Nell Zink

The widely acclaimed Nell Zink will be our guest at BorderKitchen on Thursday 18 February. She will be interviewed about her latest novel Misplaatst (Misplaced).

Nell Zink (1964) made her debut in 2014, on the recommendation of Jonathan Franzen. Franzen was so impressed by her writing that he personally helped get her work published. And not without success: The Wallcreeper and Misplaced were published in quick succession in the United States and the United Kingdom, immediately marking her major literary breakthrough. Journalist and critic Persis Bekkering will interview Nell Zink (in English) on the occasion of the publication of Misplaatst.

1966, Stillwater College, Virginia. First-year student Peggy falls head over heels for Lee, a professor, poet, and member of a wealthy family. They begin an affair that is doomed from the start—she is lesbian, he is gay—but which only ends after ten years. Peggy flees with her three-year-old daughter Karen, leaving her nine-year-old son Byrdie behind. She decides to go into hiding and assumes an African American identity. Years later, when Karen receives a scholarship to the University of Virginia, she finally meets her older brother Byrdie, leading to a dramatic finale.

“The charm of the book and its intelligence are enormous. It is a provocative masquerade, but in a generous way, not merely an exercise in role reversal. It reminds us that the gaps and cracks between our inner and outer selves are the spaces where our souls reside.” – The New York Times Book Review

Misplaced is a Great American Novel.” – The Telegraph

“Zink is a comedic writer par excellence, one with the rare gift of keeping a perfectly straight face.” – The New Yorker

Misplaatst will be published in mid-February by Ambo|Anthos. The book is translated by Gerda Baardman.

Date: Thursday 18 February
Start time: 20.00
Location: BorderKitchen, Kerkstraat 11, The Hague
Tickets: €8 – available via Ticketmaster