New Dutch Books in English

No. 17, Autumn 2021

New Dutch Books in English

The Vondel Prize for the best translation of a notable book from Dutch or Flemish into English is awarded every two years. The 2022 shortlist has just been announced, with a trio of Davids taking on a Laura and a Jane. The winner will be revealed in February.

The shortlist

·         David Colmer for Will by Jeroen Olyslaegers (Pushkin Press)

·         David Doherty for Summer Brother by Jaap Robben (World Editions)

·         David McKay for Adrift in the Middle Kingdom by J. Slauerhoff (Handheld Press)

·         Jane Hedley-Prole for The Republic by Joost de Vries (Other Press)

·         Laura Watkinson for Lampie by Annet Schaap (Pushkin Children’s)

The judges said of this year’s shortlist:

The books on the shortlist cover time periods spanning more than a century and take the reader to vastly different worlds, whether it be that of a ship’s doctor in the 1920s, a present-day academic, a Flemish policeman during the second world war, a thirteen-year-old boy or a lighthouse keeper’s daughter. The five highly-skilled translators display an ear for dialogue, a keen understanding of characterization, and an ability to create a distinctive narrative voice. 

Meanwhile, the Translators Aloud channel on Youtube has a growing database of translators reading from their work. Check out the Dutch playlist here. And our friends at the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative dedicated the entire month of September to Dutch children’s literature. You can find links to all their posts here.

Our new and forthcoming titles include Radna Fabias’s poetry collection Habitus (trans. David Colmer) which took the Netherlands by storm, Bart van Loo’s bestselling historical epic The Burgundians (trans. Nancy Forest-Flier), the second volume of Geert Mak’s ambitious survey of Europe (trans. Liz Waters), as well as Manon Uphoff’s disturbingly brilliant novel Falling is Like Flying (trans. Sam Garrett).

Many publishers are now selling directly to customers from their websites so please consider ordering your copies there and check out what else they have to offer. Or take a look at bookshop.org (US) or uk.bookshop.org (UK) and order from your local independent.

Books published between May and December 2021.

Fiction

 Manon Uphoff, Falling is Like Flying, trans. Sam Garrett, Pushkin Press

Willem Frederik Hermans, A Guardian Angel Recalls, trans. David Colmer, Archipelago US/Pushkin UK

Hendrik Groen, Two Old Men and a Baby, trans. Hester Velmans, Grand Central Publishing

Walter Lucius, A Sea of Flames (Heartland Trilogy, 3), trans. Laura Vroomen, Lorraine Miller, Michael Joseph

Nonfiction

Bart van Loo, The Burgundians: A Vanished Empire, A History of 1111 Years and One Day, trans. Nancy Forest-Flier, Head of Zeus

Frank Westerman, We, Hominids, trans. Sam Garrett, Black Inc

Geert Mak, The Dream of Europe, trans. Liz Waters, Harvill Secker

Huub Modderkolk, There’s a War Going On but No One Can See It, trans. Elizabeth Manton, Bloomsbury

Cees Nooteboom, 533: A Book of Days, trans. Laura Watkinson, MacLehose Press

Mariska van Sprundel, Running Smart, trans. Danny Guinan, MIT Press

Luuk van Middelaar, Pandemonium: Saving Europe, trans. Liz Waters, Agenda Publishing

Hans Blom, Reappraising the History of the Jews in the Netherlands, trans. David McKay, Littman Library

Children’s and YA

Anna Woltz, Talking to Alaska, trans. Laura Watkinson, Rock the Boat

Mathilda Masters, 321 Things You Seriously Need to Know, ill. Louize Perdieus, trans. Brent Annable, Thames & Hudson

Maranke Rinck, Popcorn Bob 2: the Popcorn Spy, ill. Martijn van der Linden, trans. Nancy Forest-Flier, Levine Querido

Toon Tellegen, No One is Angry Today, trans. David Colmer, Gecko

Poetry

Radna Fabias, Habitus, trans. David Colmer, Deep Vellum/Phoneme

Erik Lindner, Words Are The Worst, Selected Poems, trans. Francis R Jones, Signal Editions

Cees Nooteboom, Leaving, trans. David Colmer, Seagull

Grand Larcenies: Translations and Imitations of Ten Dutch Poets, ed. and trans. P.C. Evans, Carcanet

Rinkeldekinkel: An Anthology of Dutch Poetry, ed. Rob Schouten, Milkweed Editions

No. 16, Spring 2021

New Dutch Books in English

There was much excitement here when Jaap Robben’s Summer Brother, beautifully translated by David Doherty, made the longlist of the 2021 International Booker Prize. Sadly it didn’t make the shortlist, but there’s always next year’s Dublin Prize.

Last year, David McKay & Ina Rilke’s translation of Multatuli’s classic novel indicting colonialism, Max Havelaar (NYRB Classics), was shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize and this year’s shortlist includes Michele Hutchison’s International Booker-winning translation, The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld (Faber).

