The last years I've lived in six cities all over Africa to write a book on urban life on the continent.
Gin-tonic & Cholera was published at the end of 2010. As in my previous book
A Night in A Mortar, on the subject of women in Africa, I zoom in on the daily lives of people, thus portraying current affairs.
In Gin-tonic & Cholera I paint a picture of booming African cities and the people in it. The title refers to the gap between rich and poor: while the rich elite is sipping gin and tonics in expensive bars, one block away children are suffering from cholera.
My first book's title is based on a Rwandan myth that a girl who spends a night in a mortar will wake up as a boy. It inspires many a little girl in Rwanda to sacrifice a night's sleep to try whether it works.
A strong objector to the exotism and victimization that often characterizes Western writing about Africa, I try not to fall into that trap. By staying in a certain place a long period of time and living amongst them, I try to get close to people. As I did in Mozambique, by hanging out with the street kids at Maputo's Xipamanine market for some weeks. After a while they opened up, and even had a lot of fun teaching me how to pick people's pockets.
Where ever I go, I always intend to get to know local night life. In my books I describe happiness as well as hardship, aiming for a balanced image.
For now my books are only available in Dutch - hoping for translations in English, French, German, Portuguese, Swahili....Last update: May 2011
Femke van Zeijl, born September 22nd 1971, Berkel-Enschot, The Netherlands
Journalism
2011
January: reporting trip to Burkina Faso for Opzij, Zam Magazine and Flow
March: making radio documentary for VPRO
De onzichtbare zoon
June-July: In Lagos, Nigeria, reporting
2010
Oct 24
Official
book launch Gin-tonic & Cholera
Writing my second book
Gin-tonic & Cholera
2008 - 2009
Travelling to get material for my book on urbanisation in Africa
2009
February - March: Jinja, Uganda
June - August: Ibadan, Nigeria
November - December: Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
2008
April: Luanda, Angola
July - August: Maputo, Mozambique
October - November: Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
November - December 2007
Stay in Maputo, Mozambique to work on my next book and on my Portuguese
September 5, '07
Official book launch
Een nacht in een vijzel
July - August '07
Reporting trip to South-Africa and - mostly - Mozambique, for several Dutch magazines (Opzij, Onze Wereld, NRC Handelsblad, Vrij Nederland)
December '06 - June '07
Writing my book
Een nacht in een vijzel, which appears in Dutch early September 2007
April '07
Presentation of Zwartboek. De positie van vrouwen wereldwijd, for which I contributed two chapters. Translated from French: Ockrent (red),
Le Livre Noir de la Condition des Femmes.
October - November '06
Reporting trip to Burundi and Congo to gather the last information for my book that will appear next Autumn: a travel book telling the stories of the many impressive women I've met on my journeys in Mozambique, Sudan, Uganda and elsewhere on the continent
October 2006
Belgian Filip de Cock Encouragement Award for Third World Journalism
July - August '06
Reporting trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo for Dutch Magazines like Opzij, Esta and Onze Wereld
March - July '06
Visiting professor at the Fontys Academy for Journalism in Tilburg
December '05
Reporting trip to Kenya and Uganda for several Dutch magazines like Marie Claire and Onze Wereld
September - December '05
Visiting professor at the Fontys Academy for Journalism in Tilburg
August '05
Reporting trip to Rwanda and Burundi for several Dutch magazines like Vrij Nederland and Opzij and newspaper NRC Handelsblad
June '04 - July '05
Political editor of Opzij Magazine
January '04 - now
Columnist for www.cnv.nl
December '04
Reporting trip to Darfur, Sudan for Opzij
November '03 - '04
Freelancing for Volkskrant Magazine and political reporting Opzij
April '03 - now
Freelancing for Onze Wereld, Dutch monthly on globalisation
August - September '02
Reporting in Johannesburg, South-Africa during the World Summit
Reporting trip to Mozambique for Opzij
April '00 - now
Reporting for Opzij in Berlin, Cologne, Hannover, Brussels, Vienna Mozambique, Sudan and Burundi
Columnist for Die Frankfurter Rundschau, Magazine on Saturday
Reporting for Vrij Nederland and Intermediair
Monthly columns in Opzij, weekly in U-blad
Guest lectures at the Fontys Hogeschool Journalistiek in Tilburg
February - March '00
Participation in Duits-Nederlands Journalistenstipendium, exchange program for Dutch and German journalists. Working at Die Frankfurter Rundschau in Frankfurt am Main
From January '99
Start as a freelance journalist for among others monthly Opzij, weekly Intermediair, newspaper Trouw, opinion magazine HP/DE TIJD, the U-blad, weekly of University of Utrecht, bi-weekly column in Intermediair
October '98- December '98
Internship at Opzij
August '96 - September '98
Editor at newspaper De Gelderlander
June - August '96
Internship at De Gelderlander
Education
July - August '03
Portuguese language course at Kosmus, Lissabon
September '94 - April '98
Switched to journalism at the Academie voor Journalistiek en Voorlichting in Tilburg
September '89 - August '93
Student of History at the Universiteit Utrecht
May '89
Highschool: VWO at Cobbenhagencollege in Tilburg
Managing skills
February '08 - now
Member of the board of ZAM-net Foundation, publisher of ZAM Africa Magazine
June '05 - December '08
President of Stichting Vrouw & Media, foundation for the advancement of women in journalism
January - June '05
Vice-president Stichting Vrouw & Media
January '03 - January '05
Member of the board of Stichting Vrouw & Media and webmaster of its website
January '99 - October 2005
Organisation of Thomas Jazzdansdagen, yearly jazzdancing course for 150 participants with five international dancing teachers
'99 - '02
Took the initiative for and became listminder of the Press-mailinglist of Women on the Web for female journalists and copywriters
Other
Language skills
Dutch, German, English, French and Portuguese
Computers
Knowledge of html, building simple websites, user experience with Linux, Apple
I am a freelance journalist from the Netherlands focused on Africa. I write mainly about social economic issues, women and urbanisation - always with the people themselves and their daily lives in the center. I travel to sub-Saharan Africa regularly to write articles. The last couple of years I spent a lot of time reporting in the Great Lakes area. Congo, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda... These and other African countries have gotten under my skin. Every trip seems to evoke a new one. My second book has just been published. Subject is urbanisation in Africa. For this book Gin-tonic & Cholera, I've lived in six different African cities over the last two years: Luanda, Maputo, Bukavu, Jinja, Ibadan and Bobo-Dioulasso.
The last years I've lived in six cities all over Africa to write a book on urban life on the continent. Gin-tonic & Cholera was published at the end of 2010. As in my previous book A Night in A Mortar, on the subject of women in Africa, I zoom in on the daily lives of people, thus portraying current affairs.
My first book's title is based on a Rwandan myth that a girl who spends a night in a mortar will wake up as a boy. It inspires many a little girl in Rwanda to sacrifice a night's sleep to try whether it works.
