Gideon Samson
As a boy, Gideon Samson (b. 1985) wanted to become a professional football player. He even played for a real club for a while. But, aside from the fact that he wasn’t good enough, he discovered that the world had more to offer him. Writing. He dropped out of his studies of Dutch language and literature in Amsterdam, deciding instead to deliver parcels and to write. In 2010, he became the youngest-ever winner of a Zilveren Griffel, for Ziek (Sick). He made a big impression, particularly among teen readers, with Zwarte zwaan (Black Swan, 2013), about a girl who fakes her own death. Under the pseudonym of Menno Fernandes he wrote about his experiences as a referee in amateur football in De Scheids (The Ref, 2014), a book for adults.