Utrecht University reads 'We Slaves of Suriname'
One Book One Campus is an annual reading event at Utrecht University. This year we invite all students and employees to read We Slaves of Suriname by the anti-colonial writer, poet and activist Anton de Kom (1898-1945).
Buy your book
The book 'We Slaves of Suriname' is for sale in English and Dutch for just €7,50 in the UU online shop. You can get your book at the pick-up point you indicated in your order, upon showing your confirmation message.
One Book One Campus aims to increase our understanding of the world and ourselves by reading a good book together. Through One Book One Campus, you can engage with others. One Book One Campus is a collaboration between the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion programme and the Steering committee on Slavery History and Colonialism. Project leader is Dr. Agnes Andeweg.
Activities in March
In March there will be various activities organised as part of One Book One Campus: meet & read sessions where you can discuss the book (NL/EN), a Cover to Cover evening by Studium Generale (18 March), a workshop for teachers on decolonial knowledge making, organised with CAT and the Anton de Kom-University Paramaribo, and a public event with a.o. Poet Laureate Babs Gons and writer Karin Amatmoekrim in the Neude Library (27 March). Also at the Anton de Kom University Suriname, with which Utrecht University collaborates, activities take place as part of One Book One Campus.
Keep an eye on the page of One Book One Campus 2024 for updates!
Anton de Kom
Anton de Kom (1898-1945) was a Surinamese anti-colonial writer, activist and poet. De Kom fought for equality for workers in Suriname. For doing this work the colonial administration had him arrested and sent into exile to the Netherlands. During the Second World War he joint the communist resistance against the nazis. He was imprisoned and sent to concentration camp Neuengamme where he died. His book We Slaves of Suriname, the first history of Suriname by a Surinamese author, is a scathing critique of three centuries of Dutch colonialism. In 2020 De Kom was included in the historical Dutch canon. He was rehabilitated in 2023, when the Dutch government made formal apologies to De Kom’s family.
Contact
Questions or suggestions? You can contact us via onebookonecampus@uu.nl; follow One Book One Campus on social media via the buttons below.