A Dutch and Flemish edition of The Riveter magazine was launched online last month at the British Library. The issue features many up and coming Dutch authors as well as big names and is available to download for free: https://www.eurolitnetwork.com/the-riveter/

Many publishers are now selling directly to customers from their websites so please consider ordering your copies there and check out what else they have to offer. Or take a look at bookshop.org (US) or uk.bookshop.org (UK) and order from your local independent.

Books published between October 2020 and May 2021.

Fiction

 Jaap Robben, Summer Brother, trans. David Doherty, World Editions, UK

Lize Spit, The Melting, trans. Kristen Gehrman, Macmillan, UK

Connie Palmen, Your Story, My Story, trans. Eileen Stevens & Anna Asbury, AmazonCrossing, US & UK

Cyriel Buysse, The Aunts, trans. David McKay, Snuggly Books, US

Otto de Kat, Freetown, trans. Laura Watkinson. MacLehose Press, UK 

Marjolein van Heemstra, In Search of a Name, trans. Jonathan Reeder, Atria Books US

Saskia Goldschmidt, Shocked Earth, trans. Antoinette Fawcett, Saraband, UK

Nonfiction

Jan Brokken, The Just, trans. David McKay, Scribe, UK & Australia

Willem-Jan Verlinden, The Van Gogh Sisters, trans. Brendan Monaghan & Yvette Rosenberg, Thames & Hudson, UK

Ellen de Visser, That One Patient: Doctors and Nurses’ Stories of the Patients Who Changed Their Lives Forever, trans. Brent Annable, Fourth Estate, UK 

Arthur Brand, Hitler’s Horses: The Incredible True Story of the Detective who Infiltrated the Nazi Underworld, trans. Jane Hedley-Prole, Ebury Press, UK

Eva Meijer, The Limits of my Language, trans. Antoinette Fawcett, Pushkin Press, UK

Lynn Berger, Second Thoughts, trans. Anna Asbury, September Publishing, UK

P.C. Emmer & Jos JL Gommans, The Dutch Overseas Empire, 1600-1800, trans. Marilyn Hedges. Cambridge University Press, US/UK

Angela Maas, A Woman’s Heart: Why Female Heart Health Really Matters, trans. Suzanne Heukensfeldt Jansen, Aster, UK 

Wouter Kusters, A Philosophy of Madness. The Experience of Psychotic Thinking, trans. Nancy Forest-Flier, The MIT Press, US/UK

Paul Scheffer, Freedom of the Border, trans. Liz Waters, Polity Press, UK

Mark Schuilenburg, Hysteria, trans. Vivien Glass, Routledge, UK

Frederike Geerdink, This Fire Never Dies: One Year With the PKK, trans. Anna Asbury & Vivien D. Glass. LeftWord Books, India

Children’s and YA

Jacques & Lise, Victor, tr. Laura Watkinson. Illus. Jacques & Lise, Pushkin Press, UK

Jan Van Der Veken, Planes, trans, David McKay, Prestel Publishing

Maranke Rinck, Popcorn Bob, ill. Martijn van der Linden, trans. Nancy Forest-Flier, Levine Querido, US

Mies van Hout, If Only, trans. David Colmer, Pajama Press, Canada

Poetry

Alfred Schaffer, Man Animal Thing, trans. Michele Hutchison, Eyewear, UK

Simone Atangana Bekono, How the First Sparks Became Visible. trans. David Colmer. The Emma Press, UK 

No. 15, Autumn 2020

New Dutch Books in English

Issue No. 15: Autumn 2020

The big news about Dutch literature in English this year has been the unprecedented achievement of author Marieke Lucas Rijneveld and translator Michele Hutchison in winning the Booker International for The Discomfort of Evening. This is a tremendous achievement and one of the greatest Dutch literary successes in English so far. It is also the culmination of a remarkable run of critical and commercial success over the last ten to fifteen years.

          The Booker International in its current form is the most prestigious prize for translated novels in English and was created by merging the Man Booker International Prize for a body of work and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for best translated novel. In its current form the Booker International has only existed for five years, but in this brief period Tommy Wieringa’s The Death of Murat Idrissi (tr. Sam Garrett) and Stefan Hertmans’s War and Turpentine (tr. David McKay) have also been nominated. Dutch books also featured in the history of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, which gave its format to the current Booker, with no less than two Dutch-language winners: Omega Minor (Paul Verhaeghen, self-translated, 2008) and The Detour (Gerbrand Bakker, tr. David Colmer, 2013).

