Conversations #1 | Writers Unlimited
Guests: Nalo Hopkinson & Tirsa With
Host: Simon(e) van Saarloos
Editor: Ilonka Reintjens
Audio editor: Jörgen Gario Unom JG
Transcription: Terry Ezra
Special Thanks: Mitchell Renardus

Show Notes

In the first Writers Unlimited podcast, philosopher and writer Simon(e) van Saarloos invites the internationally-beloved storyteller and Professor of Creative Writing Nalo Hopkinson for an Asterisk conversation – “een sterretjesgesprek”. Asterik conversations expand and overlap, trusting that different themes and threads interweave and cross, influencing each other. The asterisk resists the idea of core business, of a single issue struggle (Audre Lorde) or truth with a capital T. As Jack Halberstam writes in Trans*: the asterisk refuses to “situate transition in relation to destination, a final form, a specific shape, or an established configuration of desire and identity”. The Asterisk Conversations features each episode a writer overseas and invites a maker based in The Netherlands to create a new work in response. This way, each podcast ends with the beginning of a new conversation. And this time it was very obvious that we should invite Tirsa With to respond. Tirsa With is an audio-storyteller, and she builds on the traditions of her Maroon Surinamese heritage which taught her the importance of multiplicity of voice and the way audio creates space for this. Tirsa has decided to respond with her story on the questions that Nalo and I share on non-linear time. Credits The Asterisk Conversations #1 | Writers Unlimited Guests: Nalo Hopkinson & Tirsa With Host: Simon(e) van Saarloos Editor: Ilonka Reintjens Audio editor: Jörgen Gario Unom JG Transcription: Terry Ezra Special Thanks: Mitchell Renardus

What is Writers Unlimited?

Schrijvers, dichters en denkers delen hun gedachten over brandende kwesties in de Winternachten festival-tracks. (English below) Writers Unlimited brengt auteurs én hun publiek jaarlijks samen in het Winternachten internationaal literatuurfestival Den Haag (27e editie 16-19 juni 2022), in de Writers Series (gespreksprogramma's op meerdere locaties in Den Haag), en in de Podcast. Tijdens die ontmoetingen wisselen ze hun literaire werk, hun ervaringen, dromen en ideeën uit. Over grenzen van culturen en talen en in een informele sfeer.

Writers, poets and thinkers share their ideas about burning questions in Winternachten festival tracks. Writers Unlimited connects authors with their audiences across cultures and countries: during the annual Winternachten international literature festival The Hague, in the Writers Series - monthly meetings at several The Hague locations and in the Podcast.