In this podcast episode, doctoral candidate Maria Auxiliadora Castillo Soto and transnational author Alejandra Ortiz took a walking tour around different places in Amsterdam that are important to the author. Ortiz is the author of the book De Waarheid zal me Bevrijden, published in 2022 by Lebowski Publishers. In her book, Ortiz recounts her migratory experience from Mexico to the United States and Netherlands and her varied experiences in these countries as a trans migrant woman. Together with some information about her book, this podcast invites listeners to experience Amsterdam from Ortiz’s transnational gaze, far away from the touristic places and the typical representations of the city. At each stop, Alejandra’s short monologues explaining why these places are meaningful to her were recorded. The audios contain ambient sounds and noises that were experienced that day with the intention to offer listeners the experience of the movement of the conversation and the city. This small project also has photographs that were taken during the walk. These photographs and Alejandra’s experience will be published as a written report in an edited volume titled Amsterdam Diaries, Life Writing and Identity: Urban Lives in October 2025 by Amsterdam University Press. Check out the links below for more information about this piece.

Edited volume - Amsterdam Diaries, Life Writing and Identity: Urban Lives (forthcoming, Amsterdam University Press, 2025): 

www.vu.nl/en/events/2023/urban-lives-amsterdam-diaries-and-other-stories-of-the-self

Boost Amsterdam: www.boostamsterdam.nl

T-Huis: www.transhuis.nl

Papaya Kuir: www.papayakuir.com

Winq Community Awards: 

www.winq.nl/winaar-winq-community-award-2023-alejandra-ortiz/103934

The episode transcript can be accessed here.

An English translation of the transcript can be accessed here.

This episode is part of the EUTERPE podcast Library on European Literatures and Genders from a Transnational Perspective.

The podcast is powered by the European Union, UKRI, and the Central European University Library.

Grant Agreement: 101073012 EUTERPE HORIZON-MSCA-2021-DN-01 Project.

For more information about the EUTERPE project please refer to the official project webpage https://www.euterpeproject.eu/, or follow us on Instagram @euterpe_project_ or Facebook at EUTERPE Doctoral Network Project.

This episode was produced and edited by: María Auxiliadora Castillo Soto

Thank you to Alexander Walker for the music and to Alice Flinta for the voice over.

Thank you also to Ninutsa Nadirashvili and Kris Orszaghova for designing the podcast covers.