          Another major prize that has seen a lot of Dutch success is the Dublin Literary Award for the best novel, original English or translated, published in the English-speaking world in a calendar year. The award was won by Gerbrand Bakker and translator David Colmer with The Twin in 2010. Arnon Grunberg’s Phantom Pain and Tommy Wieringa’s Caesarion (both tr. Sam Garrett) were shortlisted in 2005 and 2013 respectively, and Bakker/Colmer were shortlisted again for The Detour in 2014. Books by Cees Nooteboom and Connie Palmen were shortlisted in 1996, the prize’s inaugural year.

          Dutch-language books have also done well with other English literary and translation prizes. The translators of Multatuli’s Max Havelaar, David McKay and Ina Rilke, have been shortlisted and may yet win this year’s Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize. Annet Schaap and translator Laura Watkinson achieved a milestone when Lampie and the Children of the Sea was shortlisted as the first translation ever for the prestigious Carnegie Medal for children’s and YA literature. And in 2011 the Popescu Prize for European Poetry in Translation went to Judith Wilkinson for her translation of Toon Tellegen’s Raptors. I could continue in this vein about other prizes or the various short-listings for the Best Translated Book Awards and U.S. PEN Awards, Laura Watkinson’s seeming monopoly on the Batchelder Awards, or Dutch books that have climbed the bestseller charts. Suffice to say: with a brand-new Booker International win under its belt, Dutch literature in English is hot… but it’s been warming up for a while.

In addition to our usual round-up of recent and imminent publications, this newsletter features a special project by Strangers Press of the UK: a series of eight chapbooks introducing new Dutch writers in translations by up-and-coming translators, mentored by established Dutch-English literary translators. Approximately 10,000 words in length, the books are either fiction or nonfiction and have been published under the series title Verzet! See below for details.

 

Fiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alfred Birney, The Interpreter from Java. Translated by David Doherty. London: Head of Zeus, 2020. HB.

Dola de Jong, The Tree and the Vine. Translated by Kristen Gehrman. Oakland (CA): Transit Books, 2020. PB.

 

Strangers Press Verzet! Chapbook Series

These short paperbacks can be ordered individually.

Karin Amatmoekrim, Reconstruction, short stories translated by Sarah Timmer-Harvey.

Sanneke van Hassel, Shelter, short stories translated by Danny Guinan.

Thomas Heerma van Voss, Thank You For Being With Us, short stories translated by Moshe Gilula.

Bregje Hofstede, Bergje, autobiographical essay translated by Alice Tetley-Paul.

Jamal Ouariachi, The Tourist Butcher, short stories translated by Scott Emblen-Jarrett.

Nina Polak, The Dandy, short stories translated by Emma Rault.

Gustaaf Peek Resist! In Defence of Communism, pamphlet translated by Brendan Monaghan.

Maartje Wortel, Something Has To Happen, short stories translated by Jozef van der Voort.

Orders: https://distribution.nbni.co.uk/

 

Nonfiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rutger Bregman, Humankind: A Hopeful History. Translated by Elizabeth Manton, Erica Moore. London: Bloomsbury, 2020. HB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Johan Huizinga, Autumntide of the Middle Ages. Translated by Diane Webb. Leiden: Leiden University Press, 2020. HB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cees Nooteboom, Venice: The Lion, the City and the Water. Translated by Laura Watkinson. London: MacLehose Press, 2020. HB

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miek Zwamborn, The Seaweed Collector’s Handbook. Translated by Michele Hutchison. London: Profile Books, 2020. HB.

Sanne Blauw, The Number Bias: How Numbers Lead and Mislead Us. Translated by Suzanne Heukensfeldt Jansen. London: Sceptre, 2020. HB.

Stefan Buijsman, Pluses and Minuses: How Maths Makes the World More Manageable. Translated by Andy Brown. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2020.

Jan Caeyers, Beethoven: A Biography. Translated by Brent Annable. Berkeley; Los Angeles etc.: University of California Press, 2020.

Jelmer Mommers, How Are We Going to Explain This? Our Future on a Hot Earth. Translated by Anna Asbury, Laura Vroomen. London: Profile Books, 2020. PB.

Selma van de Perre, My Name is Selma: The Remarkable Memoir of a Jewish Resistance Fighter and Ravensbrück Survivor. Translated by Alice Tetley-Paul, Anna Asbury. New York etc.: Bantam, 2020.

Jan Verplaetse, Blood Rush: The Dark History of a Vital Fluid. Translated by Andy Brown. London: Reaktion Books, 2020. HB.

 

Children’s and YA

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibi Dumon Tak, Leave a Message in the Sand. Translated by Laura Watkinson. Illustrated by Annemarie van Haeringen. Grand Rapids, Michigan; Cambridge, U.K.: Eerdmans, HB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edward van de Vendel, Little Fox. Translated by David Colmer. Illustrated by Marije Tolman. New York: Levine Querido, HB.

Jef Aerts, Bigger Than a Dream. Translated by David Colmer. Illustrated by Marit Törnqvist. Montclair; Amsterdam; New York: Levine Querido, 2020. HB.

