Stipendiat:innen
Tamar Noort

Tamar Noort is a writer, journalist and filmmaker who grew up in the Netherlands.
She studied English literature, art and media in Oldenburg and Newcastle upon Tyne (UK) and she is a graduate of the Masterclass Non-Fiction at the International Film School Cologne. She has received several scholarships and awards for her work as a writer, director and producer of science documentaries. Her debut novel “Die Ewigkeit ist ein guter Ort” (“Eternity is a good place”) was published with Rowohlt publishing house in 2022.

photo: Camilo Pachón
photo: Camilo Pachón

Seven weeks of Schöppingen were so much more than just seven weeks of time and space to write. For the first time in years, I had nothing to distract me from the Great Wide Open which was going to be my next novel. As it turns out, the Great Wide Open is great, and it is wide, and it is open, and that can be pretty challenging. I spent days just thinking about structure and perspective, feeling not very productive. Instead of writing, I did a lot of reading, I went swimming, and I enjoyed gatherings with other fellows around food, drinks or the fireplace. Only after I started writing, when my residency already came to an end, I realized that all of that had contributed to getting started. I thought I was facing the Great Wide Open alone, but I wasn’t. Other writers and artists had my back, and that is an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life.