Authors
Rodaan Al Galidi
Rodaan Al Galidi is a poet and writer. Born in Iraq and trained as a civil engineer, he has lived in the Netherlands since 1998. As an undocumented asylum seeker he did not have the right to attend language classes, so he taught himself to read and write Dutch. His novel De autist en de postduif (“The Autist and the Carrier Pigeon”) won the European Union Prize for Literature in 2011 – the same year he failed his Dutch citizenship course. The Leash and the Ball is Al Galidi’s latest novel. His previous book, Two Blankets, Three Sheets, is also published by World Editions. Both titles are bestsellers in the Netherlands.
Books
Events
10 June
Meet the World: Rodaan al Galidi & Jonathan Reeder
As part of Meet The World, we’re teaming up with the National Centre for Writing for a series of conversations between writers and their translators. Exploring the most exciting new books of 2020, it shines a light on the new Dutch and Flemish masters of fiction and poetry.
Rodaan al Galidi’s novel Two Blankets, Three Sheets offers a bleakly humorous account of the Dutch Asylum process. A big, existential novel about freedom and belonging, by a former Iraqi asylum seeker now settled in the Netherlands. Joining Rodaan will be translator Jonathan Reeder and chair Rosie Goldsmith.
1 June
ILFD Podcast - Rodaan Al Galidi with Caelainn Hogan
Hosted by Caelainn Hogan, Portals is a special podcast series from ILFDublin that takes listeners beyond their radius, through conversations with a half-dozen writers based across the globe, all of whom were scheduled to read at ILFDublin 2020, prior to its postponement.
9 Oct
BBC Radio 3 Modern Dutch Writing
Laurence Scott looks at the way Dutch writers are addressing history and contemporary life with Rodaan Al Galidi, Eva Meijer and Onno Blom.