{{Short description|Aruban writer and poet (1943–2021)}} {{Infobox person | name = Olga Orman | image = File:Orman Olga.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1943|11|09|df=y}} | birth_place = Noord, Aruba<ref name="nicolaas">{{cite web|url=https://werkgroepcaraibischeletteren.nl/olga-orman-1943-2021/ |title=Olga Orman; 1943 – 2021|author=Quito Nicolaas|website=Werkgroep Caraibische Letteren|access-date=1 May 2021|language=nl}}</ref> | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2021|03|07|1943|11|09}} | death_place = Amsterdam, Netherlands<ref name="memoriam">{{cite web|url=https://werkgroepcaraibischeletteren.nl/in-memoriam-olga-orman-1943-2021/ |title=In Memoriam Olga Orman (1943-2021)|author=Fred de Haas|website=Werkgroep Caraibische Letteren|access-date=1 May 2021|language=nl}}</ref> | nationality = | other_names = | occupation = Writer, poet and storyteller | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = ''Hoe Anansi de ogen van de koning opende'' (1991)<br/>''Cas di biento / Doorwaaiwoning'' (2014) }} '''Olga Orman''' (9 November 1943 – 7 March 2021) was a Dutch-Aruban writer, poet and storyteller. She wrote both in Papiamento and Dutch.<ref name="rutgers">{{cite book|url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/rutg014bala01_01/rutg014bala01_01_0024.php |title=Balans. Arubaans letterkundig leven. De periode van autonomie en status aparte 1954-2015 |year=2016|author=Wim Rutgers|location=Aruba|publisher=Editorial Charuba|page=179|language=nl}}</ref> Orman introduced ''kamishibai'', a Japanese form of storytelling, to the Netherlands and the ABC islands.<ref name="nicolaas"/><ref name="unlimited">{{cite web|url=https://www.writersunlimited.nl/en/participant/olga-orman |title=Olga Orman|website=Writers Unlimited|access-date=1 May 2021}}</ref>
==Biography== Orman was born on 9 November 1943 in Noord, Aruba. At the age of 14, she left for the Netherlands. She received her teaching degree in Etten-Leur,<ref name="memoriam"/> and worked as an elementary school teacher in Curaçao for five years.<ref name="poetry">{{cite web|url=https://werkgroepcaraibischeletteren.nl/poezie-van-orman-seis-punti-barancazes-rotsen/ |title=Poëzie van Orman: Seis punt’i baranca/Zes rotsen |author=Fred de Haas|website=Werkgroep Caraibische Letteren|access-date=1 May 2021|language=nl}}</ref> Orman returned to the Netherlands, and started to teach in Amsterdam Bijlmermeer, a multi-cultural high-rise neighbourhood from the 1970s.<ref name="memoriam"/>
In 1994, Orman made her debut as a children's book writer with ''E biaha largo pa djeipei/De lange reis van hier tot om de hoek''.<ref name="nicolaas"/> She became known for two picture books about the spider Anansi.<ref name="unlimited"/> Omar started to write poetry for herself in the 1980s,<ref name="poetry"/> and is best known for the 2014 poetry collection ''Cas di biento / Doorwaaiwoning''.<ref name="rutgers"/><ref name="nicolaas"/>
As a teacher, Orman became aware of the frustration of children trying to express themselves in an unfamiliar language.<ref name="memoriam"/> She remembered that the oral tradition is still alive in Aruba, therefore, she started to introduce ''kamishibai'', a Japanese form of storytelling with a miniature theatre, to the classroom.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://dbnl.nl/tekst/_bzz001199601_01/_bzz001199601_01_0030.php?q=Olga%20Orman#hl5 |title=Het vertellen weer levend maken |author=Pieter de Nijs|year=1996|magazine=Bzzlletin|language=nl|access-date=1 May 2021|pages=63–64}}</ref>
In the Netherlands, ''Kinderboekenweek'', a week dedicated to children's books, is organised since 1955. Orman wanted to introduce the concept to the ABC islands, and in 2001, she was one of the founding members of ''{{ill|Simia Literario|nl}}'', a cultural organisation dedicated to promoting literature of the ABC islands.<ref name="nicolaas"/> In 2004, Orman was knighted in the Order of Orange-Nassau.<ref name="nicolaas"/>
Orman died on 7 March 2021 in Amsterdam, at the age of 77.<ref name="memoriam"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://archive.org/details/BNA-DIG-KBF-2015/mode/2up 2015 Aruban Kinderboekenweek picture book] Translated by Olga Orman. (Free download courtesy of National Library of Aruba) {{in lang|nl|pap}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Orman, Olga}} Category:1943 births Category:2021 deaths Category:20th-century Dutch women educators Category:20th-century Dutch educators Category:Dutch women writers Category:Dutch poets Category:Dutch women poets Category:Aruban women writers Category:Aruban writers Category:Aruban poets Category:Aruban women poets Category:Aruban children's writers Category:Dutch women children's writers Category:Papiamento-language writers Category:People from Noord Category:Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau Category:21st-century Dutch women educators Category:21st-century Dutch educators