Frank Martinus Arion given writers’ stone in Amsterdam
The Nieuwe Kerk honours the Curaçao writer and his role in Dutch-language and Papiamento-language literature.
A writers’ stone for Frank Martinus Arion was unveiled at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam on Friday. Family members and representatives of Curaçao attended the ceremony.
The stone pays tribute to a writer who firmly connected the literature of the Caribbean part of the Kingdom with the Netherlands. Arion was born in Curaçao in 1936 and came to the Netherlands at the age of eighteen to study. He wrote novels, essays and poems in Dutch and Papiaments.
His best-known novel is Dubbelspel, published in 1973. The book is set in Curaçao and uses a game of dominoes as a framework for conversations about power, love, class and colonial relations. Arion thereby became an important voice in Dutch-language Caribbean literature.
Arion’s work was not limited to literature. According to the available background information, he also campaigned for recognition of Papiaments and for education in which the native language and history were given a greater place. His work regularly referred to racism, social inequality and the consequences of the colonial past.
The writers’ stone was unveiled by Errold Bishop, Curaçao’s minister plenipotentiary in the Netherlands. The ceremony took place at the Nieuwe Kerk, where stones have previously been placed for, among others, Multatuli, Annie M.G. Schmidt, Hella Haasse and Anton de Kom.
The tribute coincides with renewed attention to Arion’s legacy. Around the unveiling, the NTR is releasing a podcast and journalistic stories about his work, his ideas about language and identity, and the influence he had on young writers and creators. Family members, former pupils and other authors also contribute.
The stone makes Arion visible in a building that many visitors primarily associate with national history and royal ceremonies. This reflects the broader place Caribbean literature now occupies in the Dutch literary memory. At the same time, his work itself remains the most important monument: novels and poems that describe the relationship between language, origin and power from the perspective of Curaçao.
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The unveiling, the main biographical details and the additional NTR productions have been confirmed by public sources. The text contains no unverified statements about the personal views of surviving relatives.
- confirmed A writers’ stone for Frank Martinus Arion was unveiled at the Nieuwe Kerk. — ANP reported the unveiling on 9 October 2026. source
- confirmed Arion was born in Curaçao in 1936 and wrote in Dutch and Papiaments. — These biographical details appear in ANP’s reporting and at NTR. source
- confirmed Dubbelspel was published in 1973. — ANP names 1973 as the year in which Arion broke through with the novel. source
- confirmed Around the unveiling, the NTR is releasing a podcast and journalistic stories. — The NTR describes the podcast and the accompanying stories. source
Editor's note
The unveiling and the main biographical facts were confirmed by ANP and NTR. The precise details of the ceremony beyond the attendees mentioned have not been filled in further.Sources
- Schrijver Frank Martinus Arion geëerd met steen in De Nieuwe Kerk — ANP via ZeelandNet
- Caribische helden: Frank Martinus Arion — NTR
- Monumenten voor schrijvers — De Nieuwe Kerk