Bea Vianen

Bea Vianen was of both African and Indian ancestry. At the age of eight, her mother died of tuberculosis, and she was put in a Catholic foster home.^[4] Vianen went to the Netherlands in 1957 for her Bachelor of Education.^[5] Vianen wrote mainly in Dutch, but occasionally in Sranan Tongo,^[6] and her writing contained many autobiographical elements.^[7] Her first novel was Sarnami, Hai or "Surinam I am" in 1969,^[6] a coming of age story of a young East Indian girl in a country torn apart by religious and ethnic differences, and a colonial past.^[7] It's a bleak story set in a world without love, but also about a young woman who persists in life.^[8] It was translated into English and released in 2024 under the title 'My Name is Sita'^[9]

Vianen also wrote poetry, which has been collected in Liggend stilstaan bij blijvende monumenten (1975).^[7] In 1978, she started to work for Avenue for whom she travelled to places like Peru, Colombia and Ecuador. The journeys resulted in many poems, and many personal dramas.^[4]

Vianen was an admirer of the Trinidadian novelist V. S. Naipaul.^[6] Vianen died in Paramaribo on 6 January 2019 at the age of 83.^[3]

• Bea Vianen at the Digital Library for Dutch Literature (Sarnami, hai and Het paradijs van Oranje are available as free downloads)
• Bea Vianen at Suriname View Literature

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