Interdisciplinary makers squint at language
In Dictieland a collective of literary makers explore multilingualism in every sense of the word. To whom does language belong? How to translate language? What is created by a translation and what is lost? Central focus here is the maker’s quest for the validity of language as well as for the (im)possibility of really reaching other people, really understanding each other whether one speaks the same tongue or not. Earlier this year this project was performed at the Wintertuin festival in Nijmegen. For Explore the North 2023 a new version shall be presented on stage, to which end the the writers Preston Losack, Heleen van Maldegem and Merlijn Huntjens are to meet up during their residence in Leeuwarden in autumn this year.
Dictieland is an initiative by Wintertuin in collaboration with Explore the North.
About the creators
Preston Losack writes lyrical poems with surrealistic influences in a combination of English, Dutch and Frisian. He is originally from Dallas, Texas. Subjects such as fishing, sexuality, climate change and friendship often recur in his poems. Preston published his work in the Leeuwarder Courant, the Moanne and in publications of Leeuwarden City of Literature among others.
Heleen van Maldegem is a versatile artist who makes her creative mark both on stage and behind the scenes. Since her youth, she has performed in renowned Dutch theaters, which laid the foundation for a musical education. Nowadays she can still regularly be seen in intimate theater productions.
She also developed herself as a filmmaker and director with a specific focus on the visual art of the camera. Among the multitude of diverse projects she has tackled, one theme remains prominent in all her work: communication and language.
Merlijn Huntjens is a writer. Between 2013 and 2018, Merlijn was active as a poetry slammer and performed extensively in the Netherlands, Belgium and occasionally in Germany. In 2016, 2017 and 2018 he was in the final of the NK poetry slam and between 2017 and 2019 he was city poet of Heerlen. Merlijn is currently a maker at Wintertuin. His poems regularly appear in literary magazines such as De Revisor and Tirade and in 2022 his chapbook 'De zee zwaait terug' was published by Wintertuin.