Tessa Leuwsha | |
|---|---|
 2019 | |
| Born | Theresa Evelyne Leuwsha 1 November 1967 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Nationality | Suriname |
| Occupation | Writer |
Notable work | De Parbo-blues |
Theresa Evelyne Leuwsha (born 1 November 1967) [1] is a Surinamese Dutch writer.
Tessa Leuwsha | |
|---|---|
| 2019 | |
| Born | Theresa Evelyne Leuwsha 1 November 1967 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Nationality | Suriname |
| Occupation | Writer |
Notable work | De Parbo-blues |
Theresa Evelyne Leuwsha (born 1 November 1967) [1] is a Surinamese Dutch writer.
Tessa Leuwsha was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands as a daughter of an Afro-Surinamese father and a Dutch mother. She started her career as a ground stewardess for KLM. [2] A publisher asked her to write a travel guide to Suriname, because the country supposedly had the best bami and roti. [3] The guide which was first published in 1997 as Reishandboek Suriname, became a success. After many reprints, it has been renamed Wereldwijzer Suriname. [1] In 1996, she moved to Suriname to become a freelance journalist writing for Opzij, de Volkskrant, and De Ware Tijd Literair among others. [4]
In 2005, She made her debut as a literary writer with De Parbo-blues, a coming of age story with autobiographical elements: a girl from mixed parents leaves for Suriname to discover the history of her father who comforted his homesickness with music and marihuana. [5] De Parbo-blues was well received, and was nominated for the ANV Debutants Award. [6]
Leuwsha started to work for the Dutch Embassy in Paramaribo, [4] continued her writing career with Solo, een liefde, [1] and contributed to a reprint of Anton de Kom's classic Wij slaven van Suriname. [7] In 2018, she wrote and directed Frits de Gids, a story about lovers caught between the western world and Maroon traditions, [8] which was released by VPRO Cinema. [9] In 2020, Leuwsha gave the sixth Cola Debrot Lectures which was pre-recorded and published on YouTube due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [10]
In her 2020 novel Plantage Wildlust, Leuwsha did not focus just the known inequalities on a plantation in 1911, but also the subtle rivalry between freed slaves and the Indo-Surinamese contract workers, and the complex hierarchy between the owner and black supervisor. The supervisor being more experienced than the newly arrived owner expected to be in charge of the daily activities, and the owner inevitably resorted to cruelty to put him back in his place. [11] The film rights for Plantage Wildlust have been bought by Staccato Films and will be turned into a full-length movie. [12]
Leuwsha is married with two children. [2]
Cornelis Gerhard Anton de Kom was a Surinamese resistance fighter and anti-colonialist author. He was arrested in Suriname and the protest against his arrest resulted in two deaths. De Kom was subsequently exiled to the Netherlands where he wrote Wij slaven van Suriname, a classic anti-colonial book. During World War II, he joined the resistance, was arrested, and sent to concentration camps where he died. In 2020, de Kom was added as a subject on the Canon of Dutch History, a chronological list of fifty key events and people in Dutch history to be taught in schools.
Nicolaas (Cola) Debrot was a writer, lawyer, medical doctor and politician.
Cynthia Henri McLeod is a Surinamese novelist known for her historic novels and whose debut novel instantly made her one of the most prominent authors of Suriname.
Lodewijk 'Lou' Lichtveld was a Surinamese politician, playwright, poet and resistance fighter who wrote under the pseudonym "Albert Helman".
Maxi Linder the alias used by Wilhelmina Rijburg (1902–1981) was a well-known and influential Surinamese prostitute. In her heydey, she had access to the highest social and political figures. She used her earnings to fund the education of disadvantaged youth and made the first attempt in the country to organize sex workers.
Kananoe Apetina was a Wayana chief, who first in 1937 was recognized by the colonial authorities of Suriname as a captain, and who subsequently in 1952 was recognized by governor Jan Klaasesz as granman of the Wayana of the Tapanahony River in Suriname. Apetina died in 1975 and was succeeded as granman by Aptuk Noewahe.
Nola Hatterman was a Dutch actress and painter.
Michaël Arnoldus Slory was a Surinamese poet. He mainly wrote poetry in Sranan Tongo, and is considered one of the most important poets in Sranan Tongo. He also published in Dutch, English and Spanish
Antoine Adrianus Raymondus de Kom is a Dutch psychiatrist, writer and poet of Surinamese descent.
Bernardo Ashetu was a Surinamese poet.
Goslar is a German turbine steamboat, and was in service as a freighter. She was built in 1929 in Hamburg. On 5 September 1939, she surrendered in Suriname. On 10 May 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands, and the ship was scuttled by her crew. Attempts to remove the wreck in 1955 failed, and has resulted in the ship breaking in two parts.
Katwijk is coffee plantation and village in the Alkmaar resort of the Commewijne District of Suriname. It is the only coffee plantation in Suriname which is still in operation. During World War II, Katwijk was an internment camp for prostitutes.
Buiten-Sociëteit Het Park is a park and former club located on Onafhankelijkheidsplein in Paramaribo, Suriname. On 1 August 1996, the building which housed the National Assembly of Suriname burned down, and the National Assembly moved to the former park house.
Wim Bos Verschuur, born Bernard Willem Hendrik Verschuur was a Surinamese politician, activist, artist, and writer. On 30 July 1943, he was arrested and interned for opposing governor Johannes Kielstra; this caused a major scandal in Surinam politics and led to a larger wave of repression against opposition figures.
Kodjo also Cojo and Codjo was a Surinamese slave. On 26 January 1833, he was burnt alive for starting the 1832 fire in Paramaribo which caused the destruction of 46 houses. Kodjo used to be known as a criminal. Nowadays, he is remembered as a resistance fighter.
Marylin Simons is a Surinamese writer and columnist. She is best known for In naam van God en Obia (2002) for which she was awarded the Kwaku Literature Prize, and her youth book Carrousel (2003).
The statue of Kwakoe in the Surinames capital Paramaribo is a monument commemorating the abolition of slavery. It was made by the sculptor Jozef Klas.
Saya Yasmine Amores was a Surinamese-Dutch poet, writer, and painter. She wrote under the pen name Cándani from 1982 to 2007. She then used the name Saya Yasmine Amores, which she legally adopted in 2013.
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