The first German James Krüss Prize for children’s and young adult literature will be awarded to the writer and illustrator Joke van Leeuwen. She will receive the award for her entire oeuvre, together with two German translators of her work, Hanni Ehlers and Mirjam Pressler.

Tommy Wieringa has won the prestigious Libris Literature Prize 2013 for his novel These Are the Names (De Bezige Bij). This book is highlighted in our Spring 2013-publication, 10 Books from Holland, and was partially written by Wieringa, on invitation of the Dutch Foundation for Literature, as a writer in residence at the NIAS in Wassenaar.

Oek de Jong has been awarded the Golden Owl Prize 2013, which is the most important literary prize in Flanders. The prize consists of 25,000 euros and a work of art by Philip Aguirre. A panel of experts named De Jong’s novel Pier and Ocean (Atlas Contact publishers) the best Dutch literary work of the past year.

Caesarion by Tommy Wieringa is one of the ten books contending for the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2013. Thanks to his shortlisted novel, Wieringa finds himself in the company of Michel Houellebecq (The Map and the Territory) and Haruki Murakami (1Q84).

Ester Naomi Perquin‘s third poetry collection titled Cell Inspections (Celinspecties) has been awarded the VSB Poetry Prize, Holland’s most prestigious prize for poetry, worth 25,000 euros. The other nominees were H.H. ter Balkt, Luuk Gruwez, Sybren Polet and Menno Wigman.

Six authors have been nominated for the AKO Literatuurprijs 2012. From all the Dutch novels published over the last twelve months, the following titles have been selected: Grip (Grip) by Stephan Enter, Liefde heeft geen hersens (Love has no Brains) by Mensje van Keulen, Dinsdag (Tuesday) by Elvis Peeters, Post Mortem by Peter Terrin, Het boek Ont (Man & Post) by Anton Valens and De man zonder ziekte (The Man without Illness) by Arnon Grunberg.

Joke van Leeuwen writes poetry and prose, which she illustrates herself, for both adults and children. Her work includes dozens of titles, for which she has now been awarded the Constantijn Huygensprijs. ‘Whether she writes or draws, for adults or for children,’ the jury writes, ‘her very personal style makes her work always instantly recognisable as that of Joke van Leeuwen.’

Erik Menkveld has won the Academica Literatuurprijs 2012 for his novel Het grote zwijgen (The Great Silence). The jury described the novel as a wide-ranging and cinematic narrative: “Het grote zwijgen tells the story of a tragic friendship that is rooted in admiration and lofty ideals, but which founders on the banal and merciless reality of war, adultery and betrayal. Above all of that reigns the great, indifferent silence of the firmament.”

Gerbrand Bakker has won the Premi Llibreter 2012 for his debut novel Boven is het stil (2006), which was published this year by the new publishing house Rayo Verde in Barcelona, both in Spanish (translated by Julio Grande as Todo está tranquilo arriba) and in Catalan (translated by Maria Rossich Andreu as A dalt tot està tranquil).

Alsof het voorbij is, the Dutch translation of the novel Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes has been selected as the winner of the European Literature Prize. The novel was published by Atlas Contact and translated from English by Ronald Vlek.

For La cena, the Spanish translation of Het diner, Herman Koch has been awarded the Premio Novela Europea Casino de Santiago prize. Koch will receive the prize in November during a gala dinner in the casino of the Galician city. Former prize-winners include Ian McEwan, Zadie Smith, Sandro Veronesi and Kazuo Ishiguro. Through the awards, the prize also seeks to contribute to the European concept.

Writer A.F.Th van der Heijden has won this year’s € 50,000 Libris literature prize for his novel Tonio, based on the death of his son in 2010. The book, which has sold over 100,000 copies, was regarded as the favourite for the prize.

The Dioraphte Prizes for Youth Literature have been awarded by the jury to Anne-Gine Goemans (in the Dutch-language category) and Paul Murray (in the foreign-language category); Dutch writer Arjen Lubach received the prize awarded by the public. The prize money for each award consists of 15,000 euro.

The AKO Literature Prize 2011 has been awarded to Marente de Moor for her novel De Nederlandse maagd (‘The Dutch Maiden’). Other nominees this year were: Jeroen Brouwers (Bittere bloemen, Atlas), Peter Buwalda (Bonita Avenue, De Bezige Bij), Arnon Grunberg (Huid en Haar, Nijgh & Van Ditmar), Marja Pruis (Kus me, straf me, Nijgh & Van Ditmar) and P.F. Thomése (De weldoener, Contact).