Jan van Mersbergen
Jan van Mersbergen (b. 1971) made his debut in 2001 with the novel De grasbijter (‘The Grass-Eater’). His central theme can be summed up as ‘men on the run’. Van Mersbergen’s main characters are gruff and graceless men of few words who like their drink and yet harbour a sensitive soul. Naar de overkant van de nacht (To the Other Side of the Night, 2010) – about a man who reassesses his life one drunken night during Carnival – won him the BNG Literatuurprijs and has since been translated into Spanish, Catalan and Turkish. His breakthrough novel Morgen zijn we in Pamplona (Tomorrow Pamplona, 2007), set in the world of boxing, has been translated into English, French, German and Turkish. The film rights to Naar de overkant van de nacht and Morgen zijn we in Pamplona have been sold to a Londonbased production company.
