ROEKOE! Een literaire verkenning van de duif als stadgenoot

A Literary Exploration of the Pigeon as a City Companion

They populate sidewalks, balconies, and bike paths, and circle around city squares. We try to scare them away with spikes and plastic ravens, but the city pigeon won’t be chased off. This smart and social animal has been nesting among our buildings—and in our literature—for centuries. SLAA invites writers for an evening dedicated to our closest, yet most misunderstood, urban neighbor. A program filled with readings and conversation about the bird we see every day, but rarely truly observe.

Irwan Droog’s latest book, *Duif*, is coming out this spring. In it, he observes pigeons, speaks with experts, rides along on an animal ambulance, attends rescue workshops, and delves into pigeon literature and history. His book serves as the starting point for this evening. In her literary memoir *Songbird* (2026), Mina Etemad wrote about Iran, displacement, and a sense of guilt that never fades. She is an avid pigeon enthusiast and directed the documentary *A Pigeon-Friendly City*. On this evening, she will discuss the role of the pigeon in the visual arts. Yasmin Veenman is a photographer and writer, and a love for pigeons runs through her veins: her great-grandfather once kept a pigeon as a pet. In this program, she pays a poetic tribute to this underappreciated animal. Niki Wagner from SOS Duif will demonstrate how to help pigeons with string foot injuries, so that from now on you’ll know exactly what to do if a pigeon is in distress. The presentation will be led by writer and radio producer Nikki Dekk

About our event partners

Bij SLAA maken we literaire programma’s en projecten, online en offline. We denken na over de vele gedaantes die literatuur kan aannemen en leggen verbanden met actuele ontwikkelingen binnen de maatschappij. We bieden een podium aan nationale en internationale namen: van gevestigd tot beginnend, van poëzie tot essay, van ode tot lezing, van experimenteel tot klassiek, van de Bijlmer tot Noord, voorbij Nieuw-West, Oost en Centrum. Wij bieden een podium waar we diep en breed ingaan op alles wat er in de literatuur toe doet, voor iedereen die ooit gegrepen is door de troost, waarde, kracht en schoonheid van literatuur.

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