You’ll have to scream LOUDER! x Het Zwarte Schaap

Lisette Ma Neza is known for her sharp writing, gentle voice and captivating slam poetry. Her work explores the intimate experience of growing from girlhood into womanhood, the quiet violence that can take place in the bedroom, and the devastating scale of violence such as genocide. Once The Hague’s city poet, she has been Brussels’ city poet since 2024 and was awarded the Jonge Veer this year.

Now travelling the world like a modern-day troubadour, she brings her poetry and music to the stage. At Crossing Border, she will share a first taste of her long-awaited poetry debut.

Mina Etemad is a writer, journalist and theatre and dance critic for de Volkskrant. The ways in which we relate to our past and future are recurring themes in her work. She also explores animal rights and examines human-animal relationships in art, the media and society, including through her newsletter Dier en Perspectief.

Her debut, De zangvogel, was published in February 2026. A memoir about Iran, displacement and a lingering sense of guilt.

Jalil Sultani is a memory hoarder. He hoards through writing, and with a camera. This does not make him a multidisciplinary artist, just an obsessive-compulsive who's turned his coping mechanism into his work. In his spare time he frolicks in the fields and debates trees that look at him funny. He labors under the illusion that his dog understands his barks and growls, and that he would survive in the wild. Jalil is looking for an extreme somewhere in the middle.

Bob Vanden Broeck is a Flemish writer and notorious tinkerer. His work is driven by a fascination with the way we perceive the world. He sees our eyes as constantly moving through different layers of reality, both physical and virtual. He is fascinated by the way language shapes what we see and likes to explore the space between words and becoming.

In 2023, he published his poetry debut, de richting is richting omleiding, which won the Poetry Debut Prize 2024 and the Debutants’ Prize 2025. His debut novel, Je zit op een stoel, was published by Koppernik in April 2026. It is a kaleidoscopic portrait of a man trapped in the monotonous routine of everyday life, desperately trying to get up.

Pelumi Adejumo is a writer and multidisciplinary artist. Her practice explores the intersections of multilingualism, the body, mythology and collective memory, often through sound, performance and text. At Crossing Border, she will share a selection of her work.

Pelumi studied Creative Writing at ArtEZ and holds a Master’s degree in Fine Art from the Dutch Art Institute. In 2023, she received the Frans Vogel Poetry Prize for her multilingual work, and in 2020, NRC selected her as one of the most promising artists in the Netherlands and Belgium.

She is also a programmer and translator for the international literature festival Read My World.

Asmae Amaddaou (2001) is a writer, poet and spoken-word artist. She graduated from HKU in 2023 and was selected for the Slow Writing Lab, a programme of the Dutch Foundation for Literature. She has previously performed at venues and events including Nacht van de Poëzie, the Koninklijke Schouwburg, Carré, Lowlands and Paradiso.

At Crossing Border, Asmae Amaddaou will share work from her debut poetry collection, Brand lieverd brand. Through lyrical, classically styled poems, she takes us into a poetry born of necessity, one that can be painful at times but also offers comfort to the reader.

Zaïre Krieger (1995) is a poet, spoken-word artist and interdisciplinary artist. Her work is a powerful call for justice and love. Her performances are rhythmic, visceral and layered, with a sharp eye for social issues. In 2019, she received a Spoken Award, recognising her as one of the most inspiring spoken-word artists of her generation. In 2021, she translated Amanda Gorman’s The Hill We Climb into Dutch.

In 2026, her long-awaited debut poetry collection, Chameleon, was published. In the collection, she takes us through a series of different personas, each one part of an open and vulnerable exploration of doubt, the literary world, queerness and the paradoxes of existence.

Julien Staartjes (1989) is a writer, musician and marketing specialist for two major arthouse cinemas in Amsterdam. He is one of the organisers of the multidisciplinary literary programme Wennen aan de Wolf. His short stories have appeared in literary magazines including DW B, Kluger Hans, Hard//hoofd and Tirade.

Twijfelwond is his debut novel, exploring the lives of people at the very start of their careers. During the programme, we delve deeper into the worlds of these characters and the uncertainty, ambition and vulnerability that come with finding your way in working life.

Emmanuel Adomah Boateng (2000) is a versatile musician from Amsterdam-Zuidoost who performs as stay away from dante! (Dante to his friends). He quickly stands out for his distinctive compositions and carefully crafted stage presence.

Fresh from impressive performances at Noorderslag and Paradiso, this conceptual music project comes to the Spiegeltent in November. Dante’s sound takes you through dreamy, offbeat harmonies, where rap and vocals complement and reinforce each other. Inspired by artists such as Stevie Wonder and Tyler, the Creator, storytelling is at the heart of his music.

His debut EP and accompanying short film, Duizend Volle Manen, show that his artistic vision extends far beyond music alone.