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The Dutch Foundation for Literature has the task of supporting writers and translators, and of promoting Dutch literature abroad. The foundation invests in the quality and diversity of literature through grants for writers, translators, publishers and festivals, and contributes to the production and distribution of Dutch and Frisian literature at home and abroad.

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Laïla Koubaa (1977) is the daughter of a Tunisian father and a Belgian mother, and grew up in the Flemish village of Eggewaartskapelle. She holds a master’s degree in Eastern Languages and Cultures and is currently pursuing an academic degree in Visual Arts at LUCA, School of Arts in Ghent.Her debut Azizi en de kleine blauwe vogel (Azizi and the Little Blue Bird, Book Island, 2013) tells the story of young Azizi, who follows a blue bird on a symbolic journey. The story took shape during the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia in 2011 and has since been translated into English, French, Danish, and Chinese. This was followed by Hoger dan de bergen en dieper dan de zee (Uitgeverij Vrijdag, 2015), in which Koubaa tells the story of Monji, who migrates from Tunisia to Europe as a laborer in the 1970s.During her residency in Amsterdam, Koubaa will be working on the graphic novel Tot aan de overkant, in collaboration with illustrator Anneka Robeyns. The story follows Layla, a Middle Eastern journalist and ceramicist, who, during a trip to Tunisia, is confronted with the death of her mother and a magical diary that draws her into the past.Koubaa will also continue writing Kortverhalen over het slapen gaan (Bedtime Stories) and will give readings and workshops, including at Athenaeum Bookstore on Spui. There, she will lead a workshop based on her latest book Emile, de prins van het licht (De Eenhoorn, 2024), introducing children to the life and work of painter Emile Claus.<h2>About the residency</h2>Each year, the Flemish literary organization Passa Porta and the Dutch Foundation for Literature exchange an author for a residency opportunity in Belgium and the Netherlands. Passa Porta selects a Flemish author for a residency in Amsterdam, and the Dutch Foundation for Literature selects a Dutch author for a residency in Brussels. Flemish authors can express their interest in a stay in Brussels directly to Passa Porta.Previous Flemish residents in Amsterdam include Lies Van Gasse, Jeroen Olyslaegers, Maud Vanhauwaert, Tom Struyf, Roderik Six, Peter Terrin, Anne Provoost, Saskia de Coster, Max Greyson, Rudi Meulemans, and Bart Meuleman.

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Flemish children’s author Laïla Koubaa will stay at the Amsterdam Writers Residency from 1 to 28 July, at the invitation of Passa Porta and the Dutch Foundation for Literature. Each year, the Flemish literary organization Passa Porta and the Dutch Foundation for Literature exchange an author for a residency in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Laïla Koubaa as writer in residence in Amsterdam

The Dutch winners of a Zilveren Griffel or Zilveren Penseel have a chance to win the Gouden Griffel or Gouden Penseel, which will be awarded during the Children&#039;s Book Ball on September the 26th. Several nominated titles have been mentioned in our <a href="https://assets.letterenfonds.prod.verveagency.com/assets/brochures/nlf_dutchchildrensbooks2025_def.pdf">Children’s Book 2025 Catalogue</a>, such as <a href="https://www.letterenfonds.nl/en/books/violet-soapys-list">Violet Soapy’s List</a> (De lijst van Violet Sopjes) by David Vlietstra and the <a href="https://www.letterenfonds.nl/en/books/the-teller-of-wonders">The Teller of Wonders</a> (De wonderverteller) by Lida Dijkstra.

