Curators Lou Mensah and Maboula Soumahoro are bringing six inspiring writers, journalists, and artists from Paris and London to Amsterdam this year. During the festival, they will share the stage with more than sixty Dutch peers, but first, the guests will introduce themselves to us during this Opening Night.

Expect a delightful evening filled with stories, poetry, and music. In 2025, Read My World revolves around the search for, the experience of, and the sharing of the sensory perception of language, brought together under the theme The Beats of Belonging. With this opening night, we invite our international guests on stage to let us experience the first sounds of these beats.