Allard Schröder
Allard Schröder (b. 1946) is a writer, essayist and poet. He made his debut in 1989 with the novella De gave van Luxuria (The Gift of Luxuria, 1989). It was followed two years later by De muziek van zwarte toetsen (Music on the Black Keys, 1991). His first full-length novel Raaf (Raven, 1995) was awarded the Halewijn Prize. In 2000 the novel Grover (1990) was nominated for both the AKO Literature Prize and the ECI Prize. His big breakthrough came in 2002 with the novel De hydrograaf (The Hydrographer), the story of Franz von Karsch who boards a ship bound for Brazil from Hamburg in the spring of 1905. It sold 50,000 copies, and was also crowned with the AKO Literature Prize. His last novel but one, De dode arm (The Dead Arm) (2013) was also shortlisted for the AKO Prize.