Age 0 - 6 <ul><li>Een ongelofelijk grote, ongelofelijk gevaarlijke leguaan by Pim Lammers, illustrated by Natascha Stenvert (Querido)</li><li>Vogel en Beer – De picknick en andere verhalen van Jarvis, translated by Tjibbe Veldkamp (Gottmer)</li></ul>Age 6 - 9<ul><li>Kip en kat by Margreet de Heer (Zwijsen)</li><li>Roversjong by Jef Aerts, illustrated by Martijn van der Linden (Querido)</li></ul>Age 9 - 12 <ul><li>De zomer die alles was by Mariska Overman, illustrated by Esther Leeuwrik (Kluitman)</li><li><a href="https://www.letterenfonds.nl/en/books/violet-soapys-list">De lijst van Violet Sopjes by David Vlietstra, illustrated by Yoko Heiligers (Gottmer)</a></li><li>Patina by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Maria Postema (Condor)</li></ul>Age 12 - 15 <ul><li>Welkom thuis, chrononauten by Dirk Weber (Querido)</li><li><a href="https://www.letterenfonds.nl/en/books/oever">Oever by Ludwig Volbeda (Querido)</a></li></ul>Informative<ul><li><a href="https://www.letterenfonds.nl/en/books/the-teller-of-wonders">De wonderverteller by Lida Dijkstra, illustrated by Djenné Fila (Luitingh-Sijthoff)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.letterenfonds.nl/en/books/smarter-than-you-think">Slimmer dan je denkt by Lotte Stegeman, illustrated by Mark Janssen (Luitingh-Sijthoff)</a></li></ul>Poetry<ul><li>Het onvergetelijke verhaal van Reinaert de vos by Maria van Donkelaar &amp; Martine van Rooijen, illustrated by van Wendy Panders (Gottmer)</li></ul>

Zilveren Griffels - Best Written Children’s Books

Picture Books<ul><li>Een ongelofelijk grote, ongelofelijk gevaarlijke leguaan by Natascha Stenvert, written by Pim Lammers (Querido)</li><li>De wens by Victo Ngai, written by Mu’o’n Thi Van, translated by Hans &amp; Monique Hagen (Mondo)</li></ul>Illustrated Children’s Books<ul><li>Donsdag by Jeska Verstegen, written by Kristien Dieltiens (Lannoo)</li><li>De schedel by Jon Klassen, translated by Berd Ruttenberg (Hoogland &amp; Van Klaveren)</li></ul>Informative Books<ul><li>Je hond en jij by Elena Bulay, translated by Robbert-Jan Henkes (Querido)</li><li>Het grote kippenboek by Jan Hamstra, written by Evelien de Vlieger (Lannoo)</li></ul>Illustrated Youth Books<ul><li>De wonderverteller by Djenné Fila, written by Lida Dijkstra (Luitingh-Sijthoff)</li><li>Het hart van een giraf is ongelooflijk groot by Amanda Chanfreau, written by Sofia Chanfreau, translated by Sophie Kuiper (Lannoo)</li></ul>

Zilveren Penselen – Best Illustrated Dutch Children’s Books

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Twelve “Zilveren Griffels” and eight “Zilveren Penselen” have been festively awarded in Amsterdam, last week. The Griffels and Penselen are the Netherlands’ major awards for the best written (Griffels) and illustrated (Penselen) Children’s Books.

Griffels and Penselen 2025 Awarded for Best Dutch Children's Books

Chris Tse is the current Poet Laureate of New Zealand. He is the author of three poetry collections published by Auckland University Press: How to be Dead in a Year of Snakes (winner of the 2016 Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry), HE’S SO MASC, and Super Model Minority (a finalist for the 2023 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry and longlisted at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards). He and Emma Barnes edited Out Here: An Anthology of Takatāpui and LGBTQIA+ Writers from Aotearoa. In 2024, he was a fellow of the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program Fall Residency. Tse has also been a programmer and guest curator for arts and literary festivals in New Zealand.During his time in Amsterdam, Tse will be working on a number of projects including the completion of a new poetry collection.

During Poetry International June 12: <a href="https://www.poetryinternational.com/en/festival/festival/50-155_55th-Poetry-International-Festival-Rotterdam?day=thursday">Opening Program</a> June 13, 20:00-20:30: <a href="https://www.poetryinternational.com/en/festival/programma-onderdeel/55-254_Main-reading-Chris-Tse">Main reading</a> June 14, 19:15 – 20:15: <a href="https://www.poetryinternational.com/nl/festival/programma-onderdeel/55-272_Guiding-Voices-x-Poetry-International-Chris-Tse">Guiding Voices x Poetry International</a>

Performances

June 2 – June 27 2025

Poet Chris Tse, from New Zealand, will be staying at the Amsterdam Writers Residency from June 2st to June 27th, upon invitation by the Dutch Foundation for Literature and Poetry International, where he will perform during the annual poetry festival.

