From L.A To New York

Two longtime friends, a Dutch reporter in L.A. and an artist/writer in New York, share their thoughts on building a new life in a new country and American vs. Dutch culture. The result is the hilarious From L.A. to New York which includes a list of addresses for first-time visitors. Artemis Publishers Amsterdam, November 2007

Read more: Uitgeverij Artemis

In the tracks of The Panther (Dutch title: In het voetspoor van De Panter)

In the course of the 19th century, the Dutch colonial army in the Dutch Indies (present day Indonesia) is in serious need of European recruits. For security reasons, the KNIL army selectively recruits among the indigenous population. The solution is found on the west coast of Africa where the Dutch government still owns a few old trading posts. A deal is closed in 1837 with the powerful Ashanti king who rules the vast region, but when the Asantahene fails to deliver the agreed 1000 recruits per year, the Dutch start recruit-ing young, strong African men on slave markets. Up till 1872, a group of 3000 African soldiers is recruited for service in the Dutch Indies. The Indonesian population calls them 'belanda hitam', 'black Dutchmen'. Most of them die during battle in the archipelago, a few hundred return to West Africa and the remaining soldiers stay in the main island of Java with their indigenous wives with whom they raise Indo-African families. When the colony of the Dutch Indies gains independence in 1949, most Indo-African families are forced to leave for Holland where they settle for a new life. The story of the 'belanda hitam' soldiers becomes an almost forgotten episode.

For years, author Griselda Molemans wondered about the dark skin colour of her grandfather from the Dutch Indies, but failed to explain the origin. One day, an elderly Indo-African couple from the garrison town of Purworejo in Java, gives her a clue about her family name. What follows next is a suprising quest, leading from the National Archives in Holland to Burkina Faso, Ghana and Java and resulting in the discovery of the African founding father of the Molemans family.

Dutch paperback / 13,5 x 21,5 cm
220 pages/ € 17,95
NUR 680 / ISBN 90 5018 696 3
September 2005, Balans Publishers Amsterdam
English translation pending.

Read the first pages: First pages (in dutch)
Video: Bookpresentation.mov
Audio: 'The African song "A No Kon Moro" performed by The Steelman Brothers and Griselda Molemans (wav)
Foundation: read more about the Naaba Yambaga Foundation

Daughters of the Archipelago. (Dutch title: Dochters Van De Archipel)

Much has been published on the first generation women who were forced to leave the Dutch Indies after the colony gained independence in 1949, but never before did Indo-European, Moluccan, Chinese, Toraja, Papua and Indo-African women talk openly about the class society they grew up in, their youth in the 'golden days' of the colony, the Japanese occupation between 1942 and 1945 and the forced departure to Holland where they had to start a completely new life with their families. 'Daughters of the Archipelago' is a gripping book about women who conquered war, setbacks and sorrow and built a new life in a new country.

Dutch paperback / 14 x 21 cm
221 pages with illustrations/ € 17,95
NUR 680 / ISBN 90 5018 646 7
November 2004, Balans Publishers Amsterdam

English translation pending

Photo's: Dochters van de Archipel