Author

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.

The Hydrographer

The Hydrographer

(De Bezige Bij, 2002, 207 pages)

In this novel Schröder has brilliantly and menacingly depicted the fascination for the ocean deeps. He conjures up the Posen with stark clarity. You feel the wind, the sharp light, and the slow swell of the sea. His sentences flow, tinkling, crystal-clear and calm. Above all Schröder is a master at creating atmosphere. However clear and calm his sentences may be, below the surface yawn the dark depths.

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Amoy

Amoy

(De Bezige Bij, 2009, 191 pages)

Novels by Allard Schröder invariably take place in a shadowy realm, on the borders of life and death. The setting always has its own peculiar significance – due partly to Schröder’s marvellous descriptions of atmosphere and landscape. In De hydrograaf (The Hydrographer), which won the AKO Literature Prize, the ship in which the main characters make their long voyage becomes a kind of Flying Dutchman. In his previous book, De econome (The Economist, 2008), an ambitious businesswoman loses herself in a no-man’s land.

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Sebastian’s Nose

Sebastian’s Nose

(De Bezige Bij, 2016, 448 pages)

The tenth novel of one of the Netherlands’ finest stylists is about the power of memory. Or rather, the power of memory to deceive. Schröder paints a sensitive, sensual and colourful portrait of a man who is transported back in time to his first love by the smell of a cigarette.

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Translations

Website

http://www.allardschroder.nl