Chris Tse as a writer in residence in Amsterdam

During the grand opening ceremony of the Dutch stand, Dutch Ambassador Willem van Ee, Director of the Turin Bookfair Silvio Viale and Romkje de Bildt, Director of the Dutch Foundation for Literature, delivered speeches. Apart from that, they received an essay collection on classics of Dutch Literature, written by Franco Paris, full Professor of Dutch Literature and Marco Prandoni, professor of Dutch language and culture. Romkje de Bildt, managing director of the Dutch Foundation for Literature: ‘We are proud that Dutch literature has been able to find its way to Italian readers in recent years, with increasing numbers of translations.’ During the first day of the Turin Bookfair, Dutch authors Jan Brokken, Hanna Bervoets and Anya Niewierra and graphic novelist Aimée de Jongh took the stage, and were interviewed about their translated titles in Italian. Children’s books author Gideon Samson engaged in conversation with students who read Giorni sull&#039;isola and prepared questions.The Netherlands will showcase its literature and culture to the Italian audience until May 19.

Turin International Book Fair Kicked Off

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We are currently working on a new Translation Database. For now, our current database still remains available.

Angela Maas

Els Quaegebeur

Cardiologist Angela Maas and journalist Els Quaegebeur examine this health gap: Where are the systemic flaws in women’s healthcare? What are the misconceptions and prejudices and why are many essential differences neglected? How can we make the current healthcare culture more female-friendly as a matter of urgency?

Angela Maas’s successful previous book A Woman’s Heart was translated into several languages including English and German.

Book

Non-Fiction

De gezondheidskloof

Medicine has traditionally been based on the male body, with women as bycatch, but women are not just 
smaller men. In scientific research, female patients remain alarmingly underrepresented, and today there is still no equality between men and women as patients, despite growing proof of the differences. And female medical professionals themselves still need further emancipation in their roles.

The Healthcare Gap

Lieke Marsman

Marsman combines short essays with diary fragments in which she recounts learning of her cancer’s recurrence, meetings with harried doctors, an arm amputation and everything that makes life worth living. She has her first religious experience, though it soon becomes clear that this is not about religion per se, but about the severe limits of a pragmatic and rational Western worldview when faced with death. Marsman weaves the arguments of Christian thinkers with quantum physics, and the ideas of Wittgenstein and William James with the stories of Lucian of Samosata and ancient Greek gods. She studies scientists who turned religious, while personally wrestling with loneliness, meaninglessness, and cowardice. Her intellectual journey transforms into an obsession with UFOs – and the manifold implications for us on earth if life does, in fact, exist somewhere out there. For Marsman, dying with hope, no matter how far-fetched or unrealistic it might be, is still always better than living on without it: ‘And in moments when everything here feels unexpectedly hopeless, I’d like to think: On another planet they can save me.’<ul><li>Associative, literary style that mixes essay with intimate experience </li><li>A frank account about fighting a metastasized cancer – and a moving plea to live </li><li>A follow-up to the highly-acclaimed The Following Scan Will Last Five Minutes</li></ul>

A haunting, poetic account of an otherworldly journey through the here and now, shadowed by death. But also: a heartfelt call to live and a socially critical essay on the imagination and letting go of old certainties.

A moving examination of living with  illness, death and hope

Op een andere planeet kunnen ze me redden

In 2017, poet and novelist Lieke Marsman was diagnosed with a rare type of bone cancer. After enduring various rounds of chemo, she was told her illness was terminal. Still, she is continuing with treatment – radiotherapy, immunotherapy, operations. Living for years with death has changed Lieke’s worldview, and On Another Planet They Can Save Me is a poetic and philosophical exploration of the need to embrace the unknown.

On Another Planet They Can Save Me

Sjeng Scheijen

In this concise work, Scheijen demonstrates that Russian history is just as complex, varied and dynamic as French or German history, and equally as difficult to sum up in vacuous stereotypes. The Russian people have never been homogenous – far from it – and the country we see today was once very different. The Russian Empire, for example, was a leader in women’s rights. In fact, for much of the country’s history, it has been far closer to Europe – in cultural, economic, legislative, scientific and religious matters – than either side is willing to admit. Shining a light on Russia’s history also demonstrates something else: today’s Russia, with its authoritarian political oppression and belligerent foreign policy, was far from inevitable. With Putin’s reign likely to end within the next ten years, Scheijen reminds us that another Russia was and still is possible. Russia will have to come to terms with its Soviet history, particularly under Stalin, but it is up to us to move beyond simplistic framings of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ and recognise a rich kindred culture. <ul><li>A powerful argument against mystification, written with a dry humour. In the end, the Russian soul is ‘the American Dream in a fur cap’ </li><li>Just after the Bolshevik Revolution, Russia brought in antidiscrimination laws and legalised abortion. It was only with Stalin that rights were limited again</li></ul>

Sjeng Scheijen calls for breaking out of this self-reinforcing negative spiral – because it makes rapprochement well-nigh impossible.

