John Adams Institute events start with an inspiring talk, continue in discussion, and include questions from the public. Our talks are hosted at venues throughout Amsterdam and our specially selected moderators ensure enriching and thought-provoking evenings.
Lionel Shriver, American Contrarian
On her latest book 'Mania'
May 08, 2024, 8:00 pm -
10:00 pm,
Pakhuis de Zwijger, Piet Heinkade 179, Amsterdam
In her latest novel, Mania, iconoclastic author Lionel Shriver investigates the fallout around the fictional 2011 “Mental Parity Movement” in the United States in an alternative yet all too recognizable near past. Dubbed the “last great Civil Rights fight” by its progenitors, Americans now embrace the sacred, universal truth that there is no such thing …
American Sonnets for my Past and Future Assassin
Poetics and Politics with Award-Winning Poet Terrance Hayes
May 27, 2024, 8:00 pm -
10:00 pm,
Vondelkerk, Vondelstraat 120, Amsterdam
I lock you in an American sonnet that is part prison, / Part panic closet, in a little room in a house set aflame … I lock your persona in a dream-inducing sleeper hold / While your better selves watch from the bleachers. In 70 poems bearing the same title, Terrance Hayes explores the meanings …
Tiya Miles: All That She Carried
The remarkable history of Ashley’s Sack
Jun 17, 2024, 8:00 pm -
10:00 pm,
Het Scheepvaartmuseum, Kattenburgerplein 1, Amsterdam
“In a display case in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture sits a rough cotton bag. “Ashley’s Sack” is embroidered with a handful of words that evoke a sweeping family story of loss and love passed down through the generations.” In South Carolina in the 1850s, an enslaved woman named Rose …
