Harry Rijnen

Agenda

Dramatized talk “Moby Dick”

Dramatized talk “Moby Dick”

The novel ‘Moby Dick’ is an almost infinite source of inspiration for study and debate. In his masterpiece from 1851, Herman Melville not only describes the bloody and dangerous reality of sperm whale hunting, he also broaches many other passionate subjects that are still hotly debated today: the mechanisms of social and political control used by dictators; the origins and characteristics of madness; the relationship between the white western world and other civilizations; the place of religion and organized churches in personal and social life.

Harry Rijnen and Elena Troyano lead their public through the major themes of the book and the personality of its author, giving life to various characters, starting with Herman Melville himself.

Location: Biblioteca pública ‘Ramón Fenàndez Jurado’, sala ‘Margarida Xirgu’, Castelldefels (Barcelona), calle Bisbe Urquinaona 19-21 (Plaça de la Cultura), 08860-Castelldefels.

Date: Monday April 27, 2026

Time: 18.00 hours

Organizer: Ayuntamiento de Castelldefels.

Entry: free

Language: Spanish.

 

Café Literario: “Hans Fallada (1893-1947): Fail with grandeur. The tragic life of a German author in a country caught up in a permanent crisis.”

Café Literario: “Hans Fallada (1893-1947): Fail with grandeur. The tragic life of a German author in a country caught up in a permanent crisis.”

As a child, only just survive a horse-kick. As a youngster, kill a friend in a suicide attempt. As a young adult, get trapped in drug addiction: morphine, alcohol, tabaco. Move continuously through health resorts, mental health institutions and prisons. Distance yourself from your parents. Have impossible love-affairs and make yourself impossible in love-affairs. Become the best-selling author in Germany with ‘Little man, what now’, just before the Nazi’s come to power in 1933. Stay in Germany during the whole Nazi-period. In 1946, write a devastating, 700-pages anti-Nazi novel, ‘Alone in Berlin’, in just 10 weeks. Die two months later. This, in short, is the life of Hans Fallada.

Language: Spanish.

Location: Navalafuente Library, calle Iglesia 13, 28729-Navalafuente, Madrid, Spain

Date: Friday March 13, 2026

Time: 19.00 hours

Organizer: Harry Rijnen, in cooperation with the municipality of Navalafuente.

Entry: free

Dramatized talk “Moby Dick”

Dramatized talk “Moby Dick”

Language: Spanish.

Location: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco, Madrid. For the exact building and room, contact Harry Rijnen

Date: Thursday March 12, 2026

Time: 12.00 hours

Organizer: AEPUMA (Asociación Estudiantes Programa Universitario Mayores) of the UAM.

Entry: free

The novel ‘Moby Dick’ is an almost infinite source of inspiration for study and debate. In his masterpiece from 1851, Herman Melville not only describes the bloody and dangerous reality of sperm whale hunting, he also broaches many other passionate subjects that are still hotly debated today: the mechanisms of social and political control used by dictators; the origins and characteristics of madness; the relationship between the white western world and other civilizations; the place of religion and organized churches in personal and social life.

Harry Rijnen leads his public through the major themes of the book and the personality of its author, giving life to various characters, starting with Herman Melville himself.

Dramatized talk “The 400th anniversary of Breda’s surrender.” Historical context and propagandistic use of a military feat.

Dramatized talk “The 400th anniversary of Breda’s surrender.” Historical context and propagandistic use of a military feat.

Location: ‘Art Singel 100’. Singel 100, 1015 AD  Amsterdam, Países Bajos

Date: Sunday March 22, 2026

Time: 15.00 hours

Organizer: Ateneo Cultural Hispánico de Amsterdam.

Language: Spanish

Entry fee: 7 euros.

Four centuries ago, in 1624 and 1625, all of Europe followed the siege of the city of Breda with utmost interest. In June 1625, after ten months of strangling encirclement, the Italian general Spinola and his tens of thousands of troops, fighting for the king of Spain, forced the surrender of the city.

In his talk, dramatized in a surprising and humoristic fashion, Harry – born and raised in Breda – talks about the historical context of the siege, its propagandistic use in later years and, more in general, about the image of the Spanish in the Low Countries, the lands now occupied by The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg.

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