168 pages in which prejudices and myths are exploded with a sovereign brilliance, humour, feel for self-mockery, and rock-solid erudition.

Building Blocks for Peace in Europe after Putin

Een ander Rusland. Bouwstenen voor een vreedzaam Europa ná Poetin

Is Russia so unique that we can’t understand its people? Putin would like us to think so, and it’s why he has to defend against the ‘decadent West’. Meanwhile, our own stubborn myths about the enigmatic ‘Russian Soul’ only confirm his narrative. If we ever hope to see peace in Europe, renowned Russia-expert Sjeng Scheijen argues, we had better look at what we share. After all, one can’t win a war of ideas with bombs alone.

Another Russia

Jan Luiten van Zanden

Van Zanden argues that it was only with the rise of sedentary societies in the Middle East and Central Asia that gender inequality first took shape. Civilizations developing on the peripheries, meanwhile, maintained a greater level of gender equality, and the religions which developed in each region either conformed or co-evolved to mirror these pre-existing gender dynamics. Rather than technology, it was women’s stronger economic position during the Middle Ages in places like northwestern Europe or Japan that drove economic development and the emergence of democratic political systems. Riding on the prosperity of the industrial revolution, however, the 18th and 19th centuries saw the rise of domesticity and the bread-winner model, confining women largely to the home. It wasn’t until the 20th century that women began regaining their place in the workforce. That women ‘belong’ in the kitchen is then a relatively recent fabrication. In one sense, Van Zanden provides a much-needed corrective to our picture of economic history by finally including women’s agency. However, Lucy’s Daughters is also about the far-reaching consequences – social, economic, political – of these historical roots. Van Zanden demonstrates that gender inequality is one of the main causes of poverty and political suppression.<ul><li>Extends from the Palaeolithic to the present, from the Middle East to the United Kingdom, from Indonesia to Japan </li><li>Told from various angles, including religion, art, criminality, even international sport, to paint a panorama of gender relations and gender inequality </li><li>Nuanced and accessibly written, with an eye for the different kinds of patriarchy throughout time and place</li></ul>

We know this, but it can’t be emphasised enough: the restriction of women’s freedoms isn’t a natural phenomenon. It isn’t the logical consequence of pregnancy or some other biological fact. And the oppressive patriarchy isn’t a consequence of agriculture. In a wonderfully concise overview book about prehistoric and historic gender relations, economic historian Jan Luiten van Zanden gives those myths short shrift.

Social inequality between men and women is a phenomenon with a long history. Jan Luiten van Zanden investigates why this relationship differs by culture and how patterns have emerged over time.

A History of Gender Relations

Dochters van Lucy. De geschiedenis van de vrouw-manverhouding vanaf de eerste vrouw

While some see gender inequality as a natural phenomenon, the history of economics reveals a very different story. Jan Luiten van Zanden’s research focuses on the complex interplay between the social status of women and economic development. In this panoramic work, he examines the historical roots of gender inequality throughout Eurasia, and its socio-economic consequences today.

Lucy’s Daughters

Best of Non-Fiction

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Twelve “Zilveren Griffels” and eight “Zilveren Penselen” have been festively awarded in Amsterdam, last week.

Griffels and Penselen Awarded for Best Dutch Children's Books

We are very happy to present our new Children’s Books from Holland brochure, with a fantastic cover image by Jan Jutte, a nationally and internationally acclaimed illustrator.

Dutch Children's Books 2025

This new edition of New Dutch Fiction presents a selection of books recently published in the Netherlands, books that have been included for their artistic and commercial success.

New Dutch Fiction Spring 2025

Our latest edition of Dutch Non-Ficton is now available. Each title has national and international dimensions, showing how the Netherlands is intertwined with the rest of the world.

Dutch Non-Fiction Spring 2025

The shortlist for the Vondel Translation Prize, the prize for the best English-language translation of a Dutch-language literary work, has been announced.