Marjolijn van Heemstra

Writer and poet exploring darkness, Earth and our place in the cosmos.

About Marjolijn van Heemstra

Marjolijn van Heemstra is an award-winning Dutch writer, poet, journalist and theatre-maker whose work explores our relationship with the night, the Earth and the wider cosmos.

Since 2019, Marjolijn has written about space and space exploration for Dutch journalism platform De Correspondent, asking how a cosmic perspective might help us see our own planet differently. Her acclaimed book In Light-Years There’s No Hurry explores the ‘overview effect’ – the profound shift in perspective experienced by astronauts when viewing Earth from space – and considers whether we can find something similar without ever leaving the ground.

A passionate advocate for darkness and the night, Marjolijn co-founded De Nacht-Wacht (The Night Watch), a multidisciplinary project exploring the ecological, cultural and poetic value of darkness.

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