Bilal al Mashta | works & more

NARRATIVE ESSAY (EN)

Machiavellian Blues

A narrative essay on that which leads to a successful male driven organization...

SHORT STORY (NL)

Het Paradijs is niet voor ons

Een man bewandelt het paradijs op zoek naar zijn beloofde maagden...
* Winner Write Now! Rotterdam 09
* Nomination SLAU HC-Trofee 09

SHORT EPISODIC STORY (EN)

The Chronicle of Valentine Soar

The story opens with a sinister killing in a dark alley; an event enveloped in mystery...
* Published in10.nl April '10

SHORT STORY (NL)

Het Gerecht

Voor het tribunaal van de Goden staat een arme man terecht voor het nalaten een offer te brengen...

POEMS (EN)

Selected Poems

An up to date selection of randomly themed poetry in both the Dutch and English language...

POEM (NL)

De Rede der Luiaard

Een man ondervraagt een luiaard tijdens een passievolle redevoering...
* Winner El Hizjra Prize for Literature 2008
* Published in "De Laatste Slangendans", Gennep, 2008

SHORT STORY (EN)

Echo Boomers

Four young men spend an evening discussing several topics of their daily lives...

COLUMNS (NL)

The Best of Bilal's Class

A handful selected posts from my old blog: Bilal's Class: The New Kid on the Blog...

SHORT STORY (NL)

De Geest van Pepsy

Een schoolplein wordt omgetoverd nadat een meisje voor het eerst de plaats betreedt...
* 3rd Prize Winner Write Now! Amsterdam 2010

EPISODIC STORY (EN)

The Gayel Philwaki Episodes

In a continuous series of documentary shorts, a man named Gayel Philwaki depicts his life in a world of artistry, friendship and boyish finesse...
* Published on guyvernes.com

APPAREL LABEL

Guy Vernes

Owner of the men's apparel brand "Guy Vernes", Bilal is the face behind the fashionable pseudonym.

HIPHOP PARTY

The Hibbit

A local phenomenon, The Hibbit is a hiphop party thrown every four months by Bilal and partner in crime Niek Dekker.

DANCE CLASSES

Black, Brownie & the Blondes

Under the "Black, Brownie & the Blondes" tag, Bilal and friend Bury Stil deliver Hiphop classes and choreographic work.

HIPHOP RADIO

Twelve o'Clock Boys

Andrew Howard Wayne, Niek Dekker and Bilal Al Mashta are the "Twelve o'Clock Boys", podcasting the better in life and music.

My name is Bilal Al Mashta, I'm 24 years old and while I have roots deeply entrenched in the Arab world, the Netherlands is what I call home. I recall having an expired agenda when I was eight years old, in which I used to write infantile poems and other dramatic baby steps, yet I consider 2008 as the official year of my literary debute.

It is not by modesty that I do not accept the privilege of being called a writer, but because I think that it is an honorary title that should be reserved for the better men and women of the craft. I'm inspired by novel theoretical concepts and what I love the most is trying to translate these into original stories. Stories that explore philosophical, psychological, political or religious notions through a world of fictional absurdities.

I do not have a favorite book, nor a favorite author, but there are many great writers and thinkers that I admire. From Dante to C.S. Lewis and from Plato to Ayn Rand, I seem to have a thing for works that surpass the literary.