Matthias M.R. Declercq

Since childhood, Matthias M.R. Declercq has been fascinated by the idea of a life far away from everything. The city dweller decides to search for an answer to the question that occupies him, and so many others: what is life like in the real wilderness?

He decides to track down a fellow villager who emigrated to Alaska in the 1960s. Declercq ends up in Tanana, an unremarkable village in the geographical heart of the vast wilderness, surrounded by forests, mountains, and swamps. He is deeply impressed by the mighty Yukon River and tries to relate to the short summers and the lonely freezing cold of the endless winter months. But the longer he stays in Tanana, the more Declercq looks up to the residents. From Athabaskans to old Iraq war veterans and elderly hippies. It is a microworld full of free spirits, including hermits and delinquents. Declercq increasingly marvels at the endurance, the destructive urge, and the resilience of humans in this extreme, crumbling world.

'Tanana' is the captivating, surprising, and ultimately also confronting account of four seasons in the absolute middle of nowhere.

After a welcome from editor Peter van der Zwaag (De Bezige Bij), Matthias M.R. Declercq engages in conversation with radio presenter Kirsten Lemaire. Actor Joris Hessels stops by, and Lennert Coorevits (Lenny Lenny / Compact Disk Dummies) & Jerome Pringiers provide music.

Afterwards, the author will sign at the bookstand of bookstore Walry.

Matthias M.R. Declercq (1985) is a journalist and writer. After his filmed debut 'De val' (2016), 'De ontdekking van Urk' was published in 2020 (more than 60,000 copies sold). It was awarded the Confituur Bookstore Prize and the Investigative Journalism Prize De Loep.