Here is a post by our collaborator Peter Jordens: “In Memoriam Astrid H. Roemer.” All translations below as well as the extensive compilation and short bio attached here are by Jordens.
We recently reported that Surinamese writer Astrid Roemer has passed away. Co-blogger Lisa Paravisini-Gebert met Roemer in the late 1980s, was very fond of her, has always loved her work, and felt very connected to her. An English translation of one of Roemer’s short stories, ‘Lola or the Song of Spring’ [1989 original: ‘Lola of het lied van de lente’], was included in an anthology that Lisa co-edited with Carmen C. Esteves: Green Cane and Juicy Flotsam: Short Stories by Caribbean Women (Rutgers University Press, 1991).
Attached is a compilation of links to news articles about Roemer’s passing and tributes dedicated to her since her passing on January 8, 2026. Almost all the items are in Dutch. Here are translated excerpts from four of the tributes.
“Roemer was praised in both Suriname and The Netherlands for her audacity and obstinacy, displayed in her extensive oeuvre of poetry, prose, and plays. […] Astrid Roemer leaves behind a literary legacy that is of lasting significance for Dutch literature, the Caribbean region, and Suriname. Her work will continue to be greatly appreciated, read, studied, and discussed, both nationally and internationally.” — Coco Duivenvoorde, Uitgeverij Prometheus, https://uitgeverijprometheus.nl/nieuws/tot-ons-verdriet-is-op-8-januari-onze-geliefde-auteur-astrid-h-roemer-overleden
“Astrid Roemer, one of the greatest writers in the Dutch language area, […] was obstinate, pointed, original, and versatile, just like the multi-award-winning oeuvre that she leaves behind. […] Roemer […] was at home everywhere and nowhere—a feeling she shared with many of her characters. […] Roemer’s idiosyncratic, sometimes confusing style, full of wonderful metaphors, unusual punctuation, peculiar capitalization, and associative shifts from the past to the present tense, [is] appreciated as fittingly expressing the often complex emotional lives of her characters. […] […Her] rebellious strength is the undercurrent of her oeuvre; Roemer refused to be dictated to, had the courage to be different, did not shy away from sensitive issues, dared to bend language to her will, and in this way managed to stay true to herself and to always be original.” — Bo van Houwelingen, De Volkskrant, https://www.volkskrant.nl/boeken/astrid-roemer-1947-2026-was-overal-en-nergens-thuis-net-als-haar-romanpersonages~bdd80d6a
“Astrid Roemer […] was ahead of her time. From the start, she used her writing to champion diversity and inclusion. […] With Astrid’s passing […], we have lost not only the grand old lady of Surinamese literature, but also an icon of political and social engagement rarely found in Dutch-language literature. […] [In her] outspoken and passionate oeuvre—comprising poetry, novels, plays, and essays—stylistic idiosyncrasy […] played a major role; she paid little attention to literary conventions. In Roemer’s work, Dutch is in a sense a corporal language, in which she manages to express physical experiences both tenderly and harshly. But it is also a language through which she constantly explores her political and social engagement and her own identity with much tenacity. […] Not only did Astrid Roemer prove herself to be a combative promoter of Surinamese identity, she is also seen as a figurehead of feminism and as a linguistic innovator within Dutch literature […]. [… It] is above all Roemer’s unconventional way of telling the stories of her people that will remain in our collective literary memory.” — Rob Schouten, Trouw, https://www.trouw.nl/cultuur-media/astrid-roemer-1947-2026-was-altijd-krachtig-en-uitgesproken~ba09dee4
“Roemer used her work as a crowbar to pry open fixed ideas about society’s outcasts—those who suffered racist prejudice and sexist treatment. She created linguistic constructions, paying little attention to conventions. She broke with linear storytelling and disregarded traditional typography, she piled metaphor upon metaphor, switched verb tenses within a single sentence, and allowed dialogues to continue for pages on end. For her, the literary form had to be rebellious, because she wanted to pull the reader away from complacent ideas about gender, tradition, ethnicity, origin, and skin color.” — Michiel van Kempen, De Groene Amsterdammer, https://www.groene.nl/artikel/astrid-h-roemer
The above photograph is by Aurélie Geurts, found at https://www.volkskrant.nl/boeken/astrid-roemer-1947-2026-was-overal-en-nergens-thuis-net-als-haar-romanpersonages~bdd80d6a]
Here is a post by our collaborator Peter Jordens: “In Memoriam Astrid H. Roemer.” All translations below as well as the extensive compilation and short bio attached here are by Jordens. We recently reported that Surinamese writer Astrid Roemer has passed away. Co-blogger Lisa Paravisini-Gebert met Roemer in the late 1980s, was very fond of her, has always loved her work, and felt very connected to her.