Jef Aerts, The Blue Wings. Translated by Laura Watkinson. Illustrated by Martijn van der Linden. Montclair; Amsterdam; New York: Levine Querido, 2020. HB.

Syl van Duyn, Girl Out of Place. Translated by Ernestine Hoegen. Aurora Metro Books, 2020. Kinder- en jeugdliteratuur, PB.

Peter Goes, Timeline: Science & Technology. Translated by Bill Nagelkerke. Wellington: Gecko Press, 2020. HB. Orders: www.bouncemarketing.co.uk

Jan de Kinder, Red. Translated by Laura Watkinson. Illustrated by Jan De Kinder. Grand Rapids, Michigan; Cambridge, U.K.: Eerdmans, 2020. PB.

Maren Stoffels, Escape Room. Translated by Laura Watkinson. New York: Delacorte Press, 2020. Kinder- en jeugdliteratuur, PB.

 

Poetry

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mustafa Stitou, Two Half Faces. Translated by David Colmer. Dallas: Phoneme Media/Deep Vellum, 2020. PB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Menno Wigman, The World by Evening: Selected Poems. Translated by Judith Wilkinson. Exeter: Shearsman Books, 2020. PB.

Sasja Janssen, Putting on My Species. Translated by Michele Hutchison. Exeter: Shearsman Books, 2020. PB.

 

No. 14, Spring 2020

New Dutch Books in English

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.

 

Fiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Nonfiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Children’s and Young Adult

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Poetry

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Graphic novels

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.

No. 13, Autumn 2019

New Dutch Books in English

With the New Dutch Writing campaign starting up in the UK this autumn, Dutch writers will be a common sight at events and festivals across the channel until the end of 2020. This will boost the number of Dutch books published in English next year so watch this space… and do visit their site.

Meanwhile, this autumn’s line-up features big names like J. Slauerhoff, Stefan Hertmans, Herman Koch, and Griet op de Beeck. Pushkin Press continues to provide British readers with a steadfast selection of top-notch books – see Jeroen Olyslaeger’s tour de force Will and the charming and popular children’s book Lampie by Annet Schaap. AmazonCrossing has not lost its taste for Dutch and Flemish writers either, with three titles in this selection and more to follow in 2020.

 

 

Fiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

J. Slauerhoff, Adrift in the Middle Kingdom. Translated by David McKay. Handheld Press, 2019. PB. Orders: enquiries@handheldpress.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeroen Olyslaegers. Will. Translated by David Colmer. Pushkin Press, 2019. PB. Orders: michael@geoghegan.me.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

Herman Koch. The Ditch. Translated by Sam Garrett. Hogarth, 2019. HB

Stefan Hertmans. The Convert. Translated by David McKay. Harvill Secker, 2019. PB

Griet op de Beeck. Mona in Three Acts. Translated by Michele Hutchison. AmazonCrossing, 2019. PB

Martin Michael Driessen. The Pelican: A Comedy. Translated by Jonathan Reeder, AmazonCrossing, 2019. PB

Margriet de Moor. Sleepless Night. Translated by David Doherty. New Vessel Press, 2019. PB

Esther Verhoef. Mother Dear. Translated by Jozef van der Voort. AmazonCrossing, 2019. PB

 

 

Nonfiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eva Meijer. Animal Languages: The Secret Conversations of The Living World. Translated by Laura Watkinson. John Murray, 2019. HB.

Onno Blom. Young Rembrandt. Translated by Beverly Jackson. Pushkin Press, 2019. HB. Orders: michael@geoghegan.me.uk

Annejet van der Zijl. The Boy Between Worlds. Translated by Kristen Gehrman. AmazonCrossing, 2019. PB

 

 

Children’s and Young Adult

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annet Schaap, Lampie And The Children of The Sea. Translated by Laura Watkinson. Pushkin Press, 2019. HB. Orders: michael@geoghegan.me.uk

Jozua Douglas, The Gruesome General. Translated by Michele Hutchison. Illustrations Elly Hees. Affirm Press, 2019. PB

 

Poetry for Children

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edward van de Vendel. Super Guppy. Translated by David Colmer. Illust. Fleur van der Weel. The Emma Press, 2019. PB. Orders: rebecca@inpressbooks.co.uk

 

No. 12, Spring 2019

New Dutch Books in English

Issue No. 12: Spring 2019

Dutch literature from the twenty-first and nineteenth centuries has been attracting attention this year with the longlisting of Tommy Wieringa’s The Death of Murat Idrissi for the prestigious Man Booker International Prize 2019 and the publication in New York of a new translation of Multatuli’s anti-colonial classic, Max Havelaar, now with an introduction by the Indonesian author Pramoedya Ananta Toer. Meanwhile the interest in modern classics continues with the publication of Gerard Reve’s Childhood: Two Novellas and Jan Terlouw’s Winter in Wartime, both by Pushkin in London.

