About Svetlana Alexijevitsj  

The author and investigative journalist Svetlana Alexijevitsj (1948) was born in Ukraine, but grew up in Belarus. Her criticism of the regime there has forced her to spend long periods in exile, including since 2020. Her work, which was subject to strict censorship in the Soviet Union, has won many awards, with the high point being the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2015.

Alexijevitsj describes herself as a ‘person of the ear’, and she has invented her own unique literary genre. Her books are collections of eye-witness reports, structured to tell a story about a group of people who had seldom been given a voice before. From women at the front during World War II (War’s Unwomanly Face), to survivors of the war in Afghanistan (Zinky Boys (Norton, 1992), Boys in Zinc (Penguin, 2016)), former citizens of the Soviet Union (Second-Hand Time), and even children (Last Witnesses).

“I’m interested in little people”, she said in her Nobel Prize Lecture. “The little, great people, is how I would put it, because suffering expands people. In my books these people tell their own, little histories, and big history is told along the way.”

About the Belle van Zuylen Lecture

Svetlana Alexijevitsj will give the Belle van Zuylen Lecture in TivoliVredenburg during the Exploring Stories event on Saturday, 28 September at 19:30. The lecture is part of the presentation of the Belle van Zuylen Ring, which is named in honour of the internationally renowned writer from Utrecht, Belle van Zuylen (1740 - 1805), whose work emphasised equality and emancipation. Lisa Weeda will read a peaean she has written before the lecture. Pianist Hanna Shybayeva will perform.
The lecture will be in Russian and projected in English and Dutch. Everyone in attendance will receive a special print edition of the Belle van Zuylen Lecture to take home with them.

On the same day, during Exploring Stories, there will be an additional talk with Svetlana Alexijevitsj for all Exploring Stories visitors (at 13:00).