As a musician, singer-songwriter Josh Ritter is responsible for much acclaimed albums like Hello Starling and The Animal Years. Recently, he also made his literary debut with Bright’s Passage, his first novel. To celebrate its translation into Dutch, Ritter will be our guest at BorderKitchen, to talk about his book and play a few songs. We'll kickoff the evening with a performance by singer-songwriter Dyzack, who'll play a short set inspired by Ritter's work.
About Bright's Passage
In Bright’s Passage, main character Henry Bright has newly returned to West Virginia from the battlefields of the First World War. Grief struck by the death of his young wife and unsure of how to care for the infant son she left behind, Bright is soon confronted by the destruction of the only home he’s ever known. His hopes for safety rest with the angel who has followed him to Appalachia from the trenches of France and who now promises to protect him and his son. Haunted by the abiding nightmare of his experiences in the war and shadowed by his dead wife’s father and his two brutal sons, Bright — along with his newborn — makes his way through a ravaged landscape toward an uncertain salvation.
The story about Henry Bright came to Josh Ritter while writing his 2010-album So Runs the World Away. Literature had always been a source of inspiration for him – he counts authors like Dennis Lehane, Stephen King, Philip Roth, Daphne du Maurier and Flannery O’Connor among his influences – and he realized that this was his own chance to try his hand at a novel, something he had longed to do for quite a while. Bright’s Passage is the result; a book that is both funny and moving, and in possession of the same imaginative power and enticement that has made his music so well loved.
During BorderKitchen, Josh Ritter will be interviewed by Wim Brands (VPRO). There’s a book signing session afterwards.
Location: Theater aan het Spui, Spui 187, Den Haag.
Start: 20.00 hrs
Please purchase your tickets, €7,50 each, at Theater aan het Spui:
Phone: 070-346 5272
E-mail: kassa@theateraanhetspui.nl
www.theateraanhetspui.nl
