Benny Lindelauf

Inèz Derksen, artistic director of ‘het Laagland’ has asked me to write a new theatre play. I will write it in my native language ‘Limburgs’ which is spoken in the south of Holland. The play will be based on a disaster which happenend near my hometown and which had a profound impression on me as a child: the explosion of a naphtafactory at DSM in 1975. Lots of (young) fathers lost their lives and I often wondered what would be the impact on their childern. I already interviewed relatives of the victims and I am now in the proces of writing.

In february 2013 the Australian edition of ‘Negen Open Armen’ will be published by Allen &Unwinn under the title ‘Nine Open Arms’. You can see here two versions of the cover. To me, the sisters left and right seemed to be a bit small, as Muulke, Jes and Fing only differ a year in age. Allen &Unwinn agreed. I felt a bit sorry for the illustrator, I thought he would have to start from scratch. But only an hour later I received the next version. Long live the digital era!

In november 2013 ‘de hemel van Heivisj’ will be published at Querido in a new, special edition for adults. Hopefully it will draw the attention of adult readers who generally overlook YA-books…

The producer Lemming has taken an option to film the book ‘Superhelp’. I shall be writing the scenario for the film. In the meantime a developmental grant has been bestowed, an important step towards the finished film. On the basis of a two-year trajectory, and if all goes well, the film should come out in 2014 or 2015.