When I first started filing stories from Iraq in 2008, I noticed how difficult it was to get people in the Netherlands involved with people there. I became fascinated with narrative journalism and was one of the founders and the director of de Stichting Verhalende Journalistiek.

Storytelling on assignment

I still enjoy writing (narrative) stories on assignment. These days I also help media, organizations and cultural institutions develop complex stories and magazines. As an interactive storyteller for tech scale-up Dephion, for example, I created layered short films and animations for their app. I also developed several exhibitions, where text added a layer to the image.

Specialties

After studying Journalism and Psychology and given my travel experience, I specialized in cultural differences and mental resilience. I wrote for (among others) Volkskrant (economy and foreign affairs), Vrij Nederland, NRC, Trouw, Psychologie Magazine and the American Narratively and Al Jazeera English.

Layered storytelling

We orient ourselves through more and more channels, both off- and online. These days it’s often and-and: a podcast, social media, the newspaper, the news, a blog, a newsletter, a (web) documentary, exhibition, (photo) book and theater performance. How do you tell a story on multiple stages? And how do you add a layer to your story?

Projects

Together with other creators I worked on several exhibitions and cross-media projects, such as: Daily life Baghdad (Iraq; with photographer Marieke van der Velden), Country without Orphans (Rwanda; with filmmaker Anisleidy Martínez and photographer Anaïs López) and I want to break free (Albania; with photographer Bernadet de Prins). I developed several commissioned magazines, including Talent, Werf&, Erik and Magazine Narrative Journalism. And I wrote two well-received literary non-fiction books: A romantic people about the oil-rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk and What follows a mistake about an Iraqi family whose child was radicalized.