 

 

Fiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

Multatuli, Max Havelaar: Or, the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company. Translated by David McKay, Ina Rilke. New York Review of Books, 2019 (NYRB Classics). PB. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gerard Reve. Childhood:Two Novellas. Translated by Sam Garrett. Pushkin Press, 2018. Orders: michael@geoghegan.me.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joost de Vries. The Republic. Translated by Jane Hedley-Prole. New York: Other Press 2019. PB. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tommy Wieringa. The Death of Murat Idrissi. Translated by Sam Garrett. Scribe, 2019. HB. Orders: orders@gbs.tbs-ltd.co.uk

Hubert Lampo. The Coming of Joachim Stiller. Translated by Paul Vincent. Valancourt Books, 2019. PB.

Sarah Meuleman. Find Me Gone. Translated by David Doherty. HarperPerennial, 2018. PB.

Karel van de Woestijne. The Dying Peasant. Translated by Paul Vincent. Snuggly Books, 2018. PB.

Anthologies

Amsterdam Noir. Various authors and translators. Akashic Books, 2018.

 

Nonfiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luuk van Middelaar. Alarums & Excursions: Improvising Politics on the European Stage. Translated by Liz Waters. Agenda Publishing, 2019. HB.

Olivier van Beemen. Heineken in Africa: A Multinational Unleashed. Translated by Bram Posthumus. Hurst & Co., 2019. HB.

Martijn van Calmthout. Sam Goudsmit and the Hunt for Hitler’s Atom Bomb. Translated by Michiel Horn. Prometheus Books, 2018. HB.

Henkjan Honing. The Evolving Animal Orchestra: In Search of What Makes us Musical. Translated by Sherry Macdonald. The MIT Press, 2019. HB.

Anton van der Lem. Revolt in the Netherlands: The Eighty Years War, 1568-1648. Translated by Andy Brown. Reaktion Books, 2018. HB.

Stefan van der Stigchel. How Attention Works: Finding your Way in a World Full of Distraction. Translated by Danny Guinan. The MIT Press, 2019. HB.

 

Children and Young Adults

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jan Terlouw. Winter in Wartime. Translated by Laura Watkinson. Pushkin Press, 2018. HB. Orders:  michael@geoghegan.me.uk

Marc ter Horst. Hey There, Earth Dweller! Translated by Laura Watkinson. Simon & Schuster, 2019. HB.

Peter Goes. Rivers: A Visual History from River to Sea. Translated by Bill Nagelkerke. Gecko Press, 2018. HB. Orders: www.bouncemarketing.co.uk

 

Poetry

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lieke Marsman. The Following Scan Will Last Five Minutes. Translated by Sophie Collins. Liverpool University Press, 2019.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hagar Peeters. City of Sandcastles: Selected Poems. Translated by Judith Wilkinson. Shoestring Press, 2018. PB.

Leonard Nolens. An English Anthology. Translated by Paul Vincent. Carcanet, 2018 (Carcanet Poetry). PB.

No. 11, Autumn 2018

New Dutch Books in English

The English-speaking world continues to catch up on Dutch classics. An Untouched House, the first English book publication of Willem Frederik Hermans’s Het behouden huis, is receiving some excellent reviews in the UK and has just been published in the USA. Other noteworthy recent publications include two new anthologies. The Lonely Funeral, a selection of essays by Maarten Inghels and F. Starik, features poems written for and read at paupers’ funerals in Amsterdam and Antwerp. Swallows and Floating Horses: An Anthology of Frisian Literature, part of Francis Boutle Publishers’ Lesser Used Languages of Europe Series, is a massive bilingual collection of both prose and poetry from the eighth century to the current day.

REQUEST FOR FEEDBACK: We’d like to know who reads these newsletters on our website, what you use them for, whether they’re helpful to you, and what comments you may have. If you have a moment, please follow the link to the contact form on the website or send us an email, even if it’s just to let us know that you’re out there. Thanks for your help!

 

Fiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

Willem Frederik Hermans. An Untouched House. Translated by David Colmer. Afterword by Cees Nooteboom.

Pushkin Press (UK), 2018. PB.Orders:  michael@geoghegan.me.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

Archipelago (USA), 2018, PB. Orders: Kaia Hilson, khilson@penguinrandomhouse.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Martin Michael Driessen. Rivers. Translated by Jonathan Reeder. AmazonCrossing, 2018. HB. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hagar Peeters. Malva. Translated by Vivien D. Glass. DoppelHouse Press, 2018. PB. Orders: export@gbs.tbs-ltd.co.uk

Sander Kollaard, Stage Four: A Novel. Translated by Michele Hutchison. AmazonCrossing, 2018. PB.

