Book launch | Marianne Thamms' De ondraaglijke Blankheid van het Bestaan

Photo: Marianne Thamm and Tom Lanoye.

An impressive memoir of an immigrant's daughter has now been translated into Dutch.

She is the daughter of a German nazi father and a Portuguese communist mother. In the sixties Marianne Thamm moved with her family to Apartheid-era South Africa where her father became a staunch supporter of the white Nationalist Party. Thamm herself – a lesbian, a writer and and an investigative journalist – shares in the excitement about the country's turn to democracy and Mandela's presidency.

This is a story to be told, Belgium writer and friend Tom Lanoye, made clear to Thamm many a times. He finally made it possible for Thamm to take some time off and write Hitler, Verwoerd, Mandela & me, now translated into Dutch, titled De ondraaglijke blankheid van het bestaan (The unbearable whiteness of being').

Thamm works for Daily Maverick, a South African online news platform. Her research into and reporting about corruption scandals hitting the South African Revenue Services have been groundbreaking. In 2002, Thamm participated in a team of guest editors for a special edition of ZAM, Seeing Being Seen.

On April 21nd at 2 PM Thamm will be interviewed by Lanoy at De Krook in Gent. More information here.

On April 22nd at 2.30 PM the book will be launched at Scheltema in Amsterdam.

De ondraaglijke blankheid van het bestaan is published by De Nieuw Amsterdam. Price: €22.90.

ZAM reporter