[5] Vianen wrote mainly in Dutch, but occasionally in Sranan Tongo,[6] and her writing contained many autobiographical elements.
[7] Her first novel was Sarnami, Hai or "Surinam I am" in 1969,[6] a coming of age story of a young East Indian girl in a country torn apart by religious and ethnic differences, and a colonial past.
[7] It's a bleak story set in a world without love, but also about a young woman who persists in life.
[8] Vianen also wrote poetry, which has been collected in Liggend stilstaan bij blijvende monumenten (1975).
[7] In 1978, she started to work for Avenue for whom she travelled to places like Peru, Colombia and Ecuador.