Eva Meijer. Bird Cottage. Translated by Antoinette Fawcett. Pushkin Press, 2018. HB. Orders:  michael@geoghegan.me.uk

 

Anthologies

 

 

 

 

 

 

F. Starik, Maarten Inghels. The Lonely Funeral. With poems by Menno Wigman, Joke van Leeuwen, Neeltje Maria Min etc. Translated by Jonathan Reeder, David Colmer, Donald Gardner, Michele Hutchison, John Irons and Francis R. Jones. Arc Publications, 2018. PB. Orders: sue.arc@btconnect.com (tel: +44 (0)1706 812338)

 

 

 

 

 

Swallows and Floating Horses: An Anthology of Frisian Literature. ed. Ernst Bruinsma, Alpita de Jong and André Looijenga. Translated by David McKay, Michele Hutchison, Susan Massotty, Paul Vincent and David Colmer. Francis Boutle Publishers, 2018. PB. Orders: clive@francisboutle.co.uk (tel: +44 (0)208 889 80867)

 

 

Nonfiction

Natascha Veldhorst. Van Gogh and Music. Translated by Diane Webb. Yale University Press, 2018. HB.

 

 

Children’s and Young Adults’

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edward van de Vendel. I’ll Root for You and Other Poems. Translated by David Colmer. Illustrated by Wolf Erlbruch. Eerdmans, 2018. HB. Orders: sales@albanbooks.com

 

 

 

 

 

Gijs van der Hammen. Little Wise Wolf. Translated by Laura Watkinson. Illustrated by Hanneke Siemensma. Book Island, 2018. HB. Orders: sales@thameshudson.co.uk

Philip Hopman. For Audrey with Love: Audrey Hepburn and Givenchy Translated by Ann De Clercq-Foley. Illustrated by Philip Hopman. Nord-Süd, 2018. HB.

Thé Tjong-Khing. Art with Cake. Translated by Charles Hugo. Illustrated by Thé Tjong-Khing. Mediterrània, 2018. HB.

Schubert, Dieter. Schubert, Ingrid. Delft Blue: A Vase for the Princess Translated by Jan Michael. Illustrated by Ingrid Schubert, Dieter Schubert. Leopold, 2018. HB.

Harmen van Straaten. Hey, Who’s in the Loo? Translated by Laura Watkinson. Illustrated by Harmen van Straaten. Red Robin Books, 2018. PB.

 

 

Poetry

Cees Nooteboom. Monk’s Eye. Translated by David Colmer. Seagull Books, 2018. HB. Orders: http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/L/bo18088

 

 

Graphic Novels

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serge Baeken. Sugar: Life as a Cat. Translated by Michele Hutchison. Illustrated by Serge Baeken. Soaring Penguin Press, 2018. PB.

No. 10, Spring/Summer 2018

Fans of Hendrik Groen, whose first book seems to be piled high at airports around the globe, will be delighted to see that the sequel is now out in English. The perfect English-language introduction to Dutch poetry is available in the print edition of The Enchanting Verses anthology of modern Dutch poetry, from Nijhoff to Perquin and including poets like Lucebert, Wigman, Vasalis and many others. (http://www.theenchantingverses.org/issue-xxvi-december-2017.html) And Amazon Crossing’s edition of Annejet van der Zijl’s An American Princess has made a big splash on release, with more online readers’ reviews than some books have readers!

Fiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hendrik Groen, On the Bright Side, translated by Hester Velmans. Michael Joseph, 2018.  HB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ernest van der Kwast, Giovanna’s Navel and Four More Stories, translated by Laura Vroomen. Scribe, 2018. HB. Orders: orders@gbs.tbs-ltd.co.uk

Bob Van Laerhoven, Return to Hiroshima, translated by Brian Doyle. Crime Wave Press, 2018. PB.

Cees Nooteboom, Mokusei!, translated by Adrienne Dixon. Seagull Books, 2017.  HB. Orders: http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/L/bo18088990.html

Ida Simons, A Foolish Virgin, translated by Liz Waters. MacLehose Press, 2017.  PB. Orders: Lottie.chase@quercusbooks.co.uk

Peter Terrin, Monte Carlo, translated by David Doherty. MacLehose Press, 2017.  HB. Orders: Lottie.chase@quercusbooks.co.uk

Maartje Wortel, Goldfish and Concrete, translated by Michele Hutchison. Electric Lit, Inc, 2017.  PB.

 

Nonfiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

Midas Dekkers, The Story of Shit, translated by Nancy Forest-Flier. Text Publishing, 2018.  PB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annejet van der Zijl, An American Princess, translated by Michele Hutchison. Amazon Crossing, 2018.  HB.

David Barnouw, The Phenomenon of Anne Frank, translated by Jeannette K. Ringold. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2018.  HB.

Douwe Draaisma, Forgetting, translated by Liz Waters. Yale University Press, 2017.  PB.

Ronald Giphart & Mark van Vugt, Mismatch, translated by Suzanne Heukensfeldt Jansen. London: Robinson, 2018.  PB.

