Virginia Woolfs Orlando Bookclub

When? Sunday 2nd of June, 19.00
Where? Café De Kurk, Steenstraat 68
Register through: reserveren@hijmanongerijmd.nl

Orlando club
We are very excited to announce CLUB ORLANDO! Our literary collaboration with queer café De
Kurk. In four events during pride month, we will go on an exploration of the themes in the classic
novel Orlando by Virginia Woolf. To start off we will dive into the original work with a book club.
A staple in feminist and queer studies, Orlando breaks up the conventions of gender, time and
society. The tale of the main character is one that is still relevant today, almost 100 years after its
publication. As his tale begins, Orlando is a passionate sixteen-year-old nobleman whose days
are spent in rowdy revelry, filled with the colorful delights of Queen Elizabeth I's court. By the end,
three centuries have passed, and Orlando will have transformed into a thirty-six-year-old woman
in the year 1928. It’s a charmingly funny text – a brave and free writing experiment.
Now is the time to finally read this classic if you haven’t! Or maybe you’re due for a reread with a
fresh pair of eyes. Everyone’s welcome to share their reading experience in this book club.
The lovely Sandro van der Leeuw of literary collective Of Words will be our host. Sandro is a
writer, actor and visual artist, with a scientific background in youth literature. In 2020 he was
selected for the Oorzaken Podcast Academy and in 2022/2023 he performed with Theater AanZ,
an educational theater company that engages in dialogue with students about gender and sexual
diversity.

The vulnerability of humans as (a)sexual beings is central in everything Sandro does; it scrubs,uncovers and makes you think. He performed during the Amsterdam Museumnacht,
Theaterfestival Boulevard, Lowlands and Wintertuinfestival. Currently he is working on his debut
novel, which will be published by De Arbeiderpers.
Fun fact: in a distant past Sandro won first prize in the Avant-garde category at a drag
competition with his drag persona Orlando de Beauvoir. He is therefore extra pleased to now be
leading a book club about Orlando.
We would love to see you there and hear what you think about this classic.