Author

Gerda Blees

Gerda Blees (b. 1985) made her debut in 2017 with the short-story collection Aan doodgaan dachten we niet (We Didn’t Think About Dying). Her first volume of poetry, Dwaallichten (Wandering Lights), appeared the following year. We Are Light is her first novel and received unanimous rave reviews from the Dutch press. It was awarded the European Union Prize for Literature 2021. Blees lives in a commune in Haarlem and is studying Fine Arts at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam.

We Are Light

We Are Light

(Podium, 2020, 224 pages)

Four members of a commune stop eating because from now on they want to live on light and air. The characters in Gerda Blees’ novel each have their own reasons for this extreme decision, which ends up costing the protagonist, Elisabeth, her life. This magnificent story is loosely based on true events.

Read more

Translations

Authors and translators Writers