Gaby den Held - Writer

NEDERLANDS

GABY DEN HELD

REUNION: Manuscript

25-11-2016

And then finally the moment has come. It was at least two years of work. And now the first version of the new novel (Reünie) Reunion is there. It's like a high speed train that is suddenly screeched to a halt.

And this newborn infant didn't become a fatso. Gaby den Held is not the type for big books. Brief writing apparently fits him like a glove. REUNION promises to be even thinner than MOON. But it will be equally dramatic, colorful, hilarious, magical and sometimes deeply tragic.

In December, the manuscript will be sent to Publisher IJzer. Then, a select group of proofreaders will early next year be asked for their comments.

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INSPRATION: Federico : llanto por García Lorca (1992)

29-2-2016. In 1992, a small but beautiful poetic film portrait was released

of the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca (1898 – 1936). The Dutch

director MART VAN DEN BERG made the film with minimal

resources and with the help of many volunteers. The film follows

Federico during crucial moments in his life: the death of his lover, the

bullfighter Ignacio Sanchez Mejias, the relationship with his mother

and his assassination by Franco's Phalangists.

Photography: Liesbeth Ruysink

Watch the movie

More inspiration

MIXTAPE: Queen of hearts

29-3-2016. My newest mixtape is Ladies only: Queen of hearts.

PJ Harvey, Joanna Newsom, Billie Holiday, Aafke Romeijn...

How comes it, Flora, that, whenever we

Play cards together, you invariably,

However the pack parts,

Still hold the Queen of Hearts?

I've scanned you with a scrutinizing gaze,

Resolved to fathom these your secret ways:

But, sift them as I will,

Your ways are secret still.

I cut and shuffle; shuffle, cut, again;

But all my cutting, shuffling, proves in vain:

Vain hope, vain forethought, too;

That Queen still falls to you.

The Queen of Hearts by Christina Rossetti (1830 - 1894)

Photography: Anita Anti

Listen on Mixcloud

MIXTAPE 'War is over'

3-6-2016. War and peace in one mixtape with Prince, Einstürzende

Neubauten, R.E.M., ANOHNI, Siouxsie and the Banshees...

Listen on Mixcloud

MAAN and TIPART, The Pink Art Route Utrecht

26-6-2016. Until today the novel MAAN (Moon) is available for inspection

at BarBeton Centrum in Utrecht.

It is part of a special LHBTQ walk through the heart of Utrecht.

Pink art in prominent locations: shop windows, the library, the city hall

and cafes.

Photo reportage Tipart walk

More on Tipart

Pink speedtour with MAAN (Moon),

parkdag Midzomergracht 2016

26-6-2016. A literary theater walk through the Utrecht Griftpark with Bart Boeve and Gaby den Held. Bart is Lady Davina who led the walkers around and told wonderful stories about the Griftpark. Gaby read from his trans-book Moon. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't conducive because it was raining hard. The copy of Moon that was used during the walk definitely will be a collector's item: soaked with rain. Yet everyone was in high spirits. Hurray!

Photo: Jan van der Veen

Photoshoots from the Pink speed tour with MAAN

INSPIRATION: Confusion of the Struggle

Izaak P. Slagt

27-6-2016. Like no one Isaac P Slagt makes with his photographs feelings

visible that are below the surface. An excellent example is Confusion of the

Struggle, a series of intimate nude portraits of trans woman Lisa van

Ginneken. In this series she is still in the intermediate stage, before surgery

and during hormone treatment. Isaak is close to her heart when he captures

her diverse emotions: joy, despair and euphoria. As never before it is tangible

for an outsider what a transgender is going through. Confrontational,

sensitive and moving.

More on Izaak P. Slagt

Confusion of the Struggle

INSPIRATION: Trans*Tapes - The Transketeers

27-6-2016. Six beautiful, poignant and very diverse portraits of transgender

people. Trans*Tapes have undeniable emancipatory value, but there is more.

With their personal approach The Transketeers penetrate the soul of the

people they interview. That the filmmakers are also transgender helps,

of course, but it is clear that all their respect and attention focusses on

the interviewees and they let them fully in their value. Then you get a gem

like this.

The Transketeers is a Dutch collective of three transmen making audio-

visual productions: Jonah Lamers, Bart Peters en Chris Rijksen.

Trans*Tapes

Interview en lezing Antwerpen

Kartonnen Dozen/Holebibib/Het Roze Huis

3-7-2016. Inspiring lecture and interview in Het Roze Huis, Holebibib organized by Kartonnen Dozen/Holebibib and Het Roze Huis.

Interview: Ann van de Vloet

Photography: Jan van der Veen

Photo Registration Interview Antwerp

More on Kartonnen Dozen (In Dutch)

INSPIRATION: Nynke Laverman

6-7-2016. Frisian is a poetic language. That is proved by Nynke Laverman and her song art. For years she successfully combines Frisian texts with southern sounds: fado and flamenco. The sturdy Frisian appears to hide unfathomable deep emotions which are conjured up by her music with gusto. Viva Nynke! En mei har sjongt de Fryske taal.