Arnold van de Laar, Under the Knife, translated by Andy Brown. John Murray, 2018.  HB.

Geert Mak, The Many Lives of Jan Six, translated by Liz Waters. Amsterdam: Atlas Contact, 2017.  PB.

 

 

Children’s and Young Adults’

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maranke Rinck, Tangram Cat, translated by Laura Watkinson. Lemniscaat, 2017. HB. 

Joukje Akveld, Get on your Bike, translated by Laura Watkinson. Eerdmans, 2018. HB. Orders: sales@albanbooks.com

René van Blerk, Vincent and Camille, translated by Laura Watkinson. Rubinstein/Van Gogh Museum, 2017. HB.

Peter Goes, Follow Finn: A Search-and-Find Maze Book, translated by Bill Nagelkerke. Gecko Press, 2017. HB. Orders: www.bouncemarketing.co.uk

Sjoerd Kuyper, A Hat for the Moon, translated by Jesse Goossens. Lemniscaat, 2017. HB.

Tosca Menten, Dummy the Mummy and The Golden Scarab, translated by Michele Hutchison. Van Goor, 2018. PB. Orders CB

Tosca Menten, Dummy the Mummy and the Tomb of Akhnetut, translated by Michele Hutchison. Van Goor, 2018. PB. Orders CB

Bibi Dumon Tak, Scout’s Heaven, translated by Laura Watkinson. Eerdmans, 2018. HB. Orders: sales@albanbooks.com

 

 

Poetry

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poetry from the Netherlands, Nijhoff, Lucebert, Vasalis,Wigman, Schaffer, et al. (32 Dutch poets), translated by David Colmer, David McKay, Michele Hutchison and others. The Enchanting Verses Literary Review, 2017. PB. Orders: theenchantingverses@gmail.com 

Lucebert, The Collected Poems; Vol. 2, translated by Diane Butterman. Green Integer, 2017   PB. Orders: www.greeninteger.com

Edward van de Vendel, The Sexy Storm, translated by David Colmer. A Midsummer Night’s Press, 2018  PB. Orders: amidsummernightspress@gmail.com

Nachoem M.Wijnberg, Of Great Importance, translated by David Colmer. Punctum Books, 2018. PB. Orders: eileen@punctumbooks.com 

No. 9, Autumn 2017

After a flood of English translations of Dutch-language literature  in our last few issues, things are a little quieter this time round, but there are still several exciting titles, most notably an Amsterdam volume in Oxford University Press’s well-received literary travel series, with fascinating works from the seventeenth to twenty-first century, translated by Paul Vincent. Other particularly noteworthy titles are Ernest van der Kwast’s Mama Tandoori, published by Scribe, and The Consequences by Niña Weijers, published by DoppelHouse Press.

 

Fiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amsterdam Tales, with prose by Joost van den Vondel, Remco Campert, Margriet de Moor, etc., edited by Helen Constantine, translated by Paul Vincent. Oxford University Press, 2017. PB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ernest van der Kwast, Mama Tandoori, translated by Laura Vroomen. Scribe, 2017. PB. Orders: orders@gbs.tbs-ltd.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Niña Weijers, The Consequences, translated by Hester Velmans. DoppelHouse Press, 2017. HB & PB. Orders: export@gbs.tbs-ltd.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simone van der Vlugt, Midnight Blue, translated by Jenny Watson. Ambo | Anthos, PB, 2016.

Vincent Bijlo, The Institute, translated by Susan Ridder. Holland Park Press, 2017.

Pim Wiersinga, The Pavilion of Forgotten Concubines, translated by Pim Wiersinga. Regal House Publishing. PB, 2017.

 

Nonfiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mohamed El Bachiri, David van Reybrouck, A Jihad for Love, translated by Sam Garrett. Head of Zeus, 2017. PB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Verhaeghe, Says Who?, translated by David Shaw. Scribe. PB, 2017. Orders: orders@gbs.tbs-ltd.co.uk

Rutger Bregman, Utopia for Realists, translated by Elizabeth Manton. Bloomsbury, 2017. HB.

Wim Verbei, Boom’s Blues, translated by Scott Rollins. University Press of Mississippi. HB, 2017.

Lucas Ellerbroek, Planet Hunters, translated by Andy Brown. Reaktion Books. HB, 2017.

Pia de Jong, Saving Charlotte, translated by Pia de Jong, Landon Jones. W.W. Norton & Company. HB, 2017.

Willemijn Stokvis, Cobra, translated by Rosalind Buck. nai010 uitgevers. HB, 2017.

 

 

 

 

Children’s and Young Adults’

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brigitte Minne, Carll Cneut (illust.) Witchfairy, translated by Laura Watkinson. Book Island, HB, 2017 Orders: mo@centralbooks.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Benny Lindelauf, Tortot, The Cold Fish Who Lost his World and Found his Heart, (forthcoming) translated by Laura Watkinson. Illustrated by Ludwig Volbeda. Pushkin Press, 2016. HB. Orders: michael@geoghegan.me.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Max Velthuijs, Where is Frog?, translated by Michael Worek. Ill. Max Velthuijs. Firefly Books, 2017.

