This is a twice-yearly selection of new Dutch-language literature in English translation.
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Books are listed by genre, with our choice of key titles at the top and the rest of our selection in alphabetical order by author. We have included a link to the publisher’s Dutch and Belgian distributor if we have it.
This is an exciting time for Dutch literature with several nominations for highly prestigious British book prizes. Not only the widely-reported Booker International longlisting of Marieke Lucas Rijneveld’s The Evening is Discomfort, translated by Michele Hutchison, but also the first ever inclusion of a translation on the Carnegie Medal longlist for Annet Schaap’s Lampie and the Children of the Sea, translated by Laura Watkinson, whose translation of Gijs van der Hammen and Hanneke Siemensma’s Little Wise Wolf scored a Greenaway Award longlisting. February 2020 also saw the presentation in London of the biennial Vondel Prize for the best translation from Dutch into English. The winner was Michele Hutchison for her translation of Sander Kollaard’s Stage Four.
Rodaan Al Galidi, Two Blankets, Three Sheets. Translated by Jonathan Reeder. World Editions, 2020. PB.
Hendrik Groen, On the Bright Side: The New Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 85 Years Old. Translated by Hester Velmans. Grand Central Publishing, 2019. HB.
Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, The Discomfort of Evening. Translated by Michele Hutchison. Faber, 2020. PB. Orders: bridgetl@faber.co.uk
Tommy Wieringa, The Blessed Rita. Translated by Sam Garrett. Scribe, 2020. HB. Orders: orders@gbs.tbs-ltd.co.uk
Felix Timmermans, Intimations of Death. Translated by Paul Vincent. Valancourt Books, 2019. PB.
Esther Verhoef, Close to the Cradle: A Thriller. Translated by Alexander Smith. Amazon Crossing, 2019. PB.
Roxane van Iperen, The Sisters of Auschwitz: The True Story Of Two Sisters’ Resistance In The Heart Of Nazi Territory. Translated by Joni Zwart. Seven Dials, 2019.
Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazel Tov: The Story of my Extraordinary Friendship with an Orthodox Jewish Family. Translated by Jane Hedley-Prole. Pushkin Press, 2020. PB. Orders: michael@geoghegan.me.uk
Eddy de Wind, Last Stop Auschwitz: My Story of Survival from within the Camp. Translated by David Colmer. Transworld, 2019. HB Grand Central Publishing, 2020. HB.
Jurriaan Benschop, Salt in the Wound: Encountering Contemporary Artists Across Europe. Translated by Susan Ridder. Garret Publications, 2019. PB.
Rick Blom, Hunger: How Food Shaped the Course of the First World War. Translated by Suzanne Heukensfeldt Jansen. Uniform/Waterloo (Can.): Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2019. PB.
Mariëtte Boon and Liesbeth van Rossum, Fat: The Secret Organ. Translated by Colleen Higgins. Quercus, 2020. PB. Orders: Lottie.chase@quercusbooks.co.uk
Nienke Denekamp, The Gauguin Atlas. Translated by Laura Watkinson. Yale University Press, 2019. HB.
Willemijn van Dijk, The Successor: Tiberius and the Triumph of the Roman Empire. Translated by Kathleen Brandt-Carey. Baylor University Press, 2019. HB.
Herman van Praag, M.. Deference to Doubt: A Young Man’s Quest for Religious Identity in First Century Judea. Translated by Rosalind Buck. Urim Publications, 2020. HB.
Ruud van der Rol and Rian Verhoeven. Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary, a Photographic Remembrance. Translated by Tony Langham and Plym Peters. Penguin. PB.
Simone van Saarloos, Playing Monogamy. Translated by Liz Waters. Musagetes Foundation, 2019. PB.
Ivo van Vulpen, How to Find a Higgs Boson—and Other Big Mysteries in the World of the Very Small. Translated by David McKay. Yale University Press, 2020. HB.
Tonke Dragt, The Goldsmith and the Master Thief. Translated by Laura Watkinson. Pushkin Press, 2019. HB. Orders: michael@geoghegan.me.uk
Toon Tellegen, I Wish. Translated by David Colmer. Elsewhere Editions, 2020. HB. https://www.vanditmar.nl/
Floor Bal, It Started with a Big Bang: The Origin of Earth, You and Everything Else. Translated by Kathleen Keenan. Ill. Sebastiaan Van Doninck. Kids Can Press, 2019.
Dick Bruna, Miffy x Rembrandt. Translated by Richard de Nooy. Mercis, 2019. Children’s HB.
Annemarie van der Eem, I Want a Lion!. Translated by Jesse Goossens. Ill. Mark Janssen. Lemniscaat, 2019.
Piet Grobler, Franciscus and the Animals. Translated by Jesse Goossens. Ill. Piet Grobler. Lemniscaat, 2019.
Annemarie van Haeringen, My Mama. Translated by Bill Nagelkerke. Ill. Annemarie van Haeringen. Gecko Press, 2020. HB. Orders: www.bouncemarketing.co.uk
Benny Lindelauf, Fing’s War. Translated by John Nieuwenhuizen. Enchanted Lion Books, 2019.
Tom Schamp, It’s a Great Big Colorful World: Encylopaedia Otto-colorista. Translated by Michele Hutchison. Ill. Tom Schamp. Prestel, 2019. HB.
Dieter and Ingrid Schubert, Maurits Mouse and Rembrandt: The Master and his Mouse. Translated by Marije Matthew. Leopold, 2019. HB.
Noëlle Smit, In the Garden. Translated by Laura Watkinson. Little Island Books, 2020. HB.
Charlotte Van den Broeck, Chameleon | Nachtroer. Translated by David Colmer. Bloodaxe Books, 2020. PB. Orders: export@gbs.tbs-ltd.co.uk.
Toon Tellegen, Under a Giant Sky: Selected Poems. Translated by Judith Wilkinson. Shoestring Press, 2019. PB.
Menno Wigman, Beautiful Things: In Memory of Menno Wigman. Translated by David Colmer. Arc Publications, 2020 PB Orders: sue.arc@btconnect.com (tel: +44 (0)1706 812338).
Jan Baeke, Bigger than the Facts. Translated by Antoinette Fawcett. Arc Publications, 2020. PB. Orders: sue.arc@btconnect.com (tel: +44 (0)1706 812338)
Jules Deelder, Transeuropa: Poems. Translated by Scott Emblen-Jarrett. Holland Park Press, 2019. PB.
Frank Koenegracht, Early Snow: Poems, 1971-2003. Translated by Koenraad Kuiper and Sarah Hart. Spuyten Duyvil, 2019. PB.
Eva Cardon, Us Two Together. Translated by Michele Hutchison. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019. HB.
Joris Vermassen, Mad with Joy: A Graphic Novel. Translated by Jan W. Goeminne and Joe Sutliff Sanders. Ill. Joris Vermassen. Fanfare, 2019.
