-- This BorderKitchen has been cancelled --

Nadeem Aslam was born in Pakistan. He moved to England at the age of fourteen and lived in a community of Pakistani immigrants. His novel Maps for Lost Lovers (2004) is set partially in this community. A gripping novel which was nominated for the Man Booker Prize and won the Encore Award among others. Nadeem Aslam wrote another novel which was translated into Dutch: The Wasted Vigil  (2008).

Aslam is coming to The Hague on the occasion of his new novel The Blind Man’s Garden. After the attacks on the Twin Towers the Pakistani foster brothers Jeo and Mikal decide to go to Afghanistan to take care of the wounded. After they have lost sight of each other, Mikal is forced to start a search for his brother, unaware of his death. The boys’ blind father and his daughter-in-law, Jeo’s wife, are the ones left behind hoping for news.

Nadeem Aslam will be interviewed by Christine Otten.

This BorderKitchen will take place in collaboration with publisher Atlas Contact. The Blind Man’s Garden has been translated into Dutch by Harm Damsma and Niek Miedema as De tuin van de blinde.

Date: Tuesday May 21st
Location: Weimarstraat 36, 2562 GZ The Hague
Start: 20.00 hours
Tickets are €5,00 and can be reserved by e-mailing info@borderkitchen.nl or calling 070-3462355

‘Nadeem Aslam is a genuinely exciting new voice, lively, confident, uninhibited and ambitious. This is one of the most impressive... novels of recent years' - Salman Rushdie

The press about Maps for Lost Lovers:

‘Haunting, vivid and tender’ – Alan Hollinghurst in The Guardian

‘Aslam is a rich and vividly metaphorical writer . . . This is an exquisitely sad novel, and it is worth the effort of letting its spell take you over.’ - Newsday

On Thursday June 13th BorderKitchen presents an interview with the young British author Nathan Filer at Theater aan het Spui.
Nathan Filer (1980) debuts with The Shock of the Fall, making a grand entrance into the literary world: the tale is a shocking one, but its tone is uplifting and humorous. The book has been described as Jonathan Safran Foer meets Intouchables.
In the story you are introduced to Matthew. From the mental institution to which he has been admitted he describes his life and its turning point: the death of his oldest brother Simon.

Besides being a novelist, poet and screenwriter Nathan Filer is also a mental health professional, which makes him ideally suited to describe the thoughts of the main character Matthew in a profound way.

Nathan Filer will be interviewed, in English, by Auke Hulst, novelist (Kinderen van het ruige land a.o.), musician (De Meisjes a.o.) and journalist (NRC a.o).

This BorderKitchen is organised in collaboration with publisher Ambo Anthos. The Shock of the Fall has been translated into Dutch by Nicolette Hoekmeijer as De schok van de val.

Date: Thursday June 13th 2013
Start: 20.00 hours
Location: Theater aan het Spui, The Hague
Tickets: are €5,00 and are available at Theater aan het Spui: call 070-346 5272 or send an e-mail to kassa@theateraanhetspui.nl

Take a look at the beautiful short film ‘Bijwerkingen’ by CarambolasFilms inspired by The Shock of the Fall.

About The Shock of the Fall:
“The Shock of the Fall is a stunning novel. Ambitious and exquisitely realised, it’s by turns shocking, harrowing and heartrending. The writing is so accomplished it’s hard to believe it’s a debut – it’s clearly the work of a major new talent” – S J Watson, author of Before I Go To Sleep

“A terrific debut: engaging, funny and inventive” – Joe Dunthorne, author of S