Héctor Abad

One of the most important Latin American writers of the moment, Héctor Abad (Colombia, 1958), will be the guest of BorderKitchen on 16 June.

Abad was suspended from university in the early 1980s after publishing a critical article about the Pope. He moved to Italy, completed his studies there, and returned to Colombia in 1987. In the same year, his father was murdered by paramilitaries and Abad himself received death threats, forcing him to flee again to Europe. Since 1993, he has lived in Colombia once more. The harsh reality of Colombian society during those years is a recurring theme in his work. In his latest book, De geheime droom van het land (original title: La Oculta), he combines this reality with a classically told family chronicle in the tradition of García Márquez and Vargas Llosa.

Abad has an impressive body of work and has won numerous international literary prizes. On Thursday 16 June he will be interviewed (in English) about De geheime droom van het land. The interviewer is writer and journalist Chris Keulemans.

When matriarch Ana Ángel dies at La Oculta, the family estate in a paradisiacal part of Colombia, her three children each reveal the turbulent history of their beloved home. The former coffee plantation lies in an area that, since the 1980s, was controlled by guerrilla forces and paramilitaries; it was so dangerous that the family’s annual Christmas gathering often could not take place. Daughter Eva had to flee after paramilitaries burned down the house; her nephew, Pilar’s son, was kidnapped by them. While their brother Antonio delves into the history of La Oculta, the future of the house remains uncertain.

“A powerful and necessary book, written with overwhelming courage and honesty. At times I wonder how he found the strength to write it.” – Javier Cercas

“A book that can be read as a metaphor for this country.” – El País

De geheime droom van het land will be published on 16 June by De Geus. The book is translated by Jos den Bekker.

Héctor Abad is currently Writer-in-Residence at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS) in Wassenaar, where he is working on a biography of one of Colombia’s greatest poets, León de Greiff.

After the event there will be an opportunity to have the book signed by Héctor Abad. Bookshop Van Stockum will be present to sell books.

Date: Thursday 16 June
Start time: 20.00
Location: BorderKitchen, Kerkstraat 11, The Hague
Tickets: €7.50 – available via the BorderKitchen website