Koen van Biesen, Roger Is Going Fishing, translated by Laura Watkinson. Eerdmans. HB, 2017. Orders: sales@albanbooks.com

 

Poetry

Adriaan Roland Holst, A Winter by the Sea, translated by Roger Kuin. Ian Jackson. PB, 2017.

 

Graphic Novels

 

 

 

 

 

 

PieterCoudyzer, Outburst, translated by Peter Mennen. SelfMadeHero. HB, 2017.

No. 8, Spring 2017

There has been a lot of attention for English translations of Dutch-language literature in the last few months with a media storm in the Netherlands around the long overdue publication of an English version of Gerard Reve’s De Avonden (The Evenings, trans. Sam Garrett). Another stand-out has been Stefan Hertmans’s War and Turpentine (trans. David McKay). In autumn we drew attention to the great reviews it had been getting in both the US and the UK, and it has now been longlisted for both the Man Booker International in the UK and the Best Translated Book Award in the US, the two premier prizes for translated fiction in the English-speaking world.

Highlights of the current crop include a retranslated classic (Turkish Delight), a potentially controversial first novel (Inge Schilperoord’s Tench), another Tonke Dragt classic, and the first English collection by the Netherlands’ brand-new poet laureate, Ester Naomi Perquin.

 

Fiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inge Schilperoord, Tench, translated by David Colmer. Pushkin Press, 2017. PB. Orders: michael@geoghegan.me.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jan Wolkers, Turkish Delight, translated by Sam Garrett. Tin House Books, 2017.  PB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Otto de Kat, The Longest Night, translated by Laura Watkinson. MacLehose Press, 2017. HB. Orders: Lottie.chase@quercusbooks.co.uk

Britta Böhler, The Decision, translated by Jeannette K. Ringold. Haus Publishing, 2016. PB.

Charles den Tex, Anneloes Timmerije, Finding Her, translated by Brian Doyle. World Editions, 2016. PB. Orders: Centraal Boekhuis.

Jan Vantoortelboom, His Name is David,  translated by Vivien Glass. World Editions, 2016. PB. Orders: Centraal Boekhuis.

Kim van Kooten, Dearest, translated by Arjaan van Nimwegen, Thijs van Nimwegen. Lebowski, 2016. PB.

Saskia Goldschmidt, The Hormone Factory, translated by Hester Velmans. Saraband, 2016. PB.

Wytske Versteeg, The Boy,  translated by Sarah Welling. HopeRoad Publishing, 2016, PB.

 

 

Children’s and Young Adult

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annie M.G. Schmidt, A Year in Holland with Jip and Janneke, translated by David Colmer. Ill. Fiep Westendorp. Querido, HB. Orders: Centraal Boekhuis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tonke Dragt, The Song of Seven, translated by Laura Watkinson. Pushkin Press, 2016  HB. Orders: michael@geoghegan.me.uk

Annemarie van Haeringen, Mr. Matisse and his Cutouts, translated by Jan Michael. Ill. Annemarie van Haeringen. New York; London: North-South Books, 2016. HB

Edward van de Vendel, Sam in Winter, translated by David Colmer. Ill. Philip Hopman. Eerdmans, 2017. HB. Orders: sales@albanbooks.com

Paul van Loon, The Horror Handbook, translated by Sander Berg. Ill. Axel Scheffler. Alma Books, 2016. PB..

Piet Grobler, Hey, Frog! translated by Jesse Goossens. Ill. Piet Grobler. Lemniscaat, 2017. HB.

Tjibbe Veldkamp, Tom the Tamer, translated by Jesse Goossens. Lemniscaat, 2017, HB.

 

Poetry

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ester Naomi Perquin, The Hunger in Plain View, translated by David Colmer. White Pine Press, 2017. PB. Orders: dennismaloney@yahoo.com

 

Nonfiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wilfried de Jong, The Man and His Bike, translated by David Doherty. Ebury Press,2017. HB.

Anton Blok, Radical Innovators, translated by Anton Blok. Polity, 2016. PB.

Abel J.Herzberg, Amor Fati, translated by Jack Santcross. Wallstein, 2016 HB.

Fred Lanzing, Camp Life Is Paradise for Freddy, translated by Marjolijn de Jager. Ohio University Press, 2017. PB.

Koen Vossen, The Power of Populism, translated by Vivien Glass. Abingdon: Routledge, Taylor and Francis, 2016. HB.

Paul de Grauwe, The Limits of the Market, translated by Anna Asbury, OUP, 2017. HB.

Willem L Oltmans, Reporting on the Kennedy Assassination, translated by David Stephenson. University Press of Kansas, 2017. HB.