{"id":495,"date":"2020-09-16T15:06:31","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T13:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newdutchbooksinenglish.com\/?p=495"},"modified":"2020-09-16T15:10:44","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T13:10:44","slug":"no-15-autumn-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newdutchbooksinenglish.com\/no-15-autumn-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"No. 15, Autumn 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0The Discomfort of Evening<\/em>. 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.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The 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\u2019s\u00a0The Death of Murat Idrissi<\/em>\u00a0(tr. Sam Garrett) and Stefan Hertmans\u2019s\u00a0War and Turpentine\u00a0<\/em>(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:\u00a0Omega Minor\u00a0<\/em>(Paul Verhaeghen, self-translated, 2008) and\u00a0The Detour\u00a0<\/em>(Gerbrand Bakker, tr. David Colmer, 2013).<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Another major prize that has seen a lot of Dutch success is the Dublin Literary Award for the best novel, original English\u00a0or<\/em>\u00a0translated, published in the English-speaking world in a calendar year. The award was won by Gerbrand Bakker and translator David Colmer with\u00a0The Twin\u00a0<\/em>in 2010. Arnon Grunberg\u2019s\u00a0Phantom Pain\u00a0<\/em>and Tommy Wieringa\u2019s\u00a0Caesarion\u00a0<\/em>(both tr. Sam Garrett) were shortlisted in 2005 and 2013 respectively, and Bakker\/Colmer were shortlisted again for\u00a0The Detour\u00a0<\/em>in 2014. Books by Cees Nooteboom and Connie Palmen were shortlisted in 1996, the prize\u2019s inaugural year.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dutch-language books have also done well with other English literary and translation prizes. The translators of Multatuli\u2019s\u00a0Max Havelaar<\/em>, David McKay and Ina Rilke, have been shortlisted and may yet win this year\u2019s Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize. Annet Schaap and translator Laura Watkinson achieved a milestone when\u00a0Lampie and the Children of the Sea<\/em>\u00a0was shortlisted as the\u00a0first translation ever\u00a0<\/em>for the prestigious Carnegie Medal for children\u2019s and YA literature. And in 2011 the Popescu Prize for European Poetry in Translation went to Judith Wilkinson for her translation of Toon Tellegen\u2019s\u00a0Raptors.\u00a0<\/em>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\u2019s 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\u2019s been warming up for a while.<\/p>\n 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\u00a0Verzet!\u00a0<\/em>See below for details.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Alfred Birney, The Interpreter from Java<\/em>. Translated by David Doherty. London: Head of Zeus, 2020. HB.<\/strong><\/p>\n Dola de Jong, The Tree and the Vine<\/em>. Translated by Kristen Gehrman. Oakland (CA): Transit Books, 2020. PB.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n These short paperbacks can be ordered individually.<\/em><\/p>\n Karin Amatmoekrim, Reconstruction<\/em>, short stories translated by Sarah Timmer-Harvey.<\/p>\n Sanneke van Hassel, Shelter<\/em>, short stories translated by Danny Guinan.<\/p>\n Thomas Heerma van Voss, Thank You For Being With Us<\/em>, short stories translated by Moshe Gilula.<\/p>\n Bregje Hofstede, Bergje<\/em>, autobiographical essay translated by Alice Tetley-Paul.<\/p>\n Jamal Ouariachi, The Tourist Butcher<\/em>, short stories translated by\u00a0Scott Emblen-Jarrett.<\/p>\nFiction<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Strangers Press Verzet! <\/em>Chapbook Series<\/strong><\/h4>\n