Mina Witteman – author | editor | teacher of creative writing

Posts tagged “Children’s Books

Dutch View: A Wedding in IJmuiden

Posted on July 12, 2010

The venue was unusual: beach pavilion Zeezicht (Sea View) in IJmuiden. A wooden pavilion, built on high poles with magnificent views on one of the widest beaches in the Netherlands, on the IJmuiden jetties and the sea. The day was perfect for a wedding: bright blue skies, a glorious sun, lots of flowers and the air filled with happiness. It was perfect as it was, but it got even better. In the Netherlands we have an expression that says that your Prince Charming will arrive on a white horse. This groom arrived on a white horse and swept away his foxy lady in her golden gown to live happily ever after. So much happiness is good, but I am always on the look-out for…

Arizonan View: Spider Woman

Posted on June 30, 2010

Some time ago I took my writer’s residence to the Dinetah. The Dinetah is the homeland of the Diné, the People, a.k.a. the Navajo. It lies between the four sacred mountains: Tsisnaasjini’ – Dawn or White Shell Mountain in the East (Blanca Peak, Colorado), Tsoodzil – Blue Bead or Turquoise Mountain in the South (Mount Taylor, New Mexico), Doko’oosliid – Abalone Shell Mountain in the West (San Francisco Peaks, Arizona) and Dibé Nitsaa – Big Mountain Sheep or Obsidian Mountain in the North (Hesperus Mountain, Colorado). At first sight the Dinetah seems a callous rock desert where the living is harsh, but if you look closely you will find myths and legends in every nook and cranny of this strikingly red land. One hot…

Vught View: where it all started

Posted on June 22, 2010

Going back in time, back to my birthplace Vught. I didn’t have much of a view from my room there. All I could see was our garden and our neighbors’ gardens. But when I climbed out of my window, into the old peach tree and onto the roof, when I sat on the rooftop I had the best view in the world. I could see all the way to the assault course on the military fields. We weren’t allowed to go there, but hey, we were children and the assault course looked like a giant’s playground, of course we went there. We would cut holes in the fence and race each other on the course. Until one day… Imagine one summer afternoon. Imagine the…