The definition of a ‘memoir’ seems fairly straightforward: a personal text, based on individual experiences and memories. But behind that simple facade lies a vast theatre of diversity, because its personal nature makes every memoir different from the last. And what is the difference between a memoir and an autobiography, exactly? What do they have in common with a collection of personal columns or essays? And how are they in turn different from diaries or epistles?

What all these texts have in common is that they are written in the first person, we love to read them, and we love to write them. As Marja Pruis once wrote, the word ‘I’ “Leads to the most irritating, and the most beautiful.”

Marja Pruis is one of the masters of the memoir, and we are honoured to have her as a guest at our memoir evening, where she will treat us to an essay on the genre. Nicolien Mizee will join us to talk about her engrossing ‘fax books’, including ‘Faxen aan Ger’, which saw its sixth instalment this year - just as honest, funny and addictive as the five that came before. We are also proud to welcome Pirkko Saisio, author of the Helsinki trilogy: a series that resembles the work of Tove Ditlevsen, but written in a completely unique style. In the trilogy, personal voices guide us to a plethora of inner worlds. Or as Saisio so vibrantly describes it: “I close my eyes, and suddenly I’m in a world where there are a whole lot of me.”