More on Nynke Laverman

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REÜNIE: Fragment

17-7-2016. Water music

Luuk opened his fly, pulled out his donger and splattered against the bookcase. It was a strange feeling of freedom. He began to giggle. Promptly Floor played 'Air' from 'Water Music' by Georg Friedrich Händel.

Then they heard thumping overhead. Immediately Floor stopped playing.

"Pinch off, that old woodcow's awake," he said and cautiously shut the lid of the piano. Luuk splashed on his hand while he put his peter back into his pants.

INSPIRATION: Jherek Bischoff

12-8-2016. Versatility is an understatement with multi-instrumentalist,

composer and performer Jherek Bisschof. As an arranger he has worked

with indie pop bands like The Parenthetical Girls and Xiu Xiu. As a

composer, he has released several albums that have been realized in a

quirky way. His album Composed, he first played on the ukulele and then

he mixed the classical instruments one by one to an orchestra. His latest

album Cistern is recorded in the huge Dan Harpole Cistern at Fort

Worden State Park. An underground basin which was originally intended

as a water storage for a nearby military base. Specifically, the reverberation

in the water basin of at least 45 seconds must have had its impact on the

recording process.

How can you describe his style? it's a pleasant no man's land between

classical, ambient and the orchestral baroque pop style of bands like

The Divine Comedy. Bischoff is also called a "pop polymath" and

"the missing link between the somber overtones of Ennio Morricone

and the unpredictability of John Cale." Anyway, this self-taught

undisputable is an original voice in contemporary music land. His music

definitely deserves more attention than it gets so far. Let yourself be

inspired by the sound world of this friendly music fool.

More on Jherek Bischoff

REUNION: Fragment

13-8-2016. The kitchen of Villa Bergval.

Emma was in squat position and in supreme concentration. She had taken off her glasses. She photographed something that looked like a seafood tableau. An artfully arranged scene with shrimps, lobsters, langoustine, scallops and clams. As if they were arranged for a still life of a Dutch master. Beside was a colorful tableau of vegetables: turnip, carrots, turnip greens, leeks, potherbs, asparagus and rhubarb. The ingredients were on the thick wooden table top of a bench on metal legs. Above it hung an antique lamp with opaline cover.pposite the door was a robust stove and a wash basin. The wall to the right of the sink had a small high window with mesh netting where diffuse light came in.

Images: Still life from Abraham van Beijeren (detail, 1654), the kitchen of Fogelsangh-State (Veenklooster, Frisia) and an example of a table with iron legs.

REUNION: Fragment

19-8-2016. Flo

"We're looking for a place for Flo. He can't stay here. That fool of a Leo wanted to lock him in the basement. "

'What a good idea! But I know something better, come with me. "

Emma walked with Flo behind Roza. The boy seemed no longer to oppose and let himself carried away like an angry, but tame sheep. They went up a staircase, a corridor and when they arrived at a door Roza stopped.

Image from the movie The Wild Child by Francois Truffaut

REUNION: Fragment

19-8-2016. Bite.

Time and sunlight had licked with their tongues the colors of the fabric: the

curtains, the bedspread and the carpet. Opposite the bed was

a wardrobe, decorated with carvings of garlands and cherubs' heads. Roza

pushed Flo into the room and kept herself in the doorway, barring Emma passage

to the room. Now Flo suddenly came into action. He flew at her and bit her in

the hand.

INSPIRATION: Dragqueens

2-9-2016. They are an inspiration for one of the main characters of the novel in the making REUNION: drag queens. The novel is about revenge, bullying and its consequences, but could equally be a tribute to the drag queen.

The picture includes: John Kelly, Lavinia, Ulrich, Ryan Burke, miss Guy and Ellen van Ellende.

REUNION: Fragment

20-9-2016. Red

Titus led them to the salon. Then he opened the door to the adjacent dining room.

It looked as if there had been a murder. Everything was red: the walls, floor, ceiling,

table cloth, napkins, candles and the flower arrangement in the middle of the table.

Ton-sur-ton. The vein-like relief on the walls gave Leo the feeling that he was in a

huge blood vessel system. On either side of the table stood Roza and Wies, as two

guards. For each of the alumni a glass of rosé champagne and an appetizer of

smoked beetroot, avocado and carrot cream was served.

REUNION: Fragment

24-9-2016. Silver

The bathroom: another showpiece of Roza. That woman has a leaking brain. Everything had to be silver, everything. She got her way. But who sat there like a jack on a silver box? It was Jasper who jumped up, startled.

REUNION: Fragment

11-10-2016. Masochists

Many people are born masochists. They wallow in their misery, smearing it over the years to enjoy it sparingly