Mina Witteman – author | editor | teacher of creative writing

Posts tagged “Death

To Be or Not To Be?

Posted on March 17, 2016

There’s some Shakespeare in the novel I’m working on. I’ve mentioned it before. Hamlet, to be precise. He pops up in the more troubling scenes and every now and again the bard and his word play throw me off course and make me loose track of what I want with this story (well, not entirely, just a little).   In any case, I needed a bit of guidance and I needed it quick – I have my crit buddies pounding on my door. What better solution to force a breakthrough than to meet up with one of the bard’s greatest interpreters, the playwright George Isherwood. We had a riveting conversation about death, which is a big thing in the story, and about life. Equally big in the story, I…

Amsterdam view: raised from the dead

Posted on September 18, 2010

Remember the frat boat I told you about a couple of posts ago? The one that went down in Herengracht? I was sure that its owners would leave it where it was, after rescuing some essentials, but I was wrong. Dead wrong, as it turned out. Yesterday they returned, the frat boys, and they didn’t come unprepared. They had hired the Klusjesboot – which is Dutch for The Handyman Boat, I guess – and with that I owe them an apology, as I was convinced they would leave the barge where it went down, floating below the water surface and making it a hazard for everyone cruising by. The Klusjesboot-man went to work with zeal, attaching bands and ropes and scaffolding-poles and I watched, intrigued…

Amsterdam View: 1 Terabit per second

Posted on September 15, 2010

Just outside my writer’s residence stands a mailbox. Like all others in my city it is a crimson one. High on its pillars, its back turned to the canal and slits invitingly opened to us all, this bright red everybody’s friend almost begs you to fill it up with your letters. Evening after evening the mailman comes by, empties it and hurries all letters over to the addressees. But, happy and helpful as it is, this red mailbox is a dying breed. Every day again less and less letters are deposited in its confidential entrails. The day the postmaster will come by to carry it off it is nearing quickly. One day soon this crimson mailbox will pass into obscurity like a forgotten writer.…

Amsterdam View: Where’s my boat?

Posted on September 13, 2010

Sometimes nature plays ugly tricks on you. One day you have a boat, the next day… you don’t. A week or so ago a boat moored right opposite my writer’s residence after what must have been a jolly day on the Amsterdam canals. The boat – more like a giant raft – resembled an open air fraternity house, with comfortable sofa’s, rowdy boys, downy cushions, silly girls, a hefty stereo and beer on tap to boot. They were a happy bunch those boys, but they were clearly in need of some solid ground after a day’s sailing and drinking. So they threw out the fenders, cabled the boat to the railing, neatly covered up the sofa’s, courteously helped the squealing girls out and left.…

Amsterdam view: sunset transformation of a church

Posted on August 23, 2010

My little writer’s boat did a good job during the 2010 Sail celebration. Small but sturdy it took me to every nook and cranny of the Amsterdam water systems. Together we cruised the canals from Herengracht to Reguliersgracht, from Keizersgracht to Lauriergracht and on to Prinsengracht. We crossed the Amstel river. We even sailed the Amsterdam-Rijn canal and the IJ to dock at the Verbindingsdam between Java Island and the main land. At the Lloyd I enjoyed a gig of my favorite funkadelic hiphop band PLeaSe. You will most definitely hear more of them as they are without doubt The Next Best Band and they will feature in my new YA novel! After an outstanding, energetic and energizing PLeaSe performance – they twice played my…

Silicon Valley View: A Horrible Death to Die

Posted on July 24, 2010

Palo Alto is where I took up residence for a couple of weeks, before I head down south to that famous city of angels and stars for a writer’s conference. From the outside it seems a quiet little town, but there is more to Palo Alto than meets the eye. Underneath, Palo Alto is a vibrant city that sucks you right into the country’s techno vortex. It is the home of Stanford University, the alma mater of more than a couple of successful entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. Yes, graduating from Stanford definitely enhances your life’s expectancy. But as you know life is closely related to death and at Stanford, too, life and death go hand in hand. Stanford’s namesake Leland Stanford Junior died in 1884…

Amsterdam View: A Writer on the IJ

Posted on July 9, 2010

Yesterday, I took my writer’s residence out biking to Amsterdam-Noord, that part of Amsterdam that usually gets treated as if it is parted from the main city by an ocean rather than by that former bay that is now known as Amsterdam’s bustling waterfront. I was on my way to my friend Martin, trainer – advisor – actor, who promised to help me out finding a new presentation formula for my school visits. I missed the ferry by seconds and had some time to kill waiting for the next one, when I spotted Amsterdam’s finest on the quay. My writer’s mind revved right up. What was Amsterdam’s finest doing on the waterfront? Were they on the look-out? On the look-out for what? Pickpockets? It…