Ilja Post Email & Phone Number

Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands

Currently I'm a hired gun for newspapers, magazines and other companies such as cultural or non profit organisations. For the last two years I also give workshops journalism and photography to children between the ages of 8 and 12. (Check www.stichtinghoedjevanpapier.nl for results.) Like the gunslingers of old I have a dead-eye shot for detail. But instead of wielding pistols I use pen and paper to get the message across. As such I have been writing for, among others, Metro, Zin, Revu, Panorama. Also for the last eight years I have been live the Orwellian down and out life as a staffwriter for Straatmagazine, one of the biggest streetpapers in the Netherlands.

For the Dutch non profit organisation Hoedje van Papier I give workshops to children between the ages of 8 and 12. The goal is to empower the youth, buld their confidence, have them work in teams and to learn them some basic journalism skills. With my help they write their own articles and take their own pictures. This content is later transformed in to a magazine made by their own hands. For results check www.stichtinghoedjevanpapier.nl.

Straatmagazine, one of the biggest streetpapers in the Netherlands, isn't just a job. Interviewing the homeless, the sick, the refugees, the scarred and the beaten down requires more than journalistic skills. You have to be able to really listen and set people at ease to get to the bottem of the story. To do that you have to ask difficult, heart-wrenching questions. But only then are you able to really get their story across.As a staff writer I'm also resbonsible for interviews with the occasional famous Dutch person. To name just a few: Jan Pronk, Geert Mak, Bram Peper, Ben van Berkel, Jan Douwe Kroeske, Guus Hiddink, Boudewijn de Groot, Isa Hoes, Herman den Blijker, Jan-Peter Balkenende.At the International Street Paper Awards 2009 I was nominated for the Best Feature Story.

Living in the Rotterdam metropolitan area for years I has been an absolute treat to work for the local weekly Maasstad weekbladen. In the seven years I worked for this paper I was resbonsible for gathering, editing and writing the news in a number of different area's, from downtown Rotterdam to the southside of the city, and from the commuter town of Spijkenisse to the sunny beachresort of Rockanje. Sadly the paper didn't survive the credit cruch. But at the same time it's downfall opened new possibilities for me as a freelance writer/journalist. The experience I build up during these seven years will be a great resource and inspiration for years to come.

Hbo, Journalism

Activities and Societies: Feature writing for